PFY Director Honored in Albany

On Tuesday, December 2nd, 2014 Pride for Youth Director, Pete Carney was honored in Albany, NY, receiving the NYS DOH Commissioner's Special Recognition Award for improving the health and well-being of NYS LGBTQ community. Pete has been PFY's director since 2008 and is responsible for the development and implementation of PFY's many innovative programs for LGBTQ youth and young adults on Long Island. Pete is pictured above with Elissa Nolan, NYS AIDS Institute Contract Manager and Carmen Vazquez, Coordinator of the LGBT Health Unit at the NYS DOH. Pride for Youth is thrilled to see Pete recognized for his dedication to the LGBTQ community on LI!

Can a Pill a Day Prevent HIV? Come to PFY's PrEP/PEP Community Forum and get info!

Can a Pill a Day Prevent HIV? Pride for Youth in collaboration with North Shore/LIJ will be holding a PrEP/PEP Community Forum on Wednesday, December 10th, 2014 at 6pm at our Bellmore offices. Get all your questions answered and find out if PrEPis for you! Free & confidential HIV testing and ACA enrollment will also be available. Open to all members of the Long Island community.

Meet The Program Leaders of 2014!

Name: Mookie Mersten

Age: 18

Sexual orientation: Gay!!!

Why I became a Program Leader: To make a difference in Long Islands Community.

Hobbies & interests: My band, softball.

Life goals: To headline a stadium tour.

Name: Melissa Barrett

Age: 19

Why I became a Program Leader: In high school I didn’t have many people to turn to for support. Now I have the opportunity to be that person for someone else!! Also all of the topics that we learn in the Program Leader program are very important and aren’t discussed often.

Hobbies & interests: Running, hiking, nature walks, soldering, building mini robots, pole vaulting, renewable energy, motorcycles, Beyonce, Michael Jackson, hydroponic systems.

Life goals: I want to own a motorcycle and travel the world. Live in a place where I am energy sufficient and independent. Even though I need money, I don’t care about it, rather live a happy/fun life without it!

Name: Nico Rumpf

Age: 19

Why I became a Program Leader: To help people and educate youth on sexual health.

Hobbies & interests: Netflix, tumblr, Nintendo 64, anime

Life goals: Being financially stable, bring fully transitioned and comfortable in my own skin. 

Meet the Program Leaders of 2014!

Name: Myrtle Montague

Age: 19

Why I became a Program Leader: I became a Program Leader because I want to educate people my age about sexual health topics and other important issues.

Hobbies & interests: Music, reading, Anne Hathaway.

Life goals: I ideally want to become a music teacher or engineer, and marry Anne Hathaway. 

Name: Gary Loiacano

Age: 19

Sexual orientation: Bisexual

Why I became a Program Leader: I want to watch the world we all share become a better place for everyone. This is why I’m a Program Leader.

Hobbies & interests: I love music, writing, reading, and all sorts of other boring academics.

Life goals: My biggest life goal is to have a life.

Name: Kermit Burchell Mitchell the 3rd

Age: 16

Sexual orientation: Gay

Why I became a Program Leader: I decided to apply for the Program Leader position when I realized I can get paid for learning about thinks I wanted to learn while being able to help out my co-workers and the LGBTQ community.

Hobbies & interests: I love playing competitive video games, most notably; Pokemon, League of Legends, Yugion, Super Smash Bros, Mario Kart; as well as RPG and strategy games like Zelda, Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, etc.

Life goals: Though I have many life goals, the three most important life goals I have are:

1             -To obtain and perpetuate a loving relationship with a significant other (completed!)

2            - To create a successful video game (working on it!)

3            -To establish a business that will sell and distribute the game (working on it!)

Meet the Program Leaders of 2014!

Name: Alejandro Garcia

Age: 18

Sexual orientation: Gay

Why I became a Program Leader: I chose to become a Program Leader to expand my knowledge, assist others, and become more involved within the LBGTQ community. I chase to face challenges within myself and help others through theirs. To know the right way to say things and grow, develop into a young man who has a drive to be the change he’d like to see.

Hobbies & interests: I enjoy writing stories that never seem to finish, poetry, and short plays. I love to run when I’m not being lazy. I absolutely love Indie Music, café’s, and movie nights that are memoir filled.  

Life goals: I aspire to become a knowledgeable man, not for the vanity, but to educate and cause a positive impact. I will be the father of open-minded children who stand for what they believe and a husband to an amazing man, all while keeping the connection to my family.

Name: Michael O’Connor

Age: 20

Sexual orientation: Pansexual

Why I became a Program Leader: This is my third and final year with the Program Leader program. Being a Program Leader has opened many of unique opportunities for me which I will cherish for the rest of my life. The main reason I chose to apply for this position was because I wanted to make a difference in a underrepresented community..

Hobbies & interests: I enjoy many forms of art as well as writing and am currently working to write and produce my first screen play.

Life goals: My life goals mainly include becoming successful in either the social work, or graphic design profession. 

Meet the Program Leaders of 2014!

Name: Eric Thompson

Age: 19

Sexual orientation: Gay

Why I became a Program Leader: I became a program leader to educate my peers, and lead my community to successful health habits.

Hobbies & interests: I enjoy jogging, singing and learning new things! I also like to eat!

Life goals: I want to own a small business, start a family with a mortgage and three children. I also want a husky.

Name: Carina Velasquez

Age: 19

Why I became a Program Leader: To bring awareness to social issues concerning the LGBTQ community.

Hobbies & interests: Playing guitar, longboarding, going to the beach, psychology.

Life goals: To become a psychologist and open up my own practice.

Name: Jarod Dimatos

Age: 17

Sexual orientation: Gay

Why I became a Program Leader: I became a Program Leader because I’m very close to the staff and participants of PFY. I love to help the community in any way possible and this job allows me to. On top of all that I’m very intrigued by the world of healthcare and I always learn something at work, not something everyone can say.

Hobbies & interests: I’m a dancer day and night. That is where my devotion is. I love music, I play about 9 instruments and I’m also big on art as well.  

Life goals: Well, graduating high school and college would be great. Eventually getting married would also be nice. I’d like to make use of my dancing and find some sort of career regarding that. 

Pride for Youth Comes Out on TV!

Pride for Youth will be featured on the next edition of Nick News with Linda Ellerbee, “Coming Out”! This exciting new show surrounds the experiences of LGBTQ youth and gives them the opportunity to tell their individual coming out stories in their own words. Don’t miss it! The premier will air Tuesday, October 7^th at 8:00pm. National Coming Out Day is Thursday, October 11^th. How will you honor the day?

http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news/2014/10/02/openly-gay-kids-share-their-stories-in-nick-news-with-linda-ellerbee-coming-out-premiering-tuesday-oct-7-at-8-pm-et-pt-on-nickelodeon-337312/20141002nickelodeon03/