Month: June 2019

She Means Business!

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Are you a teenaged girl between ages 13-16 who would like to start your own business someday? Yes, you can do it! Sign up for the She Means Business summer camp, a week-long entrepreneurial training program specifically designed for young women and hosted by Alternatives Federal Credit Union.

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She Means Business 2018 workshop

Alternatives believes that all young women should have access to the tools that will make them successful in today’s economy—and, moreover, that our entire community benefits when they do. The She Means Business summer camp takes place from July 22-26 at the Alternatives main branch at 125 North Fulton Street in Ithaca.

She Means Business participants learn about the myriad steps involved in developing a small business, from evaluating business ideas to building financial projections to retail pricing. During the workshop, students have the opportunity to learn from successful, local female business owners from across our community.

She Means Business culminates in a final presentation of the participants’ business development plans to a mock funders’ panel. Panelists provide individualized feedback to help the young women take the next steps toward entrepreneurship. Not only does this workshop educate local young women about entrepreneurship and offer them hands-on experience developing their business ideas, it also facilitates a network of local businesswomen of all ages who can offer their support and expertise as these young women navigate the business world.

It is our hope that through providing opportunities for education, feedback, and networking, She Means Business participants will feel empowered and obtain the practical knowledge they need to succeed in their entrepreneurial endeavors.

This Alternatives workshop stems from a partnership with Girls Mean Business, a local initiative focused on empowering young women through entrepreneurship courses. In 2016, Alternatives and Girls Mean Business teamed up and brought together the expertise of Kathleen Clark, Alternatives’ Business Development Manager, and Bevi Wallenstein, entrepreneur and founder of Girls Mean Business. Each year since, we have continued our partnership and renewed our dedication to bring this level of education to our community.

The cost of enrolling in She Means Business is $150.00, which includes lunch and snacks for the five-day duration of the program. Scholarships are available!

Click here to register for the She Means Business summer camp July 22-26.

For information about scholarships, contact Kathleen Clark at kclark@alternatives.org.

Click here if you would like to make a financial donation toward the future success of She Means Business. Community support helps us continue this workshop in years to come!

—By Grace Rychwalski

Grace Rychwalski is a Social Media & Grant Specialist at Alternatives Federal Credit Union

Photo credit: Jamie Love Photography

Winnie, We’ll Miss You!

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There’s a Cornell University student who Ithaca will dearly miss when she leaves town and goes out to make the rest of the world a better place. Her name is Winnie Ho.

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Winnie Ho at Cornell University’s 2019 graduation ceremonies

Since arriving from Syosset, Long Island, in 2016, Ho, 22, has worked on the ground with countless community organizations on issues such as mental health, suicide prevention, homelessness, substance use, and science education. She has served as a volunteer with multiple organizations, spearheaded numerous fundraisers and events, and supported students pursuing community engagement as an Engaged Ambassador with the Office of Engagement Initiatives. She has co-delivered the keynote speech at the “2019 What’s Great in Our State” mental health conference hosted by the New York State Office of Mental Health.

We are very grateful for Ho’s indispensable contributions to The Sophie Fund. For example, in her role as vice president of Service and then president of the Alpha Phi Omega (APO) Gamma Chapter, Ho marshaled volunteers from APO as well as numerous other student groups to support The Sophie Fund’s annual cupcake contest and related fundraising.

Besides helping run the mid-October event in the Ithaca Commons, Ho’s army of good Samaritans collected monies that The Sophie Fund passed on to local mental health organizations—more than $500 donated to the Suicide Prevention and Crisis Service in 2017, and $1,300 to the Mental Health Association in Tompkins County in 2018. Ho has also served as a member of The Sophie Fund’s Student Advisory Group, offering endless perspectives and advice on everything the organization does.

The Sophie Fund was proud to learn that Ho was selected to receive The Cornell Tradition Senior Recognition Award at her graduation ceremonies last month. Cornell honored Ho for her many contributions to community service during her undergraduate years. In conjunction with the award, Ho generously donated a $500.00 honorarium to The Sophie Fund.

Ho was a double major in Biological Sciences (Neurobiology) and Sociology in Cornell’s College of Arts and Sciences; she minored in Inequality Studies and Global Health. For the next two years, she will be pursuing pharmaceutical drug policy research with the Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics at the Harvard University-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, with plans of continuing her advocacy and activism in health inequality everywhere. She hopes to one day pursue a career that combines her passion for service, social justice, and medicine.

Due to her work with Ithaca’s community organizations, Ho will move on not just with a Cornell degree but a profound appreciation for the importance of helping others—and ourselves—when it comes to mental health.

