The Diversity Center

STRANGE

STRANGE provides supportive, educational and social activities for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer and questioning (LGBTIQ) youth and their allies. With the help of adult mentors, STRANGE participants take a leadership role in supporting middle and high school campus Gay-Straight Alliances, providing peer counseling and leadership training, and advocating for LGBTIQ youth, event planning, and more. STRANGE is a program of the Diversity Center and Santa Cruz Community Counseling Center.

Weekly Groups:

STRANGE hold weekly groups which provide a safe space for adolescents through 18 to be themselves! Our group includes and hour check-in with Vic, our amazing counselor, and an hour to connect with new and old friends, plan events, or just hang out!

GSA Support:

STRANGE offers support to all Santa Cruz County Gay-Straight Alliances (GSA's). Whether a GSA is planning an event, looking for guest speakers, needs help with organizing, and more, STRANGE is here to help.

Events:

STRANGE supports events that youth are looking for! We've hosted GSA summits and other educational conferences, trips to conferences outside the county, Breaking the Silence, and more! STRANGE prides itself on youth taking the lead on planning these events with a supportive and partnership role from adults.

STRANGE is supported by:

Marissa Adams, Youth Program Coordinator for the Diversity Center (Left)

Shaun Ordinario, Youth Development Coordinator for Santa Cruz Community Counseling Center (Right)

For more information on STRANGE:

Please call 831-325-0656
Email strange@scccc.org or strange@diversitycenter.org

If you would like to directly contact the Youth Program Coordinator for Diversity Center, Marissa Adams, you can contact youth@diversitycenter.org.

Queer Camp

Join us at Queer Camp! The dates are August 1st through 4th. This is a four day excursion in the wilderness where queer youth and their allies can be free to express themselves. We play games, take part in heart circles, go on hikes, tie dye shirts, and much more. This is the perfect camp for all youth who identify under the queer spectrum, and their allies, who want to be accepted and empowered. Space is limited, so first come first serve with registration. If you have taken part in STRANGE over the last year, you will get priority registration. Hope to see you there!

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN FOR YOUTH AGES 12-18.

You must be a Santa Cruz County resident.
Queer Camp is an alcohol, drug, and tobacco free environment. Any defiance to this policy will result in immediate dismissal from camp.
All campers and counselors must be accepting of race, color, religion, national origin, citizenship status, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, pronouns, living situations, etc.

Please fill out the form below to submit your interest in camp. We will notify you within 1 week of your status. Thanks to several Queer Youth Leadership Award winners, private donations, a youth fundraiser and adult fundraiser, Queer Camp is free this year. Your submission below indicates your interest in attending. Once we confirm you as attending the camp, it is important that this commitment be honored. There are more youth that want to attend then we have room for.

Info

Youth Program Coordiantor for the Diversity Center

Marissa Adams is a queer activist, self-identifies as genderqueer and uses gender neutral they/them pronouns. They grew up in Oakland, CA, attended Bishop O'Dowd Catholic high school and graduated from UCSC majoring in Community Studies with an emphasis in Healthcare Inequalities, Trans/Gender Studies and Feminist Science. They spent six months on their field study with Seattle Out & Proud (Seattle's Pride organization) and Gendercast: Our Transmasculine Genderqueery (a gender based podcast). They also taught a Senior Seminar at UCSC entitled "Queer Healthcare". Marissa has been living in Santa Cruz for five years, working on a variety of projects with the Santa Cruz Queer Youth Task Force as the Assistant Coordinator for The Queer Youth Leadership Awards, also with The Safe Schools Project and as co-coordinator for The Transgender Teen Project. Now the Diversity Center's Youth Program Coordinator, Marissa co-parents STRANGE, a program of Santa Cruz Community Counseling Center and The Diversity Center. Marissa will also be Director of The Diversity Center's Queer Camp this summer!

Email madams@diversitycenter.org or youth@diveristycenter.org

Phone @ Diveristy Center (831) 425-5422 OR @ STRANGE 831-325-0656

Check out our online list of Queer Youth Resources in the Diversity Center Resource Directory.

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