Join Val as she talks to Davrielle and Julia of Rainbow Mentors. They discus queerness, relationships, goals and personal projects. They also explain The who, what, why, and how of Rainbow Mentors.
Guest links:
Instagram: @rainbow.mentors
Community on Facebook, Rainbow mentors.
Website: rainbowmentors.org.
The Get With the Grove podcast is launching a new Interactive Question Box. Summit a question to hear our new hosts, Maddie and Gabby answer or discuss your question in the next episode. This week we are looking for questions about Relationships, Sexuality and Gender.
Summit questions at https://forms.gle/DRwnDPD3MMhS7X47A
Learn More at www.thegrovehubs.ca
Follow us on social media
Join Val as she talks to Davrielle and Julia of Rainbow Mentors. They discus queerness, relationships, goals and personal projects. They also explain The who, what, why, and how of Rainbow Mentors.
Guest links:
Instagram: @rainbow.mentors
Community on Facebook, Rainbow mentors.
Website: rainbowmentors.org.
The Get With the Grove podcast is launching a new Interactive Question Box. Summit a question to hear our new hosts, Maddie and Gabby answer or discuss your question in the next episode. This week we are looking for questions about Relationships, Sexuality and Gender.
Summit questions at https://forms.gle/DRwnDPD3MMhS7X47A
Learn More at www.thegrovehubs.ca
Follow us on social media
All right, I am now sitting here with Davrielle and Julia. And we're gonna start off with a little introduction of both of them. So whoever wants to go first, go ahead.
Davrielle:Yeah, I'll go first. Hi, everyone. I'm Davrielle. Yeah, I am a singer, songwriter, performer, activist, multidisciplinary person. I was born in Toronto, Ontario. And now I'm here.
Valentina:Awesome. Welcome to the Grove.
Davrielle:Wow.
Valentina:So glad to have you here.
Julia:I appreciate you so much. I'm Julia, everyone, hi! I use She/her. I moved to Guelph at the beginning of 2020. With my partner and our dog. Let's see I outside of rainbow mentors, I am a sex and relationship educator for teenagers. I also work with adults one on one but all my teen stuff is in groups. And let's see, I have lived in other provinces and other countries. And I decided to move to Guelph because my partner went to school in Guelph and loved it. So I was like, Sure I'll give it a shot and then the pandemic so still getting to know the place. And doing my best to find community, hence, Rainbow
Valentina:I love! I'm obsessed! But we're gonna get into that a mentors. little bit later on Rainbow mentors. For now, I really want to get to know both of you. And I want our listeners to get to know both of you. So I know Davrielle, you mentioned you're a singer, songwriter, and an activist and a bunch of other things. Let's kind of dig more deep into that, like, what are your passions, talents, and the projects that are going on right now for you?
Davrielle:Yeah, I'm currently finishing up my second album. So I'm like a streaming artist. I'm on all streaming platforms, Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, Amazon, question mark question mark. Other platforms, I have some music videos on YouTube under the name, Davrielle 18. And I'm also on Instagram under the name Davrielle 18. And use Reiki and like I do energy healing, as well as I'm a practicing medium. And like working on psychic parts. Also come to me a little bit for that. But yeah, like I have a very spiritual side of me that I was like, you know what, I'm doing this anyways,
Valentina:I feel that energy.
Davrielle:Thank you. So I was like, Oh, I'm doing this. So I may as well like make money? Question mark? It's so hard being your own business.
Julia:Aint that the truth
Davrielle:is like, right, like, as someone who's trained as an artist, you know, you don't generally get the business side along with it. Like you just like, oh, I'll just be hired by a place. But what if there, that's not the case. And right now, for artists, it's really about making our own stuff or like filming your own movies, if you want to be an actor, and then you have to figure out how to make videos. Download All the software's and so it's just, it's it's definitely been a road in the journey, like being a little entrepreneur, business person of my own. But yeah, I'm grateful for the education that I've gotten to be able to do it.
Valentina:That's awesome. And what are the upcoming projects any like new music coming out or anything like that?
Davrielle:Yeah, so my second album that will be out on all streaming platforms in 2023
Valentina:Nice
Davrielle:at some point in 2023. So definitely click follow beside my name
Valentina:Yes! Plug right now
Davrielle:when you go onto your music streaming places, I'm just Davrielle, no 18. Cause secretly 18 was an album. Oh
Julia:my gosh. So to write it when you're 18 Did you call it Adele?
Davrielle:No, no, that was like four years in the making. cuz I was a full time university student while I was making the music.
Julia:right.
Davrielle:And it also means it costs money to make because I don't know how to mix and master my vocals into, into like computer software like I have to pay people to do that. So it was just like in order and that's like why it took so long for this album to come out because I've just been like, scraping every couple of like dollars off of my paychecks and I go into the mastering of the second album. Yes, like go into the recording time and
Valentina:that's amazing.
Julia:Wow.
Davrielle:Yeah, there's I mean, like, for every art, I feel like there's so much happening behind the scenes and like most people don't realize what's happening on the scenes, but it needs to get done or else the art is not gonna be like, you know, done or up to standards.
