A Division of Cornerstone Family Healthcare
Save the date: Anti-Bullying Youth Summit
Turning Conflict Into Conversation
Sponsored by the Mediation Center of Dutchess County
Grades 7 – 12
Registration is limited to 125 students and adults
8 am – 2:30 pm
Poughkeepsie United Methodist Church
2381 New Hackensack Rd.
For registration or information, contact Bonnie: ballen@dutchessmediation.org
Visit them at www.dutchessmediation.org.
Safe Schools Round Table of the Hudson Valley presents the first annual Hudson Valley Anti-Bullying Bowl-a-Thon
Sat., October 20th from 12 to 4 pm
Mardi Bob Lanes, 45 Taft Ave., Poughkeepsie
$10 for shoes, two games, pizza or hot dog and soft drink, plus raffle tickets for more games!
To register, contact the Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center at (845) 331-5300 or email katherine@lgbtqcenter.org.
An annual conference for LGBT youth, educators and other concerned supporters. Its mission is to inform communities about the realities of growing up LGBT and to inspire them to respect and support LGBT people.
For full information, visit www.prideworksforyouth.org.
ARCS celebrates ten years of our signature gala with a journey to the “Vineyards and Vistas” of wine country for the Harvest of Hope Charity Ball! Join us on Saturday, November 3rd at Whitby Castle in Rye, NY for an elegant evening of dancing, fine food, silent and live auctions, and an array of desserts.
This year’s Hearts for ARCS Award recipients are Carla Ramos, creator of the Hairdressers’ Disco Ball and Fantasy Hair Show, and Alan Shapiro from Philips Nizer who is a frequent donor and advocate for our emergency food closets.
Tickets are $150 per person, or you can gather a group of 10 and purchase a full table for just $1,250 before October 19th. Tickets are now on sale here. Watch for an upcoming preview of our silent auction items.
You can also call (914) 785-8283 to make a donation for our auctions or to find out more information.
November 1 – CAMBRIDGE, MA: A new web-based community report from Online Buddies, Inc., parent company of Manhunt™ and DList™, celebrates the diversity of gay and bisexual men’s sexual behaviors. This first of its kind website provides scientific data in an entirely virtual manner.
The community report, based on a recently published study in the Journal of Sexual Medicine which analyzed responses from nearly 25,000 users of Manhunt™ and DList™, is in the form of an interactive website where visitors can learn more about the study results in a user-friendly and contemporary manner. “As the only online company that has a dedicated Research Institute which promotes an annual sex study with our members, we felt it important to translate conventional academic data into an easily digestible format for our members.” says David S. Novak, Managing Director of the OLB Research Institute and Senior Health Strategist, at Online Buddies, Inc.
“While many people are familiar with our family of brands, they often overlook the work that we are engaged in related to health and research. Through the use of platforms such as www.manhuntcares.com and collaborations with leading sexual health experts, we strive to give back to the community by promoting scientific research that is both sex positive and innovative,” says Todd Sowers, Chief Marketing Officer of Online Buddies, Inc.
According to the OLB Research Institute, to date, Manhunt™ and DList™ members have participated in over 100 studies worldwide, with this year’s national sex study being the largest in the United States. The study itself, which focused on men’s most recent sexual event, found the sexual repertoires of participants to be varied, suggesting the need to rethink some common misconceptions about the sexual behaviors of gay and bisexual men.
“As highlighted in the community report, the sexual experiences that men are having are not all homogenous. For example, less than 40% of men engaged in anal intercourse during their last sexual event, challenging the notion that ‘gay sex always = anal sex.’ By providing this information to our members, we hope to normalize their sexual behaviors and ultimately reduce existing stereotypes about gay and bisexual men,” says Novak.
The community report examines in detail a variety of sexual behavior topics from the larger study and can be found in it’s entirety at www.mensnationalsexstudy.com.
Via the LOFT:
Westchester County has funded The LOFT’s Helpline since the early 1990s, and has been one of the first counties in the entire nation to offer acknowledgment much less resources to the LGBT community through The LOFT’s Helpline.
However, this all unexpectedly changed yesterday when, without advance notice, The LOFT received notification from the Westchester County Department of Social Services that the grant was immediateley terminated due to county budget cuts. Although the $22,000 annual grant is small in comparison to the rest of the county’s budget, to The LOFT it is much, and what is done with it helps a community that now more than ever needs these services. With little movement on equality for the LGBT community in many areas, and with LGBT youth bullied to the point of suicide, now is not the time to terminate funding for The LOFT Helpline.
What You Can Do:
If you’re a Westchester resident, please contact your County Legislator, and ask them to restore The LOFT’s Helpine Funding. Although it was not the County Legislature that caused the cut, they are now in possession of the County Budget, and may have the power to restore it. This grant is vitally important to The LOFT and its ability to provide the Helpline services our community has needed.
Click Here for a list of contact information of Westchester County Legislators.
Click Here for text to use if you’re going to email your County Legislator.
The LOFT’s Helpline has been an asset to the LGBT community for over thirty years. Last year, The Helpline received 3,764 contacts, ranging from crisis calls from LGBT youth, to parents whose children have just come out to them, from LGBT seniors looking for doctors who might be gay-friendly, to those looking for information on HIV/AIDS.
TheBody.com recently unveiled a new resource center for gay, bi and MSM (men who have sex with men) guys, just in time for the final celebrations of National LGBTQ Pride Month.
The need for all of this information is great. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
These are all sobering facts, aren’t they? Check out all the online resources, including Basic HIV/AIDS info, discussion board, Q&A with medical experts, blogs by real-world guys dealing with HIV-related issues, and more at TheBody.com.
