Do you know how many non-profit organizations exist on Vashon? Neither do I, but it’s a lot!

All of them contribute positively to our community. When they get together amazing things happen. Here’s what several Vashon non-profits have been working on together to foster inclusivity in our community:

Supporting LGBTQ+ youth on Vashon

Vashon Youth & Family Services (VYFS) and the DOVE Project (Dignity Opportunity Voice & Empowerment) secured funding from King County MIDD’s Community Driven grants program, Best Starts for Kids (BSK), and the American Rescue Plan Act to support the mental health of LGBTQ+ young people on the island.

The project focused on three goals: training for service providers and educators on the best ways to support families of LGBTQ+ youth and foster gender inclusivity, regular meetings to address the needs of LGBTQ+ youth, and educational tools for parents and the community to foster increased understanding and inclusivity for LGBTQ+ youth.

VYFS fosters a thriving community of emotionally healthy and resilient children, youth, adults and families, offering services to islanders including mental health counseling, enriching childcare, parent education and crisis response.

The DOVE Project is a domestic violence and sexual assault agency that provides survivor services, prevention education and community programming in an effort to reduce interpersonal harm.

Training for educators

VYFS and DOVE and the Gender Spectrum team partnered to develop the “Building a Gender Inclusive Community” training series to reach parents, educators, religious leaders, mental health professionals, health providers and other community members.

Over 55 VISD school employees attended the “Creating Gender Inclusive Schools” training or watched a video of the training. Participants reported learning new information from the training that they would directly apply in their work with children including how to listen more effectively, ways to adjust their curriculum and to be thoughtful and intentional with gender-inclusive language.

The Quilt Project

VYFS, DOVE and McMurray Middle School (MMS) collaborated on an intergenerational LGBTQ+ story-sharing project with Gender Sexuality Alliance (GSA) students at MMS. Community mentors and youth created a quilt that expresses shared experiences, hopes and words of encouragement for future students. A private community event was held on June 22 at Open Space’s ORBIT, where the quilt was displayed for all who attended.

The quilt will be on tour around the community, including at the Open Space Youth Art Exhibit on August 4. More dates and locations to be announced. Read more about supporting LGBTQ+ youth on Vashon here.

Youth cultural expression through art

McMurray Middle School’s La Chispa students recently completed a mural titled “FIESTA,” with the mentorship and guidance of mural artist, Rafa Diaz.

Diaz and La Chsipa were supported by Nidia Sahagun, the school district’s family engagement coordinator and Belinda Overa-Jovanovich, VYFS community outreach and engagement specialist. Diaz guided students through envisioning, planning, and creating their work on a mural that represents their culture and heritage.

When asked what they were most proud of after completion of the mural, one La Chispa student said “This mural celebrates Latin traditions and culture. I feel proud to be represented by the hardworking people in the background.”

DOVE summer camps

With funds from the King County MIDD grant, VYFS, DOVE and Allied Youth will host two LGBTQ+ art camps. One camp for high school youth will take place July 24-28, with another for middle school students on August 1-4.

Both camps will take place at Open Space for Arts & Community’s ORBIT Youth Space from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Registration is free and lunch and art supplies are included. Space is limited. Email collin@vashonDOVEproject.org to sign up.

For the younger crowd, VYFS’ Vashon Kids will have a weekly “Care Club” group to teach school-age kids about bodily autonomy, respect for gender differences, caring communication and relationship skills.

Planning for Strawberry Festival 2024

A group of five Vashon non-profits has formed a committee to provide a youth event at the 2024 Strawberry Festival.

Plans include a youth stage, a youth art show, aerial performances by the UMO school, a deejay, food, games and more.

If you would like to support this effort, donate to any of the non-profits involved: VYFS, DOVE, VARSA, ORBIT and the Vashon Chamber of Commerce; indicate your support of “Youth Event 2024 Strawberry Festival’ with your donation. To get involved or volunteer, contact info@vyfs.org.

These are just a few of the ways Vashon non-profits have come together in recent months for the greater good of the community.

To support any of the programs visit VYFS.org and click donate.

Tiffany Schira is the fundraising and communications manager for Vashon Youth & Family Services.