History

Condensed History

Indiana Youth Group was founded in 1987 by a few members of the Gay and Lesbian Switchboard in response to the dismal suicide, homeless, and dropout rates of self-identified gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender youth in Indianapolis. IYG held its first meetings in the living room of founders, Chris Gonzales and Jeff Werner. In 1992 with help from the Health Foundation, IYG purchased its present facility, a small white house on the southwest corner of 46th and Binford Boulevard. By 1993 funds were found to renovate the facility and add an activity room and 4 offices. In 1998 at the IYG Youth Quarterly Business Meeting, youth members vote to make the IYG Youth Center's location public (prior to this youth found out about IYG only by calling the Gay and Lesbian Switchboard or by word of mouth.) Between 2000 and 2003, IYG's Executive Director expanded the programming, staff, and budget. With his departure the organization went through much reorganization and consolidation, ending with the board of director's mandate to be mission driven rather than grant lead. Events such as the annual Art Auction and the LGBT Film Festival became fundraisers for IYG. Grants were sought from HIV/AIDS prevention sources and anti-tobacco sources. Grants were written to fund IYG's outreach into the schools and to help GSAs (Gay Straight Alliances) form. In 2007 the Board of Directors reversed its prior decision and decided to pursue United Way Funding (previously the board refused to apply to United Way due to United Way's support of the Boy Scouts, a fervent anti-LGBT organization.) In December of 2008, IYG became a United Way affiliate. Throughout its history, IYG has consistently provided core services at the Youth Activity Center. Support groups, educational workshops, leadership opportunities, and drop-in times have continued year in and year out. IYG has also through the years responded to the needs of youth by adding or laying down different peripheral programs. These have consisted of operating the only peer-run youth hotline (in the 1980s), a house for independent living, a network of IYG "chapters" around the state, and a homeless outreach program to name a few.

A More Detailed History of IYG:

20 Years of Support: an Organizational History of Indiana Youth Group

Written by Jill Thomas, May, 2008

"The time has come for us as a society to stop teaching these kids to hate themselves. I have to deal with them on a daily basis. I hear the pain and see the pain. It's just not right. I can't understand it being right by anybody's value code." ~ Chris Gonzalez, Indiana Youth Group founder, as quoted in an Indianapolis Star interview.

Humble Beginnings
To some, it just does not feel like it was that long ago that Indiana Youth Group was born, but to current youth members, it was more than a lifetime ago. Either way, for more than 21 years the organization has been in the business of transforming the lives of LGBT youth. Indiana Youth Group began with a hotline, though different than the one that gained the organization national recognition. The Indianapolis Gay Switchboard often received calls from youth in distress, and as volunteer counselors for the hotline, Chris Gonzalez and Pat Jordan would be the first to respond to these youth. The problem was, there was no place to refer these youth in crisis. The void in resources for this population inspired the two switchboard volunteers to take action. In 1988 Gonzalez and his partner, Jeff Werner, decided to host an LGBT youth support group out of their own home. The support group soon saw an encouraging response in youth attendance. "There was no real structure for the meetings at the time. It was a time for the youth to talk about what was on their minds," stated Tricia Pohlman, who served as the IYG Board of Directors Vice President from 1988 to 1991. "The support groups turned into meeting once a week at the old Damien Center. We did a lot of outings back then. The group held skate parties, had camp retreats at Bradford Woods, and we even went to the March on Washington". Pohlman recalls that the group was so active then because of the constant drive of the organization's founders, "I don't recall really knowing Chris on a social level. It was like he was always doing something to further the cause of IYG. Chris was the youth group".