Ho puts it best herself:

“As I look to what lies beyond the ivory tower and beyond Ithaca, I reflect on my experiences here, and realize that one of the most important lessons I learned during my time here is that we all have mental health, and that it is absolutely critical to take care of oneself in the process of chasing our dreams. APO gave me a home like no other to pursue service in the company of the most kindhearted and loving individuals I’ve ever met, and I am so proud to call my fellow peers some of the most devoted advocates and volunteers for mental health I’ve ever seen.

“Change begins when we are willing to support ourselves and those around us. Service to mental health starts by choosing kindness and understanding. Not all big change comes in the form of huge events or big fundraisers or legislation (though these are all critically important). The biggest changes that have occurred during my time here have been the result of everyday people choosing to ask those around them how they are doing as opposed to what they are doing. Mental health intersects with every single aspect of our lives. Whatever comes next, we always have the choice to care for ourselves and each other.”

—By Scott MacLeod

Scott MacLeod is a co-founder of The Sophie Fund

Transgender Connections

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Lack of acceptance, discrimination, and even abuse are common challenges faced by those in the transgender community. After Natasha Schreib joined the Ithaca Transgender Group (ITG), she quickly met another member, Ellen Marie, and they have been best friends ever since. “We talk to each other daily,” Schreib recalled in a recent interview with The Sophie Fund. “We get together weekly, constantly keep in touch through phone calls, give each other advice, and discuss some of our shared interests.”

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Ithaca is a relatively LGBTQ-friendly place, and perhaps nothing exemplifies this better than the existence of ITG. Established in 1999, the organization offers an essential space for transgender people to share their knowledge and experiences and to learn about local medical and mental health resources. And as Schreib notes, ITG provides “an opportunity to find other people to socialize and connect with.”

The heart of ITG can been seen and felt every other Sunday afternoon when members gather for biweekly confidential peer-support meetings to share gender-related experiences, perspectives, and advice. The sessions are for people who have transitioned as well as those who wish to transition or are questioning their birth gender assignment. Meetings are also open for significant others, families, friends, and allies—or SOFFA, for short—as a way of helping others understand the transgender condition and experience.

ITG also provides useful online information to the transgender community through a website rich in local resources. According to Schreib, to help avoid hassles or discrimination when seeking health services, ITG proactively has sought out and listed local medical providers, private therapists, and social workers who are knowledgeable about the needs of people in the transgender community. Some of the physicians listed highlight the provision of the hormone replacement therapy used in gender transitioning. In a sign of ITG’s strong presence in Ithaca, Schreib said that many organizations initiated listings on the website to assure ITG members of their trans-friendly approach. Other services listed focus on legal rights, alcohol and drug addiction support, suicide prevention, and LGBTQ issues.

Schreib, however, highlights the critical importance of ITG simply as a place where transgender people can feel at home. Research has shown that because transgender populations experience stigma, social isolation, discrimination, and victimization, they are especially prone to depression, anxiety, unhealthy sexual practice, and alcohol abuse. As Schreib notes, in the United States about 42 percent of transgender people have attempted suicide, a rate nine times greater than that seen in cisgender Americans.

Schreib is pleased to note that many members of ITG, including herself, have been able to form close relationships with each other. The ITG website includes a calendar packed with many local as well as regional and national activities. There’s the city’s “premier queer night” at a downtown nightclub every Thursday, or to slow it down a bit, there’s “Queers Go Bowling” at some local lanes. A half dozen or more members regularly skip the calendar and organize evenings where everyone finds a way to laugh and enjoy visits to favorite restaurants.

—By Amber Raiken

Amber Raiken, an intern at The Sophie Fund, is a rising senior at Ithaca College majoring in Writing, with a Creative Writing Concentration, and minoring in Education Studies. She is a writer and the social media director for IC Distinct Magazine, a student-run culture and fashion publication.

Exploring Strategies to Stop Bullying

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Surveying students about the prevalence of bullying. Training teachers, coaches, parents, and young people on how to respond. Encouraging youth to be upstanders. Holding annual Bullying Prevention Day activities to spread awareness. These were a few of the ideas discussed Saturday at a two-hour Community Forum sponsored by the Tompkins County Bullying Prevention Task Force.

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Celia Clement reviewing feedback on school bullying

The Task Force held the forum to introduce its work to the public and to solicit ideas from the community on strategies to address bullying. More than two dozen government agencies, community organizations, and representatives from the county’s six school districts formed the Task Force in March.

“A lot of these conversations and diving deep into these topics can become very personal and very painful, which we want to honor,” said Nigel Gannon, a Healthy Living Program Specialist for New York State 4-H Youth Development, who moderated the forum.

