Wayside Youth & Family Support Network Receives $10,000 Grant from The Greater Lowell Health Alliance
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
November 1, 2019
Contact: Michelle Hillman
508-270-1254 (direct)
508-380-5486 (cell)
Wayside Youth & Family Support Network Receives $10,000 Grant from The Greater Lowell Health Alliance
LOWELL, MA – Wayside Youth & Family Support Network’s PrideSide Lowell program received a $10,000 grant from the Greater Lowell Health Alliance (GLHA). The grant will allow PrideSide Lowell to add a group for high school youth who identify as LGBTQ+ that will focus on peer leadership and creating community connections for middle school youth who identify as LGBTQ+.
“Wayside Lowell is incredibly thankful for the support from the GLHA,” said Beth Chin, regional director, Wayside Central Massachusetts and Lowell. “This grant allows us to empower LGBTQ+ youth in Greater Lowell to thrive, make connections and develop advocacy skills so that they can become active participants in their community.”
At Lowell PrideSide, the goal is for LGBTQ+ youth to feel comfortable sharing their experiences as well as encourage others, whether they are a member of the LGBTQ+ community or an ally, to attend PrideSide groups.
Last September Wayside replicated its successful PrideSide MetroWest program, bringing to its therapeutic, supportive services to its Lowell site. PrideSide Lowell is staffed by a master’s level clinician and a graduate intern, who have expertise in LGBTQ+ issues and a passion for working with this specific, and often underrepresented, population.
“Since launching last year, the Lowell PrideSide team has worked to connect youth and allies and decrease mental health stigma among this population,” said Eric Masi, chief executive officer of Wayside. “We started PrideSide Lowell to address the need for LGBTQ+ services and a safe space to connect with peers and adults and thanks to GLHA we will continue to provide a place to be seen, heard and understood.”
Research has shown that LGBTQ+ youth who are rejected by their parents, caregivers and peers are: at very high risk for health and mental health problems when they become young adults; more than eight times as likely to attempted suicide; six times as likely to report high levels of depression and three times as likely to use illegal drugs.
Lowell PrideSide’s expanded program will include opportunities for youth to become more visible in the community by participating in a volunteer project and the annual Greater Lowell Pride Parade & Festival.
For more information about Lowell PrideSide, please call 978-221-6923.
About Wayside Youth & Family Support Network: Founded in 1977, Wayside Youth & Family Support Network is a non-profit, nationally accredited human services agency headquartered in Framingham, Mass. dedicated to building strength, hope and resiliency through its family-based outreach services, residential treatment programs, and community-based counseling services to thousands of children, youth and families throughout Eastern and Central Massachusetts. To learn more about Wayside, please visit www.waysideyouth.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.
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