Communtiy Compass
Community Compass is a service of OITM. GLBT organizations from around the state are invited to provide brief — 200 words or less — descriptions of recent or upcoming activities and events. Send your submissions to us by email by the 15th of the month.
AIDS Project of Southern Vermont
This year, the Project is selling greeting cards as a fundraiser. The card is a beautiful photograph by Putney photographer Dennis Gerber, a longtime Project volunteer. It is a detail of a Vermont apple tree with a light dusting of snow. The inside is blank for your own message. The back of the card reads “The sale of this card benefits AIDS Project of Southern Vermont, providing education, advocacy and services for people living with HIV since 1988.” Gerber’s photos have been used for many years as part of the Brattleboro Retreat’s annual calendar. Please consider using these cards during the holiday season and throughout the coming year. The cards are $15 for 10 and will be available in Putney at Heartstone Books and Silver Forest; in Brattleboro at Delectable Mountain and Vermont Artisans; in Bennington at Bennington Bookshop, Left Bank & South Street Cafe. You can also buy them at the Project office.
If you are new to the Project or would like an update about HIV, please join. us on Nov. 8 from 6-9 pm. You will have an opportunity to explore the world of HIV, learn more about what the AIDS Project does and find out what volunteer opportunities are available. We have a variety of interesting presentations planned. We will discuss what it is like to have HIV now, how the Project helps, what the Project is doing to prevent transmission of HIV, and how volunteers help. Please contact Michael at 254-8263 or mff@sover.net for more information or to RSVP.
HIV+ Public Policy Project
The HIV+ Public Policy Project, a peer-driven self-advocacy and lobbying organization, will meet on Wednesday, Nov. 15, from 1-2:30pm in the Statehouse cafeteria in Montpelier. We will outline our agenda for the upcoming 2001 legislative session, as well as identify emerging issues in the HIV+ and at-risk communities. At 2pm, we’ll be joined by Patricia Berry, Director of the HIV/AIDS/STD Program at the Vermont Department of Health, to discuss how the HIV+ community and the state can work better together in the coming year. Because the results of the approaching election may have a dramatic impact on the development and maintenance of HIV/AIDS programs and policy in Vermont, HIV+ involvement in the political arena is more urgently needed than ever.
Even though we face formidable challenges in the year ahead, this is a tremendously exciting time for grassroots AIDS activism in Vermont. If you are HIV+ and would like to get involved in the formation of policy and programs that address your needs, please join us on November 15. If you’d like more information, or would like to check in more privately, you can reach the HIV+ Public Policy Project at (802) 655-8255 (ask for John), pkurth@earthlink.net, or at P.O. Box 5248, Burlington, VT 05402.
Mountain Pride Media
Mountain Pride Media thanks everyone who filled out and returned readership surveys. Congratulations to the prize winners. We gratefully acknowledge Urban Travel, Moose Meadow Lodge, Starry Night Café, Sleepy Hollow Ski and Bike for their prize donations, and two community members for donations of tickets to “A Christmas Carol” and “International Guitar Night.” Special thanks to Stephanie Siebert for designing the survey and Carrie Rampp and Mack Roark for the online version. The survey was funded by a grant from Samara Foundation of Vermont.
Thanks to Fred Pond for hosting the Windsor County stop of the Green Mountain Tour on Nov. 5. Thanks to all our hosts and participants over the past year. We still have more counties to visit and will start back up in 2001. Keep checking OITM or our online Community Calendar at mountainpridemedia.org for details.
Thanks to Karen, Brian, Elizabeth, Dan, Anthony, Peter, Bruce, and Todd for helping us get the October issue mailed out. We welcome people to stop by our Richmond office the last Thursday of every month 5-8pm to help get Out In The Mountains into our community. This month’s stuffing is Nov. 30, so plan to join us. We welcome Morgan, our new Middlebury distribution volunteer. MPM is currently looking for someone to deliver papers to the Richmond Post Office on the morning following the stuffing. If you have a large vehicle and are interested in helping out as a courier, please contact us at 434-6486 or distribution@mountainpridemedia.org.
We’re looking for a new editor for OITM. You can get more details about this and other paid and volunteer positions at mountainpridemedia.org/volunteer.htm.
Don’t forget: a subscription to Out In The Mountains makes a great gift. Fill out and return the subscription card in OITM or subscribe online by clicking on Subscriptions on the OITM home page on our site.