Valentina:Right,
Davrielle:whatever your standard may be.
Valentina:Yeah yeah. Okay, awesome. Thank you so much for sharing. And Julia.
Julia:Wow, I learning so much about you today Davrielle. This is great Okay, so you want to know my passions and talents
Valentina:Passions, talents projects going on?
Julia:Boy, geez. What am I doing? So I am a relationship coach. For teenagers. I used to call myself a sex educator. And I found that parents get a little sticky about that notion. So I now brand myself as Auntie Julia, you can find me on Tik Tok at Facebook and Instagram at@askAuntieJulia. So I'm the cool Aunt that you can talk to you about sex and relationships. And so stuff that I have going on in February, I'm doing a series of talks with French organization, webinars. And I also have, some I work one on one with some adult clients, and I love them so much. And my my focus is definitely on teenagers. But it's really interesting to me to be working with these adults, because I can see, working with adults helps inform the work that I do with teenagers, I'm sure I want to set teenagers up to have the kinds of awesome relationships that they want to have in their life of All different kinds.
Valentina:And also probably like teaching parents and guardians maybe to I don't know how to best support their child around that
Julia:that is in the works, actually. Yes.
Valentina:So upcoming project.
Julia:Yeah. Thanks for that. Yes, I am working on. either. I haven't decided yet. Either doing something just for parents or having sort of two things, one for parents and one for their kids. So that they can kind of inform each other. But it's in the works, because I do have several parents who are asking me like, how do I talk to you about a 15 year old about what is happening to their body? And a lot of my friends, I'm in my 30s and I have friends who like I have a seven year old. What do I do when...? Okay, buckle up. Let's go. So that's fun. And I've been approached by a couple of people to write a book, and I am very scared of that idea. Daverielle I see your face. And you're like Yes, Julia! write a book.
Valentina:Scared in a excited way or scared in a nervous way.
Julia:Nervous way because I people say, are you going to write a book? I'm like, what I don't know. What do you want from me? So I guess that's like, in the back of my head. I'm thinking like, could I write a book? And what would it be about? So people have said, Yes, write a book. But I think I need more information from those people about why they think I should write a book or what they think my book should be about. Because I have
Valentina:Clearly you have a lot of insight if someone's telling you to write a book,
Julia:apparently. So like, I've never considered it. But I have recently like in the last few months, had a couple people be like you should write a book. So you follow up with those people.
Valentina:I mean, I won't be following up, I'm waiting for this book.
Davrielle:We could do a brain like storming session right now. There is like so many things, you can write a book about. I have so many ideas for you. Okay, talk about that later.
Valentina:I'm obsessed.
Julia:other things going on besides my business, things that I'm passionate about, and like figuring out I have a backyard with have a dog, and backyard, I want to learn how to garden, like grow some food. So I would say that's a passion. But,
Valentina:That's a passion
Julia:I, I'm not there yet.
Valentina:Okay
Julia:But I would like to learn more about growing my own food, I think that would be cool. And I really interested in building community or being part of community, maybe not necessarily being the one to create it, but joining in. So I'm working myself up to participating in more events, the pandemic really has made me not really want to get out in groups. But I have I realized earlier this year that I was really missing from my life. And so I was like, Okay, I need to put myself out there. I need, I need people, so working on that, too.
Valentina:Lovely. So to our listeners, on top of everything these two beautiful people have going on in their lives. They're also part of this wonderful initiative called Rainbow mentors. And we're going to talk a little bit about it. And we're going to start with what it is. So take it away.
Davrielle:Yeah. So Rainbow Mentors is a nonprofit organization. And to sum it up, we engage with queer and trans kids and youth, we do a lot of programming. And then we also are doing some programming for the parents of said youth to help them navigate what it means when your child comes out as a member of the rainbow community.
Valentina:I love
Julia:Ya. So we have, Davrielle talked about programming. I am the program director. This is Julia program director. And so three programs that we have going on. One is queer scouts, for this year, it's monthly and the ages, we work with their age six to 18. So we have queer scouts, we get together on Sundays, once a month, do things that scouts tend to do. So our most recent one was all about fire building. That was so much fun. We made a bunch or we ate a bunch of snacks around the fire, and taught the kids about fire and how to build fires and fire safety and was much fun. So scouts is one. Second is mentoring. And we are in the process of developing our mentorship program. So kind of like how Big Brothers Big Sisters pairs, adults with kids, we're gonna do the same pairing up. We're adults with queer kids
Valentina:that's awesome.