“We have to develop spaces where we can have those emotions in a positive way. Remember that we are all feeling the same [about bullying], in some way, as individuals, as loved ones, as community members. We are not happy to be here, I think we are hopeful to be here. We’re going to help the Task Force get the information they need to try to move this forward.”

Scott MacLeod of The Sophie Fund kicked off presentations by Task Force working groups by reviewing basic information about bullying in national, regional, and local contexts.

He noted the federal government’s definition of bullying, and how it should be distinguished from other behaviors such as conflict, rudeness, and meanness:

“Bullying is any unwanted aggressive behavior(s) by another youth or group of youths who are not siblings or current dating partners that involves an observed or perceived power imbalance and is repeated multiple times or is highly likely to be repeated.”

MacLeod explained how bullying has psychological, physical, and academic effects, and adversely affects youth who are bullied as well as those who engage in bullying. He said that youth who are perceived as different, especially LGBTQ children, are at greater risk. Persistent bullying, he added, can lead to or worsen feelings of isolation, rejection, exclusion, and despair, as well as depression and anxiety, which can contribute to suicidal behavior. MacLeod said that while there is no federal stature that expressly outlaws bullying, New York State’s Dignity for All Students Act (DASA) came into force in 2012 to protect students from bullying, harassment, and discrimination.

Citing statistics, MacLeod’s report said 19 percent of American high school students are bullied, and 14.9 percent experience cyberbullying. He said that data for the 2017-2018 school year, most likely reflecting underreporting, showed that Tompkins County school districts had 109 incidents of discrimination, harassment, and bullying , and 20 incidents of cyberbullying.

Celia Clement, a retired school social worker and now an independent consultant, delivered a report on potential approaches for addressing bullying in schools. She identified five areas for attention:

  • Communication: Families are not always getting the information they need about bullying definition, prevention, intervention, education, district policies and the laws involved such as the Dignity for All Students Act.
  • Education: Families and school staff want help around recognizing signs that their youth are struggling with mental health challenges, social challenges, or bullying. Students need to be educated as well around what is bullying, recognizing the difference between peer conflict and bullying, knowing the warning signs when adults need to be informed, and ways to intervene effectively when they see bullying, harassment or cyber bullying, or suicide warning signs.
  • Prevention: The key to successful intervention models is to include students as the core drivers when building programs that promote positive school cultures. There are existing local programs that can serve as models: Friendship Assistance Brigade, Stars, Be the One, and Welcoming Allies and Mentors.
  • Intervention: There is a need to educate school teaching staff and administrators about best practice around intervention when situations of conflict, bullying, harassment and cyber bullying occur—such as restorative practices as a way to support the target and to help the aggressor make changes. There is a need to offer strategies and tools to work with families in a way that promotes outcomes where everyone feels good about the process of addressing conflict and bullying situations.
  • Assessment: Schools need to conduct surveys about bullying to inform decisions for addressing the problem.

MacLeod also delivered a working group report on potential approaches for addressing bullying outside school property. He cited numerous ideas including holding an annual community forum and student leadership summit, providing training and information workshops, and launching awareness projects such as an annual Tompkins County Bullying Prevention Day.

Beth Hogan, a member of the Task Force’s Family Advisory Group, delivered a working group report on the concerns of parents surveyed by the group. She said parents experienced a significant increase in stress over bullying, and felt that they themselves were effectively being bullied. The parents believed that bullying was causing heightened levels of anxiety and depression in children, she added.

Hogan said that schools were reactive rather than proactive, and that mental health services inside and outside schools were inadequate. Hogan’s report called for frequent communication about bullying, including about the Dignity Act, to staff, families, and students. She said youth and parent involvement in bullying prevention should be a priority, and that the work should begin in the elementary grades.

Sophie Callister, a former student in the Lansing Central School District and now a student at Ithaca College, is the coordinator of the Task Force’s Student Advisory Group. “The bullying task force is something that means a huge deal to me because from third grade all through my school career it was a huge problem,” she said. “I want kids to feel like there is somebody willing to listen and help them and that they feel safe every day. I never really felt safe in school.” She said that rather than school counselors or psychologists the only person she felt she could go to for support was a math teacher. Callister said a goal of the task force is “to get the community involved—parents, students, everybody. This is not a time to be quiet.”

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Community Forum on Bullying Prevention, Tompkins County Public Library

Forum participants provided feedback and engaged in discussion in breakout sessions. On school programs, participants argued that schools under report bullying incidents and do not create safe spaces for students. They noted that teachers and coaches themselves sometimes engage in bullying by humiliating students/athletes. Participants suggested strategies including peer mentors and giving students tools for confronting bullying.

