On Friday March 15th AFC staffers traveled to the University of Connecticut and participated in this year’s True Colors conference. True Colors is a non-profit organization that works with other social service agencies, schools and communities to ensure that the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth are recognized. True Colors works to create a world where youth, adults and families of all sexual orientation and gender identities are valued and affirmed. This year’s conference was one of the largest LGBT youth conferences in the country with more than 3000 attendees; it truly was an amazing day for all of us.
With help from a recent Andrus Family Fund grant, our AFCLeaders program will soon include a specialized group mentoring program for LGBT youth in care for whom adolescence and the transition to adulthood can be especially difficult. AFC will enhance and broaden its community outreach, including building a larger capacity to identify and serve youth who are LGBT.
The True Colors conference on Friday gave me so much inspiration, but at the same time made me realize how much work still needs to be done.