Council assignments made
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Charlotte City Council has new committee assignments.
Mayor Jennifer Roberts announced these on Dec. 9, saying “After consulting with council and community partners I have selected committee members to provide a balance of perspectives across the committees and to create new leadership opportunities. The committee members are well positioned to develop policy recommendations for the council.”
Assignments for LGBT councilmembers are: Community Safety — Al Austin, vice chair; Economic Development & Global Competitiveness — LaWana Mayfield, member; Environment — Austin, member; Housing & Neighborhood Development — Mayfield, chair, Austin, member; Governance & Accountability — Mayfield, vice chair; Budget — Mayfield, member; and Retreat Planning/Coordinating — Austin, member.
In other news, Roberts attended the Charlotte LGBT Chamber of Commerce holiday party and annual meeting on Dec. 8 at Sugar Creek Brewing Company, 215 Southside Dr.
In her address, she stressed how important it was for the community to be united, in addition to affirming the chamber’s moniker of “coming out is good for business.” She was appreciative of the support that the LGBT community offered to her during her bid for the mayoral seat.
info: charlottenc.gov. clgbtcc.org.
TOY sets year-end goal
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Time Out Youth Center, 2320 N. Davidson St., is attempting to reach a year-end goal of raising $20,000 by Dec. 31.
LGBT youth have added challenges as they navigate the world. Pepper in added complexities of being a sexual minority and things get more difficult.
“I am repeatedly impressed by their resilience, their perseverance and their determination to overcome taunting, rejection and criticism. But what makes them remarkable is the grace with which they learn to proudly wear the mantle of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity, without fear or shame,” Executive Director Rodney Tucker said.
The center needs adults to serve as role models, as well as mentors. It knows that LGBT and allied community members can be important to the development of youth during the teenage years.
Monies raised will go to support center programming for its youth. Denominational examples are: $25 pays one day of food for a LGBT homeless youth in the Host Home Program; $50 provides bus fares for 15 LGBT youth to get to work or attend center events; $100 provides LGBT cultural competency training for 25 teachers, social workers, police officers or other youth service providers; $500 pays for healthy after-school snacks for LGBT youth at the center for an entire month; $1,000 sponsors a safe, welcoming and fun community dance for 200 LGBT youth; and $5,000 pays for an LGBT youth advocacy camp for 30 youth so they can learn how to make their schools and communities safer spaces for all youth.
An acknowledgement card with a contributor’s personal note will be sent to those who are honored or the family and/or friends of those who are memorialized. Online contributions are available.
info: timeoutyouth.org.
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Share your news with us
Does your organization or special interest group have events or great information to share with our readers? If so, be sure to send in your information to specialassignments@goqnotes-launch2.newspackstaging.com. In the upcoming months, we’ll feature one of you in our news notes section in each issue. Are you a part of a Meetup, Yahoo or Google group and do you do something that’s really newsworthy? Do you provide a service for the community or hold fundraisers for worthy causes? Do you educate the public about LGBT issues or concerns? Of course, this is only a sampling of things we are interested in. It’s the aim of these pieces to inform, enlighten and educate our readers about what we’re doing here in the Carolinas to champion LGBT rights, as well as offer resources for those who may be interested in what your group is doing.