2 [ Out in the Mountains |August 2000 = news = AIDS Czar to Appear at conference BY DOUG EBELING Senator James Jeffords will host a day-long conference on HIV and the workplace on Friday, August 25 at the Capitol Plaza in Montpelier. The conference’s focus in the issues faced by those living with HIV who return to work after being on disability. Workshop topics include accommodation, benefits and insurance considerations in returning to work, confiden- tiality issues, new treatment options, along with vocational counseling. This is “a chance to make a serious commitment to doing more around employment issues for people living with HIV,” said Greg Voorheis, chair of conference planning. It “gives Vennont an opportunity to really move ahead.” Though the workshops are aimed at the needs of vocation- al counselors, case managers, and health care providers, there will also be a panel designed to address consumer issues. This panel will include speakers who will share their personal experiences of working and HIV. . Another major highlight is ‘the scheduled appearance of Annette Cappy, Brattleboro Town CIerk,issued,a civil union license to keynote speaker Sandra Thurman, the director of the Clinton Administration’s Office for AIDS policy. Ms. Thurman is slated to appear at a free reception in Burlington on the evening of August 24. The conference is sponsored by a variety of Vermont State agencies, among them the UVM College of Medicine, and groups such as the Vermont PWA Coalition, the Vermont AIDS Education and Training Center, the Vermont HIV/AIDS Consortium, and Fletcher Allen. The August 24 reception at -which Thurman will speak is being held at the Radisson in Burlington, and- is free and open to the public. The conference on August 25 at the Capitol Plaza in Montpelier is $30 in advance, $40 on the day of the event. Registration information is available by contacting Lori Yarrow at Vocational Rehab, at (802) 241-2201. Scholarships for consumers" are available through the PWA Coalition. ‘ Call (800) 698-8792 for infor- mation -or visit their Web site at www. vtpwac. org. V ' Thomas Lang and Alexander. Westemoff of Manchester-by-the-Sea, MA at 12:30am July 1. ' —::::1::::::::—::$:::$—::::‘ iNsInEailm departments World News III-tats ................. ...3 Ill-Ell .................... ......... latter: ................................... ..8 Milestone: ............................ ..1o Ilaalth In Walllleinu ................ .13 The source ............................ ..28. community compass ........... ..zs calendar ..... ....................... ..2o Art: & Entertainment ............ ..31 Travel ...... .......................... ..34 ttaylty ..................... ........... ..37 crow’: t:aws.... ....... .... ..17 Faith Matters ............. ..Z5 legal BI-iets ......... .... ..21 Stonehenge to stonewall .... ..20 columns Local Organizations Get Training BY JASON WHIPPLE A cooperative program between a national foundation and Vermont-based foundation is getting good reviews from local participants. OutGiving, a project of the Colorado-based Gill Foundation, is being hosted _. locally‘ by the I Samara Foundation of Vermont. This series of nearly free workshops provides training and intensive coaching to organizations to help them become better fundraisers and stronger insti- tutions. The program is intend- ed for both non-profit GLBT and non-GLBT ally organiza- tions. Three presentations have been held so far. The first two workshops — focusing on the fundamentals of fundraising — were presented by Donna Red Wing. Forty-five people attended, representing 22 orga- nizations, 10 of which were GLBT or HIV/AIDS organiza- tions. In the third workshop, concentration was o_n develop- ment planning; there were 30 people present, 6 representing non-profit organizations that had not been present at the first two workshops. Susan Baker, from .the Nature Conservancy in Montpelier, attended the first workshop despite her extensive professional background. ‘‘I went to be supportive," she said, “and found it to be an excellent overview of fundrais- ing. It’s incredible that the Samara Foundation and the Gill Foundation are working so closely together to bring these "opportunities to Vermont resi- dents.” ; Naomi and Bill Corey of - Bennington are so far impressed with the collective effort. “We plan to use this information to enrich our cur- rent experience and to help us out in the future.” At an excel- lent price — five dollars per per- son to cover the cost of refresh- ments — they found it to be an equally excellent opportunity. Despite the lengthy commute, they plan to attend the remain- ing workshops scheduled for the series. “We believe that learning and working together builds bridges, breaks barriers and enhances collaboration among groups that have little..or no prior relationship.” Bill Lippert, executive director of the Samara Foundation, is already witnessing the materi- alization ‘ of‘ ‘these ' 'Gill Foundation goals as he ‘sees networking 'opportunities develop throughout the state. “It’s more than I expected; I’m thrilled that the response has been so gratifying,” he said. “One of the best things about the workshops is the Outgivingmanual you receive that has the basic outline of all the workshops,” said Roland Palmer of Mountain Pride Media. “l have already pulled things from it to share with our board of directors and commit- tees.” _ There will be six more workshops this year. “Build a Better Board” and “Mail for Money” have already been scheduled for September 9 and 23. Other upcoming sessions include “Recruit! And Reward Volunteers,” “Fix Your Fundraising Events,” and “Breathe Life into Planned Giving.” At least one of these will be offered on Vermont Interactive Television. “We are taking risks and try- ing new ideas,_._challenging non-profits to embrace new business models and helping people think differently about philanthropy,” says the Gill Foundation annual report. The foundation chose the entire state of Vermont as one of nine OutG.iving lnCommunity _sites for 2000, marking the first time an entire state has been chosen for the proj_ect—.V Controversy surrounds youth programs continued trom page one contacted by a school and invited in to give the presenta- tion. According to Elston, the invitation most often comes because educators become aware. of the use of “antigay epithets” or because a student, or the parent of a student, com- plains about harassment inci- dents. Outright will discuss “general respect for differ- ences” and try to help educa- tors work towards a safer envi- ronment for all of their stu- dents. ' Outright receives money from the state -education budget to cover the costs associated with providing the Safer Schools presentations. There is approximately $12,000 avail- able to the agency, although it is not delivered to the group up front. The agency receives the money on an invoice basis for their actual program expenses, such as travel and materials used in the presentation. A second, separate program is “HIV/AIDS Risk Reduction and Prevention.” This program is never presented in schools. It is offered on-site at the Outright center in Burlington on a monthly basis. This pre- sentation includes frank and explicit talk about sex, and the risk and prevention of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. Elston says that they talk about sex, provide condoms, and “make no apologies for that.” 8 According to Elston, the .audience for this program are those already served by Outright, and the agency does- n’t “make decisions about whether what they aredoing is good or bad; we give them the infonnation to make decisions for themselves.” The'HIV/AIDS presenta- ' tions are funded by a $25,000 grant from the federal govem- ment’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In order to receive the money, Outright must meet specific objectives and make detailed reports to the CDC regarding the number of programs offered, the number of youth who attend, and the number of new attendees to the program. This presentation also includes the use of a one-page quiz to gauge attendees’ knowledge of sexually trans- mitted diseases. This informa- tion is used to tailor the presen- tation to address any specific misinformation or misunder- standings. . Elston believes that civil union opponents are intention- ally combining aspects of both of these programs, and taking aspects of them out of context, in order to fan the flames of the angry reaction to civil unions among some Vermonters. “Unfortunately,” he said, “who they are_ really affecting are youth who desperately need a safe place to find sup- port, askquestions, and find friends.” Tawnya McDonald, a mem- ber of the volunteer governing board, said that the reaction of _ the youth served by Outright is “anger that they are being mis- represented. We wouldn’t be facing these attacks if it wasn’t for civil unions and it wasn’t an election year.” McDonald said some of the youth served by Outright are able to vote, and that these attacks may have the impact of energizing and empowering them to get involved. She hoped that others would take action also: ‘‘It is time for the community to support our youth.”V