OUR HISTORY

    Overview

    Recognizing that the barriers to adequate treatment for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered individuals and family members are formidable and often limit or completely restrict their access to quality care, Rainbow Access Initiative (RAI) was developed in 2000 to address the unmet training needs of health and human service providers in areas and issues affecting LGBT people and their families. Prior to this there were no LGBT training programs for health and human service providers in the Capital District.

    Through a series of grants from the New York State Department of Health, as a project of the Council of Community Services, RAI set out to address this need and has maintained its vision of eliminating barriers between health and human service providers and the disenfranchised communities of LGBT people. Scores of providers have been trained and consumers educated, especially those of the commonly under-served populations.

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    This was our first year. Arlene ("Ari") Istar Lev, our first Project Director wrote the original proposal for the program and led the early efforts to develop our curriculum. An Advisory Board, representing a diverse membership from the capital district LGBT community was formed.

    We sent representatives to the National Coalition for LGBT Health and began a continuing relationship with that organization, staffed tables at five local health fairs, and organized three community events.

    Our first event, on June 10th, was a preview showing of Southern Comfort, the award-winning film about Robert Eads, a female-to-male transsexual who died of ovarian cancer. Over 50 people attended the showing-a significant number in an area of our size.

    The second event was at the Pride Festival where we operated booth providing LGBT Health care information and free chiropractic, reiki and other bodywork. (Our booth was very well attended and was the last one shut down.)

    On June 30th we produced our own Health Fair that included numerous community groups that serve LGBT folk. We offered health services and education materials, as we did at the Pride Festival, and five workshops on issues impacting the LGBT community:

    • Parenting,
    • Gay Youth,
    • Service Issues for Transgendered People
    • Service Issues for People of Color; and,
    • Lesbian and Gay Couples

    During this year we also developed an LGBT-based curriculum for use in training health and human services providers. The materials we designed go beyond sensitivity training and into an in-depth clinical and medical evaluation of services.

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    During this year, 10 professionals were trained as trainers to deliver our curriculum to health and human services providers. We also organized and facilitated a conference: Parenting in the New Millenium: Therapy with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Families and a Town Meeting on LGBT Parenting Issues

    Following the 'Train-the-Trainer' sessions, we finalized our curriculum. This resulted in a 100 page manual divided into the following sections:

    • Barriers to Sensitive Health Care
    • Gender Diversity
    • Parenting in the LGBT Community
    • Trauma and Domestic Violence, Addictions; and,
    • Youth Issues
    The manual now includes films, role-plays, hand-outs, and overheads.

    In addition to the above, the ten professionals presented workshops to more than 20 local agencies, including:

    • The staff of the YMCA
    • The Medical Resident Staff and Physicians at the Albany Medical Center Hospital
    • Classes at SUNY Albany
    • Captain's, a group home for youth

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    During this period, RAI revamped its curriculum to include new and up-to-date materials; videos, PowerPoint presentations, and exercises were added. Additional items were included that focus on

    • the political and social symbolism of language
    • the recognition of dominant culture systems; and,
    • case studies inclusive of varying racial and socio-economic backgrounds

    We also trained seven additional trainers during this time and presented workshops at ten more agencies, including:

    • Captain's, a group home for youth
    • Middle-Earth ( SUNY Albany's Peer Counseling Center)
    • Albany County Mental Health
    • Albany Medical Center's Pediatric Residents

    In addition, we collaborated with these other local organizations...

    • In Our Own Voices
    • Young Gay Men of Color Association
    • Albany Gender Project
    • The Transgender Independence Club
    ...on a project titled Building a Dynamic Transgender Community that addressed violence in the Transgender community.

    In April of 2003, RAI registered with the State Of New York as a Type B Corporation pursuant to Section 201 of the Not-for-Profit law and received 501(c), non-profit status in July of 2005.

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    This page updated on October 4, 2008

    Rainbow Access Initiative Inc. is committed to equal opportunity in all aspects of employment. This includes recruitment, hiring, training, promotion, compensation, transfer and other terms and conditions of employment, of all persons regardless of race, age, religion, disabilities, national origin, gender or sexual preference.

    Discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, color, creed, religion, national origin, income status, disability, sexual identity, and gender expression is prohibited in the practices and procedures of Rainbow Access Initiative.