ROSMY's mission is ensuring Virginia's sexual minority youth an equal opportunity for success through support, education and advocacy and opportunities . Click the links below to learn more about what we do.
Who we serve | Our specific purposes |
Our history | Our programs and services |
Our staff | Our volunteers
Who we serve:
Sexual Minority Youth from all over Virginia, of all races, ethnicities, and religious backgrounds between the ages of 14–20.
How does ROSMY define Sexual Minority Youth?
- A youth who self identifies as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender.
- A youth who exhibits behaviors which cause them to be treated as if they belong in one of these categories.
- A youth who is in the process of clarifying their sexual orientation but are uncomfortable with labeling themselves as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender.
Our Specific Purposes:
- To support sexual minority youth by providing acceptance, social, recreational and educational activities, accurate information about sexuality, and sexual minority adult role-models.
- To educate counselors, teachers, parents, human services workers, and other professionals about the needs of sexual minority youth.
- To investigate and respond to allegations of unfair treatment of sexual minority youth.
- To afford ALL youth an opportunity to identify their sexual orientation and gender identity without being pressured to fit others’ expectations.
ROSMY is confident that attending Youth Support Group meetings will not unduly influence young people who are confused about their sexual orientation. By providing accurate information about human sexuality and positive adult role models, and by providing each young person with acceptance and support, ROSMY is providing a healthy environment for all young persons who attend.
ROSMY’s focus is based on building the strengths and resiliency of all youth regardless of their sexual orientation and gender identity.
Our History
ROSMY was founded in 1991 by local educators, mental health practitioners, and members of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) community concerned about the welfare of young people struggling with sexual identity issues. Research has long indicated that youth who identify as or are perceived to be gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or are questioning their identity tend to be at higher risk for low self-esteem, depression, substance abuse, homelessness, physical assaults, and attempted and completed suicides.
For more than 17 years ROSMY has enhanced the general well-being of sexual minority youth by enhancing self-esteem, supporting healthy habits, developing positive skills, and establishing a safe, healthy, and supportive network of relationships.
- Self-Esteem – ROSMY provides the opportunity for GLBTQ youth to look around a room of their peers and realize that they are not the only young gay person in the world. It is easy to feel isolated when one carries a secret. Having the chance to be honest, and learn and socialize with others facing similar issues, allows ROSMY youth to feel good about themselves. Positive self-esteem promotes successful relationships, academic and professional success, and healthy choices.
- Healthy Habits – ROSMY offers age-appropriate social events for youth to engage in safe, healthy, and fun activities, and avoid the negative influences of drugs and alcohol.
- Skill Development – Adolescence is a challenging time for every youth, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. ROSMY helps youth address their concerns over school, family, dating, work, and current events in an environment that fosters self-reliance and self-confidence.
- Social Support – Once youth discover ROSMY, many feel like it becomes a home away from home, an oasis in a world that ignores them or is hostile. Our youth services are available for a young person to build friendships that can last a lifetime. Many of the youth we now serve have been coming to meetings consistently for years.
Our
Programs and Services
For more than 15 years ROSMY has served Central Virginia as the first and only youth program specifically developed to address the specific needs of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning (GLBTQ) youth. Throughout this lengthy history ROSMY has remained committed to responding to the needs of this population while maintaining an identity of integrity within the human service community. To successfully fulfill the mission of the organization, ROSMY’s Board of Directors, staff, and volunteers have remained consistent in their ongoing evaluation and modification of programs and services to ensure that GLBTQ youth needs remained consistently and professionally met.
Today, ROSMY provides a comprehensive continuum of center- and community-based services consistently focused on fulfilling the organization’s mission. These include:
- Youth Support Groups (YSGs) are provided to all GLBTQ youth between the ages of 14 and 20. The groups are divided into ages 14–17 and ages 18–20 to ensure that discussions and issues addressed are developmentally appropriate for the respective group participants. YSGs are structured discussion groups outlined and facilitated by trained ROSMY volunteer facilitators. Support group programs are provided for both age groups two (2) evenings per week from 6:30PM to 8:30PM on the following schedule:
Monday – Orientation Group – provides 4 weeks of core curriculum all new youth coming to ROSMY are required to complete, focused on fundamental issues: Coming out to your family and community, mental health/safety risks, substance abuse and addiction risks, safer sex/healthy relationships, joining a group process, etc.
Tuesday – Transition Groups – these are on-going youth directed groups focused on issues currently impacting participants in the group. Topic areas include; laws impacting GLBTQ youth, coming out in the community/school, safety and advocacy, crisis, selecting a date/mate, support and resource referrals.
- Youth Support Line (YSL) is ROSMY’s confidential phone and internet access for GLBTQ youth to seek out information about ROSMY, find appropriate referral sources, and receive nonjudgmental support. Staff and trained volunteers provide this service to our youth via our youth support line at (804) 644 - 4800 or by responding to youth questions emailed to rosmy@rosmy.org .
- Youth Engaged in Leadership (YEL) is a program designed specifically to promote leadership and advocacy skill development for GLBTQ youth who demonstrate a commitment to a program mission of youth developing leadership through actions, words, and ideas. This group meets one time per week, Monday evenings, as an active group that plans, develops, and implements leadership opportunities with the support of trained facilitators.
- Healthy Choices Social Development (HCSD) is a ROSMY program focused on safe, positive, and healthy social development through participation in recreational and social activities that promote healthy choices. These services afford GLBTQ youth a safe place to meet other people and engage in social and recreational activities in an environment that allows them to be themselves. These services are provided on Friday evenings to provide a safe resource during a time when our youth are most vulnerable to unhealthy choices and high-risk behaviors as a result of their isolation.
- ROSMY's Institute for Equality encompasses ROSMY’s community education about the issues faced by GLBTQ youth, so as to build a community of acceptance and understanding. Through engaging in educational trainings, speaker’s bureau presentations, and community panel discussions, ROSMY’s staff, volunteers, and youth promote social acceptance and improve opportunities for their future success.
These trainings are custom developed for the needs of the specific audience to promote a broader sense of community acceptance and support for GLBTQ youth and their families.
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