Major Growth
In 1991, Indiana Youth Group found a chance to further reach youth in distress with their messages of support. The organization was funded a $50,000 grant from the U.S. Conference of Mayors for both HIV prevention education and the operation of a youth switchboard (1). The hotline later secured more funding from the Centers of Disease Control and the Indiana State Department of Health in the following year. IYG's peer counseling hotline became the first toll- free switchboard for LGBT youth in the nation. During 1991, the hotline trained 38 peer counselors and received 45,000 calls. It was soon after that funding from The Health Foundation of Greater Indiana came for the organization to move into the cozy gray house on 46th and Binford where the organization continues to host programs today. The first meeting in the "new" center occurred in August of 1992. Upon obtaining the location, IYG became one of only three programs of its kind in the entire country. Chris McDivitt, former IYG youth and current volunteer recalls what it was like to be a peer counselor for the hotline. "Originally, I found out about Indiana Youth Group when I was 19 years old and had placed a call to the switchboard." McDivitt attended IYG as a youth for two years, and in that time he found acceptance. "It was Chris Gonzales that put me at ease. I remember he always gave you his full attention and listened to you. With time he sought out the skills that I had and got me involved in working with the Switchboard. It made me feel really good about myself". In the beginning the peer counselor hotline, the focus on HIV prevention education, and the unique approach to reaching LGBT youth made IYG a model youth service program in the country. By 1992, IYG gained national attention for the organization's cutting edge programs and was featured on ABC's 20/20 and in an article in the Advocate. In the early days IYG provided a safe environment for youth by keeping the location of the program strictly confidential. Youth were only given the location of the youth center after calling the Switchboard. This system worked well because through the Switchboard the organization received calls from LGBT youth all over the country. It was then that Gonzales saw a need to expand the support for these youth to other locations in Indiana. The idea for satellite meetings across the state soon came about.

Reaching OUTward
"I remember I heard Chris Gonzales speak somewhere about the crisis situations of some of the youth. That was what inspired me to get involved," recalls IYG volunteer Tina Darwin. "It was 1992 or 1993 that the other Indiana chapters began. I volunteered with the Lafayette location." Eventually, IYG built nine other chapters in Indiana cities and towns. At that time, the chapters in the rural areas had a lot of concerns for safety. "Most of the kids would come to the meetings, which were held one Tuesday night a month, and their parents did not know," stated Darwin. "Our meetings were held in a church who knew who we were and the purpose of our meetings. There was also a group of boy scouts that would meet in the same building at the same time. We could never really be open to anybody as to who we were though, for fear of what might happen. The youth were only given the location of the meeting after calling the hotline and being interviewed first." Darwin recalled that youth were so afraid of being discovered, that many of them only came to a meeting once in a while to avoid rousing suspicions with parents about their being gay. Of the youth who attended the meetings, she recalled that none of the youth were out to their parents. " There was one youth who was only ever able to make it to a couple of meetings, but I remember him telling us that just his knowing that we existed provided him with great comfort and support". In addition to the state chapters and the Switchboard, IYG quickly expanded it's programs. In 1991 IYG held the first annual Prom for the organization, which continues to be an annual event today. The Pen Pal program also started in the early 90's, and by 1993 had over 350 members from across the country. Overall, it was estimated that 5,000 youth came face to face with IYG programs in the first six years of existence. The impact of the agency on youth during the early days was immeasurable "IYG helped me break down the fear of my peers," recalls McDivitt today, "it completely changed my life because it helped me realize that I was no longer dealing with this alone". In Memory of the Founders The news appeared on the front page of the Indianapolis Star on May 7th, 1994 under the heading Prominent Gay Leader Chris Gonzales Dies. The article highlighted the profound accomplishments of the organization's founder. His passing came as a shock to everybody, because it was only two days beforehand that Gonzales was in New York lobbying for funding. Upon coming home he fell ill and passed away suddenly on May 5, 1994. In the article there is a quote from his mother, Valerie Scott-Gonzales, that captures what so many people knew and loved about the man. "He was sent here, I believe, for a mission. He got done what he was supposed to do. Now it's up to the rest of us to carry on". Upon Gonzales' passing, his partner, Jeff Werner led the organization as the new Executive Director and remained in the position until he resigned in October, 1996. Werner passed away in January, 1997.

Moving Forward
In April of 1997 IYG hired its third Executive Director, Steve Laughner. It was at this time that the staff expanded to include full time positions like the Health Case Manager, Social Case Manager, and Outreach Coordinator. This expansion was due in part to a large federal grant IYG obtained through the Youth Access Program. "The research and grant writing began in 1993 for the Youth Access Project," recalls Dr. Eric Wright. Dr. Wright served as a researcher for the Youth Access Project from 1993 to 1998, and during that time became very much involved in the infrastructure of the programs of IYG. From 1999 to 2001 he served as the President for the Board of Directors. "The funding from the Youth Access Program came from Ryan White Care Act Title IV money and it was considered a program of National Significance." Dr. Wright stated. The Youth Access Program was monumental for the organization because it involved some thorough research on adolescent health and youth related prevention which made IYG one of 9 programs in the country doing this at the time. "The vision that Chris Gonzales articulated for the program was to have a primary healthcare provider onsite as well as case managers and a nurse practitioner for onsite testing," Dr. Wright recalled. Though in the end, there was a "drift from the original idea" and the staff had to restructure into different positions. Laughner left the agency in 1999, at which time Dr. Wright stepped in as the President of the agency's Board of Directors. The agency then hired Dr. Robert Connolly as the Executive Director in 2000.

