Town Youth Club
Join The Club!
Town Youth Club (TYC) offers a variety of activities, programming, and support services to LGBTQIA youth and young adults in two age groups : Ages 13-17 & 18-25.
Please join Town Youth Club by completing the registration form below.
For more information call our Youth Services Manager Lasandra Wells a.k.a Sandy lasandra@oaklandlgbtqcenter.org or our Youth Services Coordinator Ashlee Banks ashlee@oaklandlgbtqcenter.org or call 510-882-2286
Confidentiality in Care
Protecting confidentiality is vital to young people's health and
well-being and plays a key role in health throughout our lives.
Personal Growth and Leadership Development
Human development is a lifelong process of physical, behavioral, cognitive, and emotional growth and change. In the early stages of life—from infancy to adulthood—enormous changes take place. Throughout the process, each person develops attitudes and values that guide choices, relationships, and understanding. Youth programming at the Oakland LGBTQ Community Center seeks to nurture a pipeline of LGBTQIA youth leaders who will become youth advocates and mentors, using the skills they develop to support, encourage, and inspire the next generation of LGBTQIA youth leaders.
Racial Justice and Intersectionality
Young LGBTQIA/same gender loving/queer people are leading the movement toward just and safe communities for all. Youth programming at the Center works to support youth on the front lines, working for the rights of Black, Latino/a/x, Asian and Pacific Islander, Native American, Muslim, immigrant, and refugee LGBTQIA youth.
LGBTQ Health and Rights
Young people have the right to lead healthy lives and need access to primary medical care that includes sexual health and re-productive education that is inclusive, honest, complete, and accurate. The CDC predicts that 1 in 2 black gay, bi, same gender loving, queer and transgender individuals, and 1 and 4 Latino/a/x gay, bi, queer and transgender individuals, will become infected with HIV within their lifetimes if current trends continue. The Center’s Wellness First Initiative – has a goal of getting to zero HIV infections and reducing sexually transmitted infections (STI’s) in Alameda County by offering one on one and group counseling, testing, and care management services to connect youth with the necessary resources to address their needs in a wholistic way. Our work also includes ending discrimination against young people living with HIV and providing them with access to life-saving treatments and supportive services to help them live healthier lives.
Housing = Healthcare
In Oakland, it is estimated that 70% of the homeless population is African American, even though they make up 23% of the population. LGBTQ youth are estimated to represent 40% of all homeless youth.Our wellness coordinators work with LGBTQIA youth from this population to help them to gain life-skills, find stable housing, access housing subsidies, food assistance, vocational training, advanced education opportunities, employment opportunities, substance abuse counseling and mental health support.
Substance Use Prevention
According to a report from the Trevor Projece, over half of LGBTQ youth (56%) used alcohol in the last year, including 47% of LGBTQ youth under the age of 21. Over one in three LGBTQ youth (34%) used marijuana in the last year, including 29% of LGBTQ youth under the age of 21. One in 10 (11%) LGBTQ youth reported having used a prescription drug that was not prescribed to them in the last year, and this rate was the same for those under and over the age of 21. TYC offers substance use prevention, education and linkage to substance use disorder counseling and treatment.
Youth & Family or Guardian Support
Higher rates of family rejection during adolescence were significantly associated with poorer health outcomes for LGBTQ young adults.
LGBTQ young adults who reported higher levels of family rejection during adolescence were 8.4 times more likely to report having attempted suicide, 5.9 times more likely to report high levels of depression, 3.4 times more likely to use illegal drugs, and 3.4 times more likely to report having engaged in unprotected sexual intercourse, compared with peers from families that reported no or low levels of family rejection. Parents and others seeking to learn more about how they can support their LGBTQ youth can contact our youth coordinators by completing the form below.
Please call one of these crisis lines if you
need someone to talk to right now!
LGBTQ YOUTH CRISIS LINE 24/7
1-866-488-7386
SUICIDE PREVENTION HOTLINE 24/7
1-800-273-8255