ReportWire

Tag: Safe Space

  • Woman knits scarf with each color tracking daily temperatures

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    A Baltimore County knitter’s unique scarf is not only vibrant: Each color signifies the daily weather.At her Maryland home, Rose Armentrout has an entire room dedicated to her knitting yarn and needles.”I try to organize it by type,” Armentrout told sister station WBAL-TV. “This bin is the cotton and this bin is the cashmere.”The room serves as Armentrout’s safe space, a sign of her dedication to knitting.”It helps you get through a lot of stuff. My husband and I both have had cancer. He is going through treatment now, so there’s a lot of hours spent sitting at the cancer center. So, I knit,” Armentrout said. “When I was going through treatments, I knitted scarves for all the nurses and doctors.”This year, Armentrout embarked on a project to knit a scarf that reflects the temperature for each day.”I made myself up a card, so I do single-digits is lilac, and 10 to 20 (degrees) is purple; 21 to 30, and so on by 10 digits, within that range,” Armentrout said. “I knit two rows, and whatever color I have decided for that temperature range, it’s like, ‘OK, I accomplished something today.’”Armentrout first saw the idea on Ravelry, a social networking site that connects knitters from all over the world.”My first thought was, ‘That’s weird.’ And then, it was intriguing as I looked into it,” Armentrout said. “The original idea behind it, though, was actually tracking temperature changes. It was about climate change, to see how much it has changed over the years, and how we are being affected by climate change.”As Armentrout completes her first temperature scarf with a few days left in 2025, she plans to wear it proudly.”I’m calling it my ‘Dr. Whoish temperature scarf’ because it’s very Dr. Whoish to me with all the colors, but it’s interesting, too, that you can see from the cold to the hot and back again,” Armentrout said.Armentrout is not finished with her knitting projects. She plans to knit another temperature scarf next year with the temperatures from her mother’s birth year, 1927, and compare them to this year’s temperatures.

    A Baltimore County knitter’s unique scarf is not only vibrant: Each color signifies the daily weather.

    At her Maryland home, Rose Armentrout has an entire room dedicated to her knitting yarn and needles.

    “I try to organize it by type,” Armentrout told sister station WBAL-TV. “This bin is the cotton and this bin is the cashmere.”

    The room serves as Armentrout’s safe space, a sign of her dedication to knitting.

    “It helps you get through a lot of stuff. My husband and I both have had cancer. He is going through treatment now, so there’s a lot of hours spent sitting at the cancer center. So, I knit,” Armentrout said. “When I was going through treatments, I knitted scarves for all the nurses and doctors.”

    This year, Armentrout embarked on a project to knit a scarf that reflects the temperature for each day.

    “I made myself up a card, so I do single-digits is lilac, and 10 to 20 (degrees) is purple; 21 to 30, and so on by 10 digits, within that range,” Armentrout said. “I knit two rows, and whatever color I have decided for that temperature range, it’s like, ‘OK, I accomplished something today.’”

    Armentrout first saw the idea on Ravelry, a social networking site that connects knitters from all over the world.

    “My first thought was, ‘That’s weird.’ And then, it was intriguing as I looked into it,” Armentrout said. “The original idea behind it, though, was actually tracking temperature changes. It was about climate change, to see how much it has changed over the years, and how we are being affected by climate change.”

    WBAL

    Rose Armentrout embarked on a project to knit a scarf that reflects the temperature for each day.

    As Armentrout completes her first temperature scarf with a few days left in 2025, she plans to wear it proudly.

    “I’m calling it my ‘Dr. Whoish temperature scarf’ because it’s very Dr. Whoish to me with all the colors, but it’s interesting, too, that you can see from the cold to the hot and back again,” Armentrout said.

    Armentrout is not finished with her knitting projects. She plans to knit another temperature scarf next year with the temperatures from her mother’s birth year, 1927, and compare them to this year’s temperatures.

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  • New LGBTQ+ nightclub opens in downtown Orlando in time for Pride

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    A new LGBTQ+ nightclub has opened its doors in downtown Orlando, right in time for Pride celebrations during the city’s annual parade and festival.Anthem, located in the heart of downtown, is meant to be a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community and to add to the city’s nightlife scene.Owners Michael Vacirca and Emmanuel Quiñones, who are also fiancées, said it has been a years-long dream for the pair to open a LGBTQ+ nightclub after meeting at another Downtown nightclub.”The LGBT community has been losing spaces all over the city, and now we have a brand new one,” Vacirca said. Anthem is in the former “Saddle Up” space and had its grand opening on Pride weekend.Both said it was a journey getting to this point, obtaining the needed permits, etc. “Anthem is for you to feel free, be seen, dance like no one is around you, and you can express yourself,” Quiñones said.”It’s just bringing the heart back to Orlando.” Vacirca and Quiñones said they plan to hold community events and skills workshops.”We want to make sure we level up the community together. We want to make sure we’re bringing everybody to a better place, a better future,” Vacirca said.The hope is that Anthem is more than just a club, but also a home for Central Florida’s LGBTQ+ community.”It’s just our queer people, they need it. They sometimes feel they are alone, they don’t have a friend, they don’t have a home. When they walk through those doors, that’s what we want them to feel. We want them to feel that love and you’re welcome.”

