Around the OPALGA Center
Youth Pride Picnic
The Fifth Annual Youth Pride Picnic will be held on Saturday, June 28, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Stevenson Park, 49 Lake St., Oak Park. This annual event is a way to bring together all LGBT youth and young adult programs in the Chicagoland area to celebrate during Pride Weekend. The picnic is free of charge and includes food, music, and outdoor games. This year’s picnic is co-sponsored by OPALGA and the Broadway Youth Center in Chicago. Any adult volunteers are welcome; if you are interested, please call Susan at 708-386-3463.
Prism Returns
Because of recent calls and inquiries by both teens and their parents, we are going to hold Prism, our teen drop-in program, during the month of June. Prism will be open every Thursday from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at The OPALGA Center, 947 Garfield St., Oak Park. If the response is positive, we will consider extending our hours throughout the summer. If you have a teen who might benefit from the program, please call The OPALGA Center at 708-848-0273!
HIV Testing Is Up and Running
OPALGA has provided two outreach testing nights at Sunday Madness @ Merenderos San Marcos in Cicero (2120 S. Cicero Ave., Cicero, from 10:00 p.m.–2:00 a.m.) and our drop-in groups. We have been providing free, anonymous HIV testing and counseling to close to 30 young men through our outreach efforts. This new program has already proved to be both a needed and rewarding service to provide to our community.
If you are in need of a test or know of an event at which you would like testing to be available, please call The OPALGA Center at 708-848-0273. We are able to provide testing that fits your schedule.
Elmhurst College Outreach
Thanks to longtime OPALGA member Jim Kelly, who volunteered his time to meet with 17 students at Elmhurst College in May. Jim provided an interactive and informative talk that both engaged students in understanding their own perspective and experience with homosexuality and covered current political issues in the gay community. The class completed a survey for Jim. The results showed that almost 60% of the class have a close friend who is openly LGBT, but almost 20% feel that being LGBT is abnormal. Forty percent think it is a choice, and 30% have religious convictions that being LGBT is sinful. No one identified as LGBT. We still have some work ahead of us. Thanks for getting out there for us, Jim!
