Introducing: Cee Jay!

Y'assou! (That's Greek for 'hello'.) My name is Cee Jay Levine, and I'm helping to design information for the peer mentorship program. Working with Bobby Peck, I will be creating resources on the legal aspects of transitioning. I'm very excited to be helping with this project; it's the sort of thing that I wish had existed when I was a young person here in Pittsburgh.

Aside from the time I spent attending Allegheny College, I have lived in Pittsburgh my whole life. While I have an M.A.T. in Elementary Education, I'm currently working for the University of Pittsburgh as an Animal Care Technician. I also work for the Carnegie Museum of Natural History as an Assistant Supervisor for the Teen Docent program, a job that I've held for the past four years (I've been at the museum for 10). What free time I have is spent reading, writing, dancing, and practicing trombone. Oh, and I love science fiction, and frequently reference it in my interactions with others.
May the Force be with you!

Giving you a much-anticipated ITL update!

Dear faithful readers and supporters,

It's been a while and don't we know it!  We've had some changes over the past few months and we want to let you know all about it.  In January, our Peer Mentorship Design intern Quinn stepped down. We support their decision and wish them well.  In the process we learned what we do well, and what we can do to better support future interns.  Quinn also came up with some great ideas for the Peer Mentorship program, and we hope to incorporate those as we move forward.

Since we are still committed to having a solid Peer Mentorship program for trans youth ready to go this fall, we decided to ask some of the candidates who applied for the internship if they were willing to take on a piece of the program.  After discussion, we are happy to report that four qualified trans-identified youth have joined our team, working both independently and with each other to design a comprehensive program with the following four units: Wellness, Legal, Communication and Service.  Be on the look out for introductory blog posts from each of them!

On February 24th, all four Program Design interns will have the opportunity to meet members of our Advisory Committee, and to make connections that will utilize the Advisory Committee members' expertise for development of the program.

Save the date: Wednesday, May 1st from 6:30-8:30.  On May 1st, the Program Design interns will be presenting their work to an intimate crowd of community members and supporters. 

On the financial front, we've been applying for grants, and our current Peer Mentorship Program Design project is completely funded.  Any amount you decide to donate at this point goes directly to funding the Peer Mentorship Program, beginning this fall!

Thank you for your continued support,

Rayden
ITL Advisory Committee Chair