Young Women & Girls Forum

A Community Forum: The Impact of Sexually Based Crimes on Young Women of Color in NYC

A Networking Event in Recognition of #NWGHAAD

YWCHAC Partner HEAT Program's Girls Glam Day

Women of Color Continue to be Disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS

In Recognition of National Women & Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

#IWD

International Women's Day 2017

#WE_SPEAK for those who've yet to recognize the power in their voices.

2016 Holiday Card

National HIV Testing Day 2016

This Black Woman’s HIV Story Is a Warning for Everyone

It’s National HIV Testing Day. Do you know your status?

 

BY: DANIELLE YOUNG

Posted: June 27, 2016http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2016/06/one-black-womans-hiv-story-is-a-warning-for-everyone/

#WE_SPEAK Pride 16

#WE_SPEAK In Solidarity with Orlando Shooting Victims

Our collective hearts go out to the family and friends of those who lost their lives in Orlando, Fl. on Sunday, June 12 at the night club, Pulse. 

National Council of Negro Women Queens County

The National Council of Negro Women Queens County honored Co- Founder Claire Simon & Co-Director, Kymsha Henry at their Annual Dinner Sunday, June 5 at the beautiful Antun's Catering Hall. This year's theme: "Celebrating Innovators Who Take Big Steps to Change the Future."

National Council of Negro Women, Inc.

Extraordinary educator and political leader Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955) founded NCNW in 1935 and envisioned it to be an "organization of organizations" that would represent the national and international concerns of Black women. It would also give Black women the opportunity to realize their goals for social justice and human rights through united, constructive action. 

Today, the National Council of Negro Women, Inc. (NCNW) is a council of 39 affiliated national African American women's organizations and over 240sections - connecting nearly 4 million women worldwide!

YWCHAC Joins the #SHEWILLBE NYC Council Young Women's Initiative

In May of 2015, New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, along with her colleagues, Council Members Julissa Ferreras-Copeland, Elizabeth Crowley, Laurie Cumbo and Darlene Mealy, announced the launch of the New York City Council's Young Women’s Initiative (YWI).

YWI seeks to build a lasting blueprint for investing in the future of young women and girls in New York City over the long-term, especially those of color. YWI focused on the following:

               - Addressing the needs of young women and girls ages 12–24, knowing that areas for intervention may reach a wider age range;

               - Spotlighting issues experienced by women and girls of color, knowing that when inequity is disaggregated by race and gender, disparities in outcomes in New York City are overwhelmingly concentrated in communities of color; and

                -Embracing an inclusive framework around gender beyond the binary, ensuring that transgender women and gender-non-conforming young women are also centered in this work.

Aligned with the Council’s commitment to participatory governance and knowing that young women and girls are experts in their own lives, the City Council created a Young Women’s Advisory Council (YWAC), which played a key role during the process.

The City Council called upon three leaders for racial and gender justice to serve as Initiative Co-Chairs: Ana Oliveira, CEO of the New York Women’s Foundation; Danielle Moss Lee, CEO of the YWCA of New York City; and Joanne Smith, Founder and Executive Director of Girls for Gender Equity. In this capacity, they helped provide the vision, structure and framework for YWI. Initiative Co-Chairs then formed a Steering Committee of grassroots advocates, policy experts and leaders of YWAC, who convened a Working Group process to develop recommendations for improving the lives of young women and girls.

YWCHAC Co- Directors Being Honored by the National Council of Negro Women, Inc. Queens County Section

YGB Awards 2/24/16

 YWCHAC Co-Founder, Claire Simon & Co-Director, Kymsha Henry

 received the Civic Leadership & Community Service Award 

at the NetLinkz Group, Inc. 
Unified NetWork of Business Professionals
2016 YOUNG, GIFTED & BLACK ENTREPRENEURIAL AWARDS

#WE_SPEAK Alum testifies at the NYC Council Hearing on Sex Ed Oversight

#WE_SPEAK Alum, May Vutrapongvatana (white blazer), testifying at the NYC Council on Sex Education Oversight sitting with former Steering Committee Member, Bianca Lopez-Bakke of Boom Health (R).

"Lack of comprehensive sexual education is a human rights violation...," May V.

To that statement, there were visible silent applauds from Councilwoman Laurie Cumbo, 35th District.

