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| Program Framework Details |
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Providing a Safe Space
Building Knowledge
Building Capacity
Building Bridges
Recognizing and Celebrating
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Providing a Safe Space
We offer a space where youth feel safe to be themselves, to learn from each other, to try new things, and to see and be reminded of their own strengths. Recognizing the particular pressures facing youth from LGBTQ communities, and acknowledging the effects of homophobia, bi-phobia, and trans-phobia on personal and community health, Project Acorn is principally concerned with providing a safe space for our youth…
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To gain confidence… in who they are individually, the families and communities they are a part of, and to take on leadership roles that interest them.
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To be vulnerable… to let down some of their defenses, to process some of their own experiences, and to be supported to take risks.
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To be role models and leaders... by recognizing their own skills and strengths and giving them the space to explore and share their strengths with others.
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Building Knowledge
We recognize that knowledge is power and that providing opportunities for learning is a key to the success of leaders. To assist in the building and developing of leadership, Project Acorn provides youth with opportunities to build knowledge…
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Of Self… reflecting on and building a knowledge of self as a leader, as well as a greater sense of their individuality and how one interacts with the world.
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Of Our Communities, History, and Context… by exploring the diversity of LGBTQ histories, our collective context, and encouraging inspiration and the sharing of wisdom across generations.
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Of Available Resources… by linking to supports and information for leaders and other opportunities in their own communities.
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Building Capacity
We prize ‘learning by doing’, to explore leadership through experiential activities, while also offering a program that builds leadership to meet the needs of communities, is grounded in social justice, and offers practical and theoretical skills. We want to offer tools and resources for youth…
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To Organize and to Act: bringing together peers and community members to make change that they want to see, in ways that are most consistent with who they are.
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To Step Back… letting others take a turn and recognizing the various roles that leaders take.
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To Think Critically: exploring their own power and privilege, critiquing societal norms and institutions, and encouraging the questioning and challenging of our daily messaging and education.
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Building Bridges
We see the value in bringing diverse groups and individuals together, to learn about their differences, to build bridges across their commonalities, and to experience the power of seeing another’s experience that relates to their own. It can be these bridges that widen individual perspectives and build a broader community. Project Acorn aims to build bridges…
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Between LGBTQ youth and youth in LGBTQ families , and those who doubly identify (two key youth communities that are important to the Ten Oaks Project)… offering opportunities to learn from each others’ experiences and build a united sense of community.
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Between ‘Camp’ and ‘Life’: by aiming to support a successful transition from the safety, community, and leadership of Project Acorn to their home life.
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Between Difference, Generations, and Each Other: by encouraging individual and community experiences and perspectives to be valued and heard, youth and adults to mentor and learn from each other, and fostering a healthy dialogue of the ways in which our connections and commonalities can bring us together.
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Recognizing and Celebrating
Project Acorn is learning, building, and growth, without the loss of wacky, campy fun… We recognize the strengths and experiences participants arrive with, as well as the value of LGBTQ communities around us. Project Acorn is as much about building as it is about celebrating …
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Our Uniqueness and History … valuing the strengths within each of us individually and the gifts and leadership that flow, and have historically flowed, from LGBTQ communities.
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The Skills and Strengths We Have: recognizing the leadership skills that participants and volunteers will come with, we look to encourage programming to tease out the particular strengths that each of us already possess.
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Youth: recognizing youth wisdom and capacity for leadership in every aspect of our program, specifically through youth engagement in the development and delivery of Project Acorn.
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“In all that we do, we make it ours, with lasting memories to take away”
This quotation from the founding Project Acorn Youth Advisory Committee reminds us that the Ten Oaks Project has a unique perspective that we bring to a Leadership Retreat for Youth from LGBTQ communities. We are motivated by our Mission, Vision and Values, building on the strengths and lessons of Camp Ten Oaks, and deliver through passion, understanding and the commitment of communities and individuals involved in our Project.
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