Homeless Youth
Many national statistics state that LGBT youth are disproportionately overrepresented in the nation's homeless population. Because of this, IYG started to create programs to assist homeless and at risk LGBT youth as early as 1994, when the organization founded a transitional housing unit. The program existed until May of 1995. The issue of homelessness became a growing concern when national statistics surfaced citing that anywhere from 16 - 40 % of all homeless youth are LGBT. Because of this disproportionate representation, in the year 2001, Executive Director Rob Connolly led the organization in the creation of a homeless street outreach program. The program was funded by a three year grant from the Administration of Children and Families, and focused on connecting homeless and "sofa surfing" youth to needed resources via street outreach. By the time the funding for the program ended in 2004, hundreds of area LGBT youth had been linked to various services such as healthcare, job programs, emergency shelter, housing, transportation, food, and even furniture for their apartments through the IYG Street Outreach Program. On the Net: The New Form of Outreach

In the new millennium, the organization started to see a lot of youth utilizing the web to meet other youth and to get needed information on health concerns, resources, and other for general interests. IYG saw all of this online activity as a new and inexpensive way to outreach to youth everywhere with messages of drug prevention, HIV prevention, and messages of support. In 2003, IYG launched two internet based outreach programs. The first was funded by the Indiana State Department of Health and used a peer to peer conversational model to get HIV prevention information to young people online. The second program was funded through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Association and again used a peer to peer model to educate youth on the dangers of popular club drugs. Today, IYG continues this mode of outreach and operates an HIV prevention cyber outreach program funded through the Indiana AIDS Fund. Today's Youth, Tomorrow's Leaders

If IYG is known for anything, it is known for creating youth leaders in the LGBT community. From the organizational beginnings of peer to peer counseling to speaking on LGBT issues at the statehouse, IYG youth have become well rounded leaders in the community over the years. Community leadership really became an organizational focus in 2002 when Executive Director, Robert Connolly instilled the Community Youth Development (CYD) Model into the agency culture. The essence of CYD was to empower youth to have a hand in the decision making process at every level of the organization. At that time, two youth spots were made available on the Board of Directors so youth truly were at the backbone of the decision making process of the organization. Throughout the years the opportunity for youth leadership has presented itself in many ways, particularly around politics. From attending the March on Washington in the early 90's to rallying to end SJR-7 in Indiana, IYG youth have been shaped by their firsthand experiences in LGBT Activism.

LGBT Youth in School
The leadership skills of IYG youth have transferred nicely into the academic setting over the years to address issues of student rights within the school. In 2005, IYG formed the first ever Indiana GSA Network to provide support to existing area GSA's and assist students in creating new GSA's in their schools. As part of this venture, IYG youth and staff took part in the first National GSA Network Conference in San Francisco in July 2006. IYG currently receives funding from the Eli Lilly and Company Foundation for the support of the Indiana GSA Network. In 2006, a new program focused on LGBT student leadership was created by Dr. Frank Ross of IUPUI. The IYG Student Leadership Academy offers workshops for LGBT High School students to develop the skills necessary to succeed both as a student and in future careers. The program is currently offered to IYG youth throughout the academic year.

Creative Ventures
Under the leadership of Rob Connolly, IYG embarked upon two major fundraising ventures that have truly stood the test of time. In 2001 IYG presented the first Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival which screened 15 films and featured special guest stars. During that same year, the first annual IYG Art Auction fundraiser took place, featuring art from IYG youth and professional artists. Both events continue on as the organization's two biggest fundraisers and major community events. Twenty Years and Counting! After two decades of service to LGBT youth, Indiana Youth Group celebrated the organization's success with a 20 Year Anniversary Dinner at the Indiana Historical Society. The dinner featured IYG Alum, IYG youth, a special tribute to the founders, and guest speaker Keith Boykin.