Watch Live Stream of YWCHAC Alumni participate in today’s City Council hearing on Oversight: Sex Education in NYC Schools at 11am

Watch the Live Stream of YWCHAC Alumni participate in today’s City Council hearing on Oversight: Sex Education in NYC Schools at 11am

This is why #WE_SPEAK: (Women Empowered Support Protect Education Advocate Know)

YWCHAC is in support of the bills on the table and will be asking that the NYC City Council also fund the NYC Sex Education Mandate issued by Mayor M. Bloomberg (August 2011).

http://legistar.council.nyc.gov/webcasts/

Oversight: Sex Education in NYC Schools

-&-

Int. No. 771 - In relation to requiring the department of education to report on student health services.*

Int. No.  - In relation to requiring transparency from the department of education on instructors receiving training in sexual health education.**

Int. No.  - In relation to requiring the department of education to report information regarding comprehensive health education.***

*Please see the full text of Int. No. 771 at the following link: http://legistar.council.nyc.gov/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=2271074&GUID=838E8B8C-C57D-44A6-884D-9B096E94D101&Options=&Search=

**Please see the full text of Int. No. at the following link: http://legistar.council.nyc.gov/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=2483808&GUID=1BCDE68B-17F4-4822-9B2B-61300AD11F7A&Options=&Search=  

Love & Politics 2015

YWCHAC supports LOVE + POLITICS 2015 

Tuesday, June 30, 2015 between 7pm – 10:30pm

The Attic, 251 West 48th Street,  New York, NY.

RSVP: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/love-politics-2015-tickets-17523847299?aff=es2

In recognition of National HIV Testing Day, join us for cocktails & appetizers as we honor activists, celebrities and politicians that use their influence to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS. Music by DJ Jon Quick (WBLS)

Sponsors: RCA; CURLS 

Partners: Manhattan Borough President, Gale Brewer; NBLCA; Housing Works; Empire State Medical Association (ESMA); Human Intonations; Celestrial Caring Enterprises; #BEHIVSURE.  

Media Sponsor:  NV Magazine

Honorees - Tia Hines, Author; Ritchie Torres, NYC Council Member; Carine Jocelyn, CEO, Diaspora Community Services.  

NHTD 2015

National HIV Testing Day

YWCHAC Co-Founder Being Honored by Community Partner, Iris House 5/4/15

WE SPEAK BU Safer Sex Education Carnival 4/17/15

Today is National Youth HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

NWGHAAD

Get Tested, Seek Support & Treatment

#WE_SPEAK for those young women and girls who've yet to find their voices. 

Chakena Conway Memorial Service 01.23.15

In Loving Memory

Chakena R. Conway

Also known as

DaviD Isaiah Joseph

10/10/86 – 1/8/15

Please join us for a Celebration of Life for Chakena

Friday, January 23^rd, 2015

6:00 – 8:00pm

(Doors Open at 5:30pm)

Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies

Laura Parsons Pratt Conference Room on the First Floor

281 Park Avenue South (at 22^nd. St.)

Take the #6 train to 23^rd St. 

Youth Resources...YWCHAC is Thankful

YWCHAC is thankful for the national focus on adolescents and young adults. The Office of Adolescent Health highlights five resources that are providing the nation’s emerging demographic with much needed life altering information.

The transitions occurring in adolescence and young adulthood are a time of growth and vulnerability for young people. Maintaining support through both these periods is important, especially as career and personal pathways become more complex. The Institute of Medicine’s new report, “Investing in the Health and Well-Being of Young Adults,” investigates specific health issues that young adults face and the actions programs and policymakers can take to help. Similarly, “Women and Girls of Color: Addressing Challenges and Expanding Opportunity,” from the White House Council on Women and Girls, shares the successes of evidence-based programming to improve economic and health outcomes for minority girls and women. Both reports recognize the progress that has been made, while highlighting the work that remains to be done.

Schools can use new resources to promote safe spaces for students and help them build healthier relationships, including training for school support personnel to address dating violence (from the National Center for Safe and Supportive Learning Environments) and guidance on preventing sexual violence (from the U.S. Department of Education). Just as safe physical spaces can help prevent in-person bullying and violence, safe online spaces can help prevent cyber bullying. The Federal Trade Commission has a new site with free printed materials targeted to adolescents on preventing cyber bullying. Additionally, the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention have new tip cards on cyber bullying for law enforcement professionals. 

Flu season typically starts in the fall and peaks around December or January; approximately five to 20 percent of people in the U.S. get the flu each year. Fortunately, you can prevent the flu with the flu vaccine, recommended for everyone six months and older. Flu.gov has many resources to help people stay healthy during flu season, including a flu vaccine locator widget and a handy infographic that explains the different types of flu vaccines and dispels myths about the vaccine. 

