Recipient Story: YMCA Story

When Natasha Dominey's youngest child came out as transgender, Natasha approached the situation with love and support like most parents would. Also, like most parents her head was full of questions, like "what do I say, what can I do and who can I talk to." Natasha discovered was there was not a lot of information available in South Canterbury. This was a concern, as a vacuum of information often leads to misunderstanding and poor outcomes.

"It is frightening knowing your child is going through a challenging time in their life and you are not equipped with the knowledge to help." - Natasha

As a youth development facilitator for YMCA South & Mid Canterbury, Natasha knew she wanted to make our region safer and more inclusive for the Rainbow Community. To do this she had to start with education. Education leads to understanding and that leads to acceptance. Working alongside the Y's Youth Development team, Natasha created the Rainbow Education 101 programme. A feature of the programme are workshops that are run for schools, businesses, and community organisations that want to engage more confidently with the Rainbow Community.

While this programme is only new this year it has already delivered workshops to 22 businesses and organisations. These range from healthcare to education to social services. The best news of all, is that the feedback has been so positive from the attendees!

“We really needed this information to upskill our knowledge when we work with young people. We need to keep them safe." - Scout Leader

Along with the workshops the Y also facilitates two support groups for the Rainbow Community. One group is for rangatahi (youth) and other for parents & whānau.

“When my daughter came out as gay I remember thinking "If only I could find someone to talk to who understands." This is amazing we have these groups now in South Canterbury" - Mum

How the Aoraki Foundation helped:

The Y received a grant for $5,000 from the Miller General Impact Fund to assist with the delivery of the Rainbow Education 101 programme.