For public action, participants proposed holding local public forums within the county’s six school districts to better encourage family participation in bullying prevention initiatives. Participants supported the idea of providing training and workshop opportunities to educate the community about bullying and prevention methods, and called for a centralized resource to provide information about the Dignity Act and how to file complaints about bullying incidents. The participants also endorsed exploring synergies with existing programs and activities, such as the “Be the One” campaign.

Participants who focused on family and student involvement emphasized the need for developing a common language to understand bullying, and the importance of student-led initiatives for success. They noted that it was essential to view those who bully as people also in need of support to address the underlying causes of their behavior.

Some participants called for greater attention to students who may be experiencing suicide ideation, noting that four young people from the Lansing community have died by suicide in just the past year. Participants highlighted opportunities for students to become involved by forming chapters of organizations such as Active Minds and Sources of Strength, and participating in activities such as Mental Health First Aid for Teens.

Click here to read Becky Mehorter’s Ithaca Voice article on the Community Forum, “Task force brings community together to address bullying in local schools.”

Click here to read Matt Steecker’s article in the Ithaca Journal on the Tompkins County Bullying Prevention Task Force, “Finding solutions to bullying: Task force to hold forum at library.”

Click here to visit The Sophie Fund’s website resource page on bullying prevention.

Brief Guide to Youth Bullying Prevention

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Nearly one in five American high school students experiences bullying while at school. A higher percentage of girls are bullied than boys. One in three lesbian, gay, or bisexual students is bullied. Victims of bullying may suffer serious and long-lasting physical, psychological, and academic effects. Those who bully also need help: they are more likely to drop out of school, abuse alcohol and drugs, and engage in criminal activity.

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Representatives from more than two dozen local government agencies, community organizations, and local schools have formed the Tompkins County Bullying Prevention Task Force to explore the prevalence of youth bullying and strategies to combat it.

On the occasion of a Community Forum sponsored by the Task Force on June 15, The Sophie Fund presents the Brief Guide to Bullying Prevention. The guide highlights useful facts and figures, helpful resources on bullying prevention, and information about reporting acts of bullying, harassment, or discrimination under New York’s Dignity for All Students Act (DASA).

Prevalence of Youth Bullying

  • 19.0% of high school students were bullied at school in 2016-17.
  • 14.9% of high school students experienced electronic bullying.
  • More female students (22.3%) were bullied compared to male students (15.6%).
  • More female students (19.7%) were electronically bullied compared to male students (9.9%).
  • More lesbian, gay, or bisexual students (33.0%) were bullied at school than heterosexual students (17.1%) or students not sure of their sexual identity (24.3%).
  • 21.7% of New York high school students were bullied at school (higher than national average of 19.0%) in 2016-17.
  • More New York female students (24.6%) were bullied compared to male students (18.7%).
  • Nearly twice as many New York gay, lesbian, or bisexual students (34.6%) were bullied compared to heterosexual students (19.4%).
  • Tompkins County school districts reported 109 incidents of discrimination, harassment, and bullying (excluding cyberbullying), and 20 incidents of cyberbullying, in the 2017-2018 school year under the Dignity for All Students Act (DASA).
  • The 2018 Communities that Care Youth Survey of schools in Tompkins County and Seneca County found that more than a third of high school students reported feeling depressed on most days.

 

Basics of Youth Bullying

Definition: “Bullying is any unwanted aggressive behavior(s) by another youth or group of youths who are not siblings or current dating partners that involves an observed or perceived power imbalance and is repeated multiple times or is highly likely to be repeated.” Types include physical, verbal, and relational. Cyberbullying involves e-mail, instant messaging, blogs, chat rooms, gaming systems, tweeting, or social media.

Potential Psychological Effects: Depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, self- harming behavior (especially for girls), alcohol and drug use and dependence, aggression, involvement in violence or crime (especially for boys), emotional distress, hostility, and delinquency.

Potential Physical Effects: Immediate physical injury, sleep disorders, stomach aches, headaches, heart palpitations, dizziness, bedwetting, chronic pain, somatization (a syndrome of distressful, physical symptoms that cannot be explained by a medical cause), stress-related impact on the immune system and hormones, and impact on brain activity and functioning.

Potential Academic Effects: Impact on grades and standardized test scores starting as early as kindergarten and continuing through high school.

Bullying and Suicide: Persistent bullying can lead to or worsen feelings of isolation, rejection, exclusion, and despair, as well as depression and anxiety, which can contribute to suicidal behavior. Most young people who die by suicide have multiple risk factors.

Click here to read the Brief Guide to Youth Bullying Prevention, or click here to download a PDF.