And to learn more about ARCS’ work with the MSM and gay community, visit our Men’s Health page.
The ARCS team carries our banner through New Paltz at the 2009 Pride March.
LATEST NEWS: View a photo slide show from the New Paltz Pride March and Festival!
June is National LGBTQ Pride Month, and several Hudson Valley communities are carrying on their annual Pride marches and festivals. ARCS participates in these celebrations of diversity and dignity to honor our roots as a spin-off of The LOFT LGBT Community Center, and because of the ongoing HIV/AIDS crisis among men who have sex with men (MSMs).
New studies show that MSMs are newly infected with HIV at a rate 44 times higher than other men…and 40 times higher than women. ARCS has responded to these statistics by successfully creating a new program to educate young MSMs of color. We’re especially proud to be offering enhanced HIV prevention services to guys ages 16 through 24 in Westchester as of June 1st – and we are working hard to secure additional funding to expand the program to the entire Hudson Valley.
If you’re out and about at any of the upcoming LGBTQ Pride events, please stop by and say hi!
This June, you’ll find ARCS’ big red tent at the New Paltz Pride March and Festival on Sunday, June 6th and at Gay Pride Rockland in Nyack on Sunday, June 13th. Please stop by to say hello, pick up some free brochures and condoms, and fill out health surveys that help us plot the course of future programs. There are tons of Pride activities all week long at the Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center, (the hosts of New Paltz Pride) so be sure to check them out.
ARCS will also be tabling at the Westchester County LGBT Town Hall meeting on Wednesday, June 9th at the County Center in White Plains from 6:30 to 8:30.
And don’t forget the Valley’s newest Pride event, Hudson Pride! This charming, quirky town has organized its first LGBT Pride march and festival on Sunday, June 20th. The fun kicks off with a sunset cruise on Saturday, June 19th from 7 to 9:30 pm.
For all the latest Pride happenings, be sure to check out our friends at BigGayHudsonValley.com, and for national events visit TheBody.com’s new Pride section.
The Westchester Pride Coalition has announced that Yvette Christofilis, former head of the Westchester County Office of LGBT Affairs, will be honored at a special event on Wednesday, May 5, 2010 at 6:00 pm in White Plains. Christofilis’ office, along with several other minority services, was eliminated from the Westchester County government as of January 31, 2010.
The Westchester Pride Coalition, a group of non-profits serving the LGBT community, grew out of a meeting convened by the former LGBT Liaison. With her nurturing and support, the WPC was able to hold Westchester’s first ever LGBT Pride event last September at Rye Playland, which attracted over 400 participants. “It was only natural for us to honor Yvette Christofilis,” said David Juhren, Executive Director of the LOFT LGBT Community Center in White Plains. “She in effect launched the Coalition, which carries on her work without direct county government ties.” An LGBT Advisory Board will continue to provide vital feedback and policy advice to the county legislature.
The WPC invites the community to join them in thanking Yvette Christofilis for her two years of service to Westchester’s LGBT community at a cocktail reception on Wednesday, May 5, 2010 at Cabo in downtown White Plains from 6:00 to 9:00 pm. This fundraising reception, playfully called “The Big Yvent” in Christofilis’ honor, will also raise much-needed funds for this year’s Westchester Pride at Playland.
Tickets are $20.00 and can be purchased in advance at www.westchesterpride.org/bigyvent.html or at the door. There will be complimentary appetizers and a cash bar. Cabo is located at 107 Mamaroneck Avenue in downtown White Plains. There is plenty of municipal parking within the immediate area, including the parking lot directly behind Cabo. Supporters can also purchase a congratulatory listing in the program to thank Christofilis for her work and legacy.
The second annual Westchester Pride at Playland 2010 is set for Saturday, September 11, 2010 with a rain date of Sunday, September 12. The WPC is already planning festivities and aims to increase the event’s attendance and importance.
Members of the Westchester Pride Coalition include AIDS-Related Community Services, Center Lane, the Gateway Program at Westchester Medical Center, GLSEN Hudson Valley, Lambda Peer Support Services, The LOFT LGBT Community Services Center, NYTRO, PFLAG Westchester, Planned Parenthood, Rainbow Alliance of Westchester, Straight Spouse Network, Victims Assistance Services, and Westchester Lesbian Connection. For more information visit www.westchesterpride.org.
On Saturday, February 13, 2010 ARCS hosted its eighth annual Hearts for ARCS Valentine’s Charity Ball at the C.V. Rich Mansion in White Plains. As guests entered, our dedicated volunteers offered them leis to get them into our “Tropical Escape” theme, which was solidified by the graphic design stylings of Andrew Mandolene. Our hostess for the evening was none other than Carol Channing (well, as portrayed by Richard Skipper)! Everyone loved the vocal stylings and diamond-studded commentary from our gracious emcee, with the talented Christine Talbott Sutin accompanying her on piano.
In between Carol’s performances, guests flocked the dancefloor to the music of DJ Jamie Villarie from DanceTime Entertainment. Glenn Burns provided guests with complementary photos at his customized photo booth, while Fischer & Williams Photographic Studios captured the evening on film. Once the silent auction ended with a rousing countdown, attendees nibbled on desserts provided by Big Girl Baking and sandal-shaped sugar cookies from Sweet Valley Treats.
We will be posting the final results from our premiere fundraiser soon. In the meantime, check out photos from the event at Fischer & Williams’ online album!
Special thanks to our other sponsors: BigGayHudsonValley.com, Hyatt Summerfield Suites, Completely Bare Spa, Greenwich Medical Spa, and American Laser Center of Poughkeepsie