Pride Vermont
On Tuesday, Nov. 14, there’s an Open General Board meeting for those interested in getting involved with Pride VT’s planning of 2001’s festivities and the next millennium. Come down and check us out from 7-9 pm at the McClure Multi-Generational Center in Burlington.
We also invite you to attend an open community needs and assessment meeting for Pride VT. The meeting will take place on Monday, November 27 from 7-9 pm at the McClure Multi-Generational Center. This is an opportunity for everyone to speak their mind and contribute to the future of Pride VT. Refreshments will be served.
For more info contact Brian Cina or Eric Cross, 859-9238.
St. Michaels College
In recognition of World AIDS Day, St. Mike’s, joined by Vermont CARES, presents 11 quilts from the AIDS Memorial Quilt Project in the Chapel of Saint Michael the Archangel on the college campus in Colchester. They will be on display in the Chapel Wed. Nov. 29, 7-9 pm and Thu, Nov. 30 and Fri, Dec. 1, 9am-9pm. An opening ceremony on Nov. 29 will feature John Bell of ACT UP Philadelphia, a participant in the World AIDS conference held this year in South Africa. During that ceremony there will also be the official presentation of The Children’s Quilt by children of St. Michael’s faculty and staff, aged 10 to 8.
The closing ceremony on Friday will start with a candlelight vigil march from the Chapel to the AIDS House on College Parkway. Those assembled will conclude the vigil at the chapel by taking the quilts from the walls and folding them to the project’s specifications.
R.U.1.2? Community Center
Thanks to your support, R.U.1.2? Community Center has become a strong organization providing venues for social, cultural, artistic, and educational endeavors in our lgbt and allied communities. R.U.1.2? is growing fast and we need your help !
Samara Foundation of Vermont has pledged support to R.U.1.2? Community Center with a challenge grant. When you become a member of R.U.1.2? this fall, Samara will match the first $2000 of your donations 1 to 1!
This year volunteers implemented innovative programming for the lgbta community, including monthly potlucks, coffeehouse evenings, and volunteer-led courses called “Summer Semester.” The highlight was celebrating our community’s historic achievements at our 2nd Annual Community Dinner. This year we will add an adult social support group and an lgbt health resource guide.
Becoming a member is an important way to help us sustain valuable programming to make our community center great. Besides the satisfaction of knowing you make an investment in the future of our communities, membership at R.U.1.2? does have its “privileges.” When you make a membership commitment to the center, you receive an R.U.1.2? bumper sticker, member discounts at events and a R.U.1.2? Membership Card. Even if you never attend a single R.U.1.2? event, your membership donation keeps programming affordable for everyone in the community, including youth and seniors.
Watch your mail, or contact us at 860-1044 or thecenter@ru12.org to find out how you can become a member of R.U.1.2? and help make a Vermont lgbt community center a reality!
Vermont CARES
Vermont CARES recently held our fifth annual AIDSWalks around the state. AIDSWalk 2000 in Montpelier, St. Johnsbury, Rutland, and Burlington raised about $30,000 to go directly toward services and programs Vermont CARES provides across ten of fourteen counties in Vermont.
The walks kicked off in Montpelier on Saturday, September 23. On Sunday, September 24, the walk in St. Johnsbury was held on yet another gray Vermont fall day. The third of the four walks was held in Rutland at the Main Street Park on the evening of September 27, followed by a candlelight vigil to remember those lost to the devastating disease. The last of the walks, in Burlington on September 28, saw pre- and post-walk festivities at the Unitarian Universalist Church at the top of Church Street. In addition to the awarding of the top prizes and a candlelight vigil, the annual loudest cheer team competition followed the walk.
AIDSWalks are Vermont CARES’ largest fundraiser of the year. We rely on money raised at the walks to continue to provide services to people across the state living with and at risk of HIV/AIDS. If you walked, donated, or otherwise helped out with the walks, THANK YOU! We couldn’t have done it without you! If you are interested helping plan AIDSWalk 2001, please call the Burlington office at 863-2437.
Vermont Freedom to Marry Task Force
Common Ground: Respect and Dignity for All is a community forum in Barre to discuss civil unions and Outright Vermont. Speakers will include local clergy, educators, youth and couples impacted by the Civil Union Law. November 15, Barre Labor Hall, 7pm-9pm. “Punch and pie” will be served! Sponsored by Vermont Freedom to Marry Task Force. For more information or to volunteer for this event, call Gail at (802) 223-0459.