Schools play an important role in adolescents’ nutrition. Farm to School programs operate in over 40,000 schools across the United States and expose students to locally grown foods. The Food and Nutrition Service, within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), has developed a new toolkit that walks schools through the processes of starting and growing these programs. Another tool that helps adolescents eat better is USDA's SuperTracker. To supplement this resource, USDA recently released lesson plans high school teachers can use to introduce students to the tool.

The Office of Adolescent Health updated their fact sheets on adolescent healthy relationships, mental health, physical health, reproductive health, and substance abuse. These updated sheets enable visitors to see the health status of adolescents across all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Guam. Visitors can browse the data using either the interactive map or the list of states. Find out how teens in your state fare in measures of health such as tobacco use, physical activity, and more!

WE SPEAK BU presents It Can't Happen to Me

YWCHAC Alum, May Vutrapongvatana with Councilman Ben Kallos, 5th District and Co-Founder, Claire Simon (far right), Tracie Gardner, Legal Action Center (left) and staffer.  

YWCHAC Summer Update

YWCHAC spent the month of June spreading prevention messages to young women of color in NYC and to young women of color across the pond in London. 

I'M POSSIBLE a women's empowerment movement of London,  created by Simone Bresi-Ando sponsored a young women's empowerment day at local school in London. Kymsha Henry, Co-Director, facilitate a workshop on social influences via Skype.  The experience was both fun and enlightening on both sides of the pond.  

YWCHAC Alum, May Vutrapongvatana is spending her summer as an intern with Councilman Ben Kallos, 5th District focusing on the implementation of the city-wide mandate of sexual health classes for NYC public school students

(Kymsha Henry, supporter Dawn Skeete Walker, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Claire Simon, Verneda White)

 YWCHAC Co Directors  with supporters and Sheryl Lee Ralph at the benefit performance, "Sometimes I Cry" at the Shomberg Center for Research in Black Culture, Harlem, NYC

LOVE & POLITICS III was held at Suite 36 in NYC to a host of well over 500 guests and where the HIV testing initiative for young professionals of color mix and mingle.  This year's honorees were NYC Councilman Robert Cornegy, Jr. 34th District-Brooklyn, US Congress Woman Yvette Clarke, Rapper/Entertainer-Doug E. Fresh, HIV/AIDS Activist-Hydeia Brodbent, TV Personality/Author Demetria Lucas.  YWCHAC serves on the planning committee.

An Evening wtih Sherly Lee Ralph 6.14.14

Sold Out

YWCHAC partners with
 Sister to Sister: One in the Spirit

to present An Evening of Empowerment with Sheryl Lee Ralph in a one-woman performance, “Sometimes I Cry,” to be held on Saturday, June 14, 2014, at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, in Harlem, NY. “Sometimes I Cry” is a one-woman show, written and conceived by award winning actress and honored AIDS activist Sheryl Lee Ralph. This moving and provocative show was inspired by the real life stories of women infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. Ralph becomes each one of these characters, breathing life into them and their stories with every move and simple gesture.

This performance by Sheryl Lee Ralph, albeit presented through entertainment, shines light on a serious health issue that disproportionately affects communities of color and is essential to the Harlem community. Additionally the work aligns itself with Sister to Sister’s mission to “educate to empower” women of color. It is important to note, that although it has been reported that AIDS has remained stable in recent years, there’s an estimated 50,000 new HIV infections that continue to surface annually. The Center for Disease Control’s National Surveillance, continues to collect, analyze and provide information about new and existing cases of the HIV infection, including AIDS. Admission is $35 and includes show, reception, and gift, tickets and registration is available online by visiting www.ywchac.org.

Media Partner: Black Celebrity Giving.com

Be Young Be Brooklyn Be Safe 5.22.14

Join Us!
Free Swag, DJ, Free & Confidential HIV Testing
The Park by Prospect Hall HS & Clara Barton HS

Gospel Under The Stars 6.13.14 @Restoration Plaza

Rejoice & Learn
Health Resources, Free & Confidential HIV & Hep. C Testing, Raffles, & More

May is National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month

References
Martin, J.A., Hamilton, B.E., & Ventura, S. J. (2013). Births: Final Data for 2012. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. Retrieved January 21, 2014, from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr62/nvsr62_09.pdf

Hamilton, B. E., Mathews, M. S., & Ventura, S. J. (2013). Declines in state teen birth rates by race and Hispanic origin. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. Retrieved January