The Our Gente program is proud to announce a great accomplishment!
As shelter-in-place has effectively taken out a considerable portion of the work The Epicenter does in the community, we’ve had to go back to the drawing board to figure out innovative ways to engage with people in our community. Our Gente hosts several trainings every year to inform the community (specifically social services providers and educators) about best practices when engaging with members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Before the shelter-in-place order was given by the government, we had made arrangements the give a training to members of the Nonprofit Alliance of Monterey County. When we realized we wouldn’t be able to do the training in person, we took considerable time and consideration to optimize our agenda and presentation materials for an online format, and on Wednesday the 13th of this past week we completed a 2-hour training for an audience of over 60 people from the nonprofit sector of Monterey County.
As a program that represents an often underserved population of our community, Our Gente strives to provide accurate and up-to-date information about the culture and the issues facing LGBTQ+ youth. Feedback from our participants indicates that they believe we’ve provided a tremendous resource to people who want to improve services for the LGBTQ+ population, and we could not be more grateful to educate an open-minded group willing to separate social stigma from those who actively and most desperately need access to their services.
Our Gente offers a HUGE thank you to the Nonprofit Alliance of Monterey County for helping us find new ways to get this information out to the community! We look forward to future collaborations to make Monterey County a safer and more welcoming place for all.
If you are interested in hosting a virtual training through the Our Gente program, please contact Jacob Agamao at jacob@epicentermonterey.org.