    A new LGBTQ+ nightclub has opened its doors in downtown Orlando, right in time for Pride celebrations during the city’s annual parade and festival.

    Anthem, located in the heart of downtown, is meant to be a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community and to add to the city’s nightlife scene.

    Owners Michael Vacirca and Emmanuel Quiñones, who are also fiancées, said it has been a years-long dream for the pair to open a LGBTQ+ nightclub after meeting at another Downtown nightclub.

    “The LGBT community has been losing spaces all over the city, and now we have a brand new one,” Vacirca said.

    Anthem is in the former “Saddle Up” space and had its grand opening on Pride weekend.

    Both said it was a journey getting to this point, obtaining the needed permits, etc.

    “Anthem is for you to feel free, be seen, dance like no one is around you, and you can express yourself,” Quiñones said.

    “It’s just bringing the heart back to Orlando.”

    Vacirca and Quiñones said they plan to hold community events and skills workshops.

    “We want to make sure we level up the community together. We want to make sure we’re bringing everybody to a better place, a better future,” Vacirca said.

    The hope is that Anthem is more than just a club, but also a home for Central Florida’s LGBTQ+ community.

    “It’s just our queer people, they need it. They sometimes feel they are alone, they don’t have a friend, they don’t have a home. When they walk through those doors, that’s what we want them to feel. We want them to feel that love and you’re welcome.”

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  • Horizon Treatment Services Ushers in a New Era of Inclusion With Drop-in Center for LGBTQIA+ Youth

    Horizon Treatment Services Ushers in a New Era of Inclusion With Drop-in Center for LGBTQIA+ Youth

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    City and community unite for the ribbon-cutting ceremony on August 9, reflecting the commitment to diversity, equity, and the mental health support of young people.

    Project Eden, a program of Horizon Treatment Services, finds yet another way to serve the youth of Alameda County. The Project Eden Lambda Youth Project will open an LGBTQIA+ Drop-In Center in Hayward CA for youth aged 12-24, with an official ribbon-cutting ceremony to be held on August 9, 2024, at 11:00am. The center will serve as a safe haven where youth can access various support services and engage in sober activities, all within a secure and inclusive setting. The Lambda drop-in center, which will open its doors on August 1, 2024, boasts offerings such as behavioral health and substance misuse prevention services, counseling services, and youth engagement programming. Moreover, it provides a canvas for young residents to explore their artistic side, participate in interactive games and get involved in leadership roles, within and outside the center.

    Alameda County Supervisor Elisa Márquez, who will officiate at the ribbon-cutting, praised the Center’s promising venture, stating, “District two applauds the opening of the drop-in LGBTQIA Center. This is a fantastic opportunity for youth to find a home for services, education, camaraderie, and an environment that opens its arms allowing LGBTQIA youth to be themselves.”

    Horizon has a long history of supporting LGBTQIA+ youth; Since 1992, the Lambda Youth Project has relentlessly worked towards overcoming the challenges faced by LGBTQIA+ youth. The new drop-in center will continue this mission by providing a welcoming environment that cultivates a sense of belonging and community.

    Breaking silence on this crucial issue, Horizon’s Chief Program Officer and designer of the drop-in centers’ programming, Dr. Anna Phillips remarks, “Being an adolescent today is challenging and our youth are sadder and lonelier than ever. Those sentiments are exacerbated for youth identifying as LGBTQIA+.” According to a report from The Human Rights Campaign1‘the cards remain stacked against LGBTQ+ youth in terms of acceptance and support from their families, their mental health and safety in schools. Transgender and gender-expansive youth also face unique challenges, with harmful anti-trans laws, and a lack of inclusive school policies and procedures, creating obstacles to their safety and well-being.’ At Horizon Treatment Services, we want to change this experience for youth in our county and that is why we are proud to open the doors of this drop-in center. All youth deserve a space to feel connected, respected, cared about, advocated for and safe!”

    About the Lambda Youth Project:

    The Lambda Youth Project provides essential services to LGBTQIA+ youth who are facing challenges such as substance misuse, depression, and anxiety. Research reveals that these youth make more suicide attempts than their non-LGBTQIA+ peers. According to a January 2024 paper from the CDC, Health Disparities in Suicide, in 2021, more than a quarter (26.3%) of LGB students attempted suicide – five times more than non-LGB peers (5.2%) in the prior 12 months.2

    Through sober activities like the Annual Pride Prom and participation in various Pride events across the Bay Area, Lambda has created a supportive community for these young individuals.

    About Horizon Services, Inc.

    Horizon is a 501C3 non-profit agency specializing in substance use disorder treatment and serving Bay Area communities since 1976. Spanning multiple Bay Area Counties including San Mateo, Alameda & Santa Clara, in addition to rural counties such as Butte; Horizon reaches some 11,000 community members struggling with substance use challenges across Sobering Center, Residential, Detox & Outpatient Counseling programs. Horizon’s in-school prevention programs impact over 22,000 youth annually at over 21 Bay Area schools to educate about both risk and protective factors associated with high-risk drug and alcohol use.

    2023 LGBTQ+ Youth Report. HRC Digital Reports. Published 2023. Accessed June 12, 2024. https://reports.hrc.org/2023-lgbtq-youth-report

    2 CDC. (2024). Health Disparities in Suicide. Suicide Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/disparities/

    Source: Horizon Treatment Services | Project Eden Youth Programs

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