1. I Am More Than My Label
Welcome: We’re on a journey today. At times we may experience highs and at other times very low lows. But we’re all here to learn and grow and so we are on this journey together.
Goal for presentation: students are individuals, we must treat them as individuals and provide resources & support for them

2. What’s In a Name? Opening Activity
Break into small groups anywhere from 3 to 6 individuals; inform with guidelines around this is something that we are not asking individuals to open up with pain rather what comes to mind. than ask participants to take out a piece of paper and make a tent and ask them to write down the following on the front of their tent:
Name
Job Role/title
One label that they identify with currently in life that comes to mind right away ( this you can use anything from religious, politics, etc…) I am “blank”
One label that they have been labeled with by others that comes to mind right away ( gay straight old young) People call me “blank”
Keep track of the ways in which people identify (are they similar in a group or different)
Ask how people felt when doing this exercise
Start talking about how labels get in the way and are ways of feeling welcome
Definitions of LGBTQIAH.
What does it mean to be an ally.
Youth are more than these labels/definitions.

3. Any Given Tuesday Youth Homelessness and Sexual Violence
Watch Any Giving Tuesday. Trigger Warning: We know this video is not trauma-informed but we’re using today as a way to dissect the information into smaller pieces.
Bring the group back together from video:
Share own reactions to video and how we can fuel those feelings for the work.
Question for the group:
What did you see?
Using this portion of video for awareness of SV for at-risk youth and to explore the behaviors connected with sexual violence & homelessness.
-hate
-religion (can connect to Orlando & Pulse for examples)
-child abuse
-culture (can connect to Orlando, Pulse for examples)
-relate to AZ realities/specifics (i.e. youth from Phoenix & surrounding cities & rural areas head for L.A.)
-coping/survival skills

4. Building Support and Relationship
Question for the group from video:
2) How/where could we have been able to support to the individual in the video?
-listening, patience, flexibility, letting youth lead their choices/paths
Meeting young people where they are at in the moment may mean first working to provide for their basic needs (food, clothing, place to sleep, hygiene, etc.) –leads to trust/investment/long-term services and needs
Look at young person/student as an individual
2) Understanding trauma & the brain, their behavior, coping skills, based on having to live in high alert/crisis daily (may be using drugs to cope/stay awake/make it through their day)
We HAVE TO SUPPORT! May be the only support they have (loss of family, friends, school, etc.)

5. Guiding our Community Building
Change our focus from passive to active.
Passive: waiting for youth to come to us to tell us what’s going on or expecting them to share this information with us the minute we ask what’s wrong/what’s going on
Active: going to youth where they are at; creating a safe space; ways adults can support youth exposed to trauma, sexual violence, and homelessness
Collaborating with other teachers, counselors, community resources (library, local rape crisis center, libraries, YMCA, Boys & Girls club)

6. Child Trafficking in Schools
Ask the group if they know of any CSEC activities in their communities?
How do they know this is trafficking?
Ask the group if they know of any trafficking activities in their school?
How do you assist or help to create a safe space for open conversations with students about this?

7. National & State Resources
Teen chatline/peer to peer support handout
Teen resources handout
Grounding tools postcards
Encourage reaching out to state coalition for local rape crisis center (on resources slide)
What else?

8. Questions and answers

9. Resources and References
Any Giving Tuesday, Los Angeles LGBT Center,
Linking the Roads: Working with Youth Who Experience Homelessness & Sexual Violence Guide
Linking the Roads Podcast Series
NSVRC. (2014.) Homeless Youth & Sexual Violence: Infographic. Retrieved from
State & Territory Coalitions Listing

10. Enid Melendez, Training Specialist emelendez@nsvrc
Enid Melendez, Training Specialist extension 129 Taylor Teichman, Online Resource Specialist extension 164

11. Thank you for joining us!
This project was supported by Grant No TA-AX-K023 awarded by the Office on Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in this publication/program/exhibition are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women.
© 2017 National Sexual Violence Resource Center