Prism Youth
Services
Prism Teens
The Prism Teens (14-18) support group meets once per week for two hours. Gatherings are structured around an activity, usually with an artistic, therapeutic, or educational bent. Occasionally, we bring in LGBTQ special guests from the local community to speak about their experiences growing up, going to school, and pursuing a career. The identities of Prism Youth attendees are kept strictly confidential.
Prism Leadership Initiatives
Prism United sponsors the development and implementation of youth-designed, youth-led educational programs. Prism Leadership Initiatives empowers teens to organize and raise awareness about the issues that matter to them. Initiative proposals require a mission statement, goals, an event schedule, a lead organizer, assistant organizers, and the opportunity for both education and peer-to-peer dialogue. Prism provides a screen for presentations. Facilitators are present at gatherings but allow the youth to lead (unless they are asked by organizers to assist).
Prism Preteens
Prism Event Nights
Our event nights include open mic nights, game nights, movie nights, costume-karaoke parties, holiday dinners, and more. Depending on the event, the youth room is transformed into a makeshift coffee-shop with couches and bean bag chairs arranged around a stage area (mood lighting and microphone included). Or the room is broken up into game stations, so that teens can bounce between Super Smash Bros tournaments, card games, and interactive group games (like Werewolf and Pictionary). Event nights allow the youth to have high-school & college-flavored experiences in a safe, affirming environment.
Features
Activity-based Curricula
Trained Facilitators
Prism Youth facilitators are certified mandated reporters who submit to background checks and are trained via workshops led by experts from partnering organizations. To ensure that facilitators are cultivating a warm, engaging atmosphere, Prism youth are invited to participate in the facilitator evaluation process. Interested in becoming a facilitator? Visit our “Get Involved” page for an application.
Prism Youth Lending Library
Stories help us learn and grow. They invite us to confront our assumptions and walk us through fear and grief. We at Prism believe that narratives are powerful tools for personal development. Unfortunately, it can be difficult for LGBTQ youth to find novels that include characters and themes they relate to. So, with the help of the community, we’re building a library of LGBTQ young adult literature for our teens. If you’d like to add a book to the Prism Youth library, you can find our wishlist on the “Give” page.
Meal Service Program
We provide a volunteer-led meal service for our teen support group. If you enjoy cooking or preparing food and would like to occasionally contribute something for the teens, download a volunteer application from our “Get Involved” page.
Join Us
If you are 10-18 and interested in attending a Prism Youth gathering, or if you are the guardian of someone who might like to attend, contact us at info@prismunited.org for more information.
Features
Activity-based Curriculums
Since its conception, Prism has been developing activity-based curriculums for its Prism Youth support groups. Activities are designed with certain regular features, like discussion periods, educational components, and opportunities to share work. Facilitators coordinate to bring variety to Prism Youth activities, incorporating everything from creative writing, art, improv, LGBTQ history, and team-building exercises. Prism intentionally seeks out facilitators with varying expertise in order to refine and effectively execute its curriculum. Our art activities, for instance, are usually led by a facilitator who teaches art at the University of South Alabama.
Trained Facilitators
Prism Youth facilitators are certified mandated reporters who submit to background checks and are trained via workshops led by experts from partnering organizations. To ensure that facilitators are cultivating a warm, engaging atmosphere, Prism youth are invited to participate in the facilitator evaluation process. Interested in becoming a facilitator? Visit our “Get Involved” page for an application.
Prism Youth Lending Library
Stories help us learn and grow. They invite us to confront our assumptions and walk us through fear and grief. We at Prism believe that narratives are powerful tools for personal development. Unfortunately, it can be difficult for LGBTQ youth to find novels that include characters and themes they relate to. So, with the help of the community, we’re building a library of LGBTQ young adult literature for our teens. If you’d like to add a book to the Prism Youth library, you can find our wishlist on the “Give” page.
Meal Service Program
We provide a volunteer-led meal service for our teen support group. If you enjoy cooking or preparing food and would like to occasionally contribute something for the teens, download a volunteer application from our “Get Involved” page.
Join Us
If you are 10-18 and interested in attending a Prism Youth gathering, or if you are the guardian of someone who might like to attend, contact us at info@prismunited.org for more information.
PRISM UNITED
Prism United responds to the comprehensive needs of LGBTQ youth. Specifically, Prism works to mitigate the psychological, socio-economic, and academic disadvantages caused by repression and victimization.