Julia:We think we really believe that queer kids really need to see that there are queer adults who are happy and healthy and doing well in their lives, living their best lives or living great lives, I should say. So that's the second thing. And then the third thing that we do are after school drop ins. So we have one after school drop in here at the grove that we do, we're kind of shifting between the University of Guelph, the Fergus and the Erin location. So on Mondays, we have drop ins, we're starting soon, at The Grove. And then we also have a Friday night drop at at two rivers neighborhood group. So that's at the Tyler School in Guelph`. And, Yep, those are three programs. And the thing that we're sort of working on that we're there are only three of us who are running this organization right now. So we have very big dreams. But the capacity Oh, I lied, Sorry, there are four of us. We just hired a fourth person, which is very exciting. But there are four of us who are working on this. And we have these huge dreams, but there are only four of us. So we have to kind of take it at the speed that we can we get very excited and want to rush ahead and then we have to dial it back. Remember that we can only do so much. So we are working on creating sort of an educational platform. So that a lot of we can make videos for a lot of the questions that parents ask, ask us of how to deal with their kids. And part of that, I think the educational platform is like long term goal. And the videos are long term goal but I believe and I'm looking at Davrielle to confirm so I believe that we're starting up figuring out how to give those educational workshops for parents in person That's That's the plan. But it's already November 21. Oh my gosh is November 24?
Valentina:I know, Who would have thought we'd be in 2023? Very soon. Very soon.
Julia:Geez. Yeah. So we've got a lot of fun stuff happening in Rainbow Mentors
Valentina:That's awesome. I know you mentioned having a lot of big dreams each of you individually. But I mean, Rainbow mentors even becoming a thing had to have been a dream. So I want to ask, how did that dream start? How did Rainbow Mentors all get started?
Davrielle:Yeah, so our founder and our Executive Director, Jax started rainbow mentors off the skin of their back in Hamilton, so that was actually going on for about three years. I think it started in 2018. In Hamilton. Yeah. And then Jax moved to Guelph, and then had to figure out how to take an organization from one community and put it into another community. And so yeah, like they've, they've really been doing the thing.
Julia:That's awesome. That's true, they have been doing the thing. And then I joined in May of this year, I was joining as a volunteer. And then Jax is like, I want you to be doing this with me. So let's figure that out. And then Davrielle joined end of June. And so the three of us have been building this organization, and we're building it. Thank goodness, we're not starting from scratch, because there was all this stuff that was done at Hamilton. But we still are having to spend a lot of time working on policies and paperwork and finding a board in Guelph. And that's that stuff that sounds super grown up and hardcore. And I was still a little bit nervous about saying, Oh, I'm building a nonprofit, but that's what we're doing. Yes, that's definitely what we're doing. And we are working our way through it at a very comfortable pace for us. We have these big dreams. And so we want to be rushing ahead. But we have to remember to
Valentina:everyone's kind of on the same page about the speed of what you're doing.
Julia:Yes,
Davrielle:yes, we have to build the basement of the house first, yes, even if it goes unfinished for a while, and then we can make the main floor and the second floor of the attic.
Valentina:That's lovely as what the thing is, when that's done all your ideas or your programming ideas, they're already set in place. So it's perfect. You can just get going the second that's all built up.
Julia:Yes, we are very, very excited for when, when all the structure is in place so that we can be like, Okay, let's bring in our volunteers. Let's have a whole bunch of people who are participating in this because there's so much interest that we every time we talk about rainbow mentors, people are saying, oh my gosh, I wish that I had this when I was a kid, I wish that I had known about an organization like this, I wish it existed. And hearing that from adults, you know, they're like, how do I get involved with this? How can I participate? And then we talked about scouts, for example. I'm like, is there scouts for adults? Can we do this too? And I'm like, oh, it's if you want to start it, okay. Yeah. One thing thats for us, but it's really great to hear the support that we have from the community. And there you have so many
Valentina:much needed.
Julia:Yeah, it's so needed. And it's great.
Valentina:I love it. Well, because you're saying it's so great. I want to know, like, what caught your attention before you each started, like, why was Rainbow Mentors something you each want to be a part of?
Julia:That's a really good question.
Davrielle:Yeah, that's a good question.
Julia:Yeah. You came to the job fair. And you're like, Oh, yes, please.
Valentina:What, uh, what drew you in at the job fair, Davrielle.
Davrielle:So I was actually doing an employment program with Hey, at least you do the three weeks. I don't think I would a different nonprofit, which got me into Guelph, like, they gave me a job in Guelph. Nice. I was not suited for that job. It was a farming job. I'm not a farmer. They were my employer and my employers were lovely. Like, they were like, great people, have lasted.
Julia:Yeah Same
Davrielle:It's you're in the sun. You're in the rain. You're but like, I am not a farmer. So I'll just put it there. I lasted three weeks is is basically what happened. doing chores. You're stacking hay. I was like, I was like, I'm gonna get to garden. No.
Julia:Did you learn about of muscles that you didn't know existed.
Davrielle:You know, I think I was like really trying to, like have good technique when like, bending my knees or like, bending my back or lifting from the legs or you know, doing certain things and like yeah, like you definitely, I don't think it was getting built. But I was staying I was maintaining, I was like, sort of fit ish. But I did take a lot of the tasks that require me to sit or like be on my hands and knees to like plant lettuce anyways. We're divulging, so basically
Valentina:So you were not feeling the farmer life
Davrielle:I was not feeling the farmer life surprise surprise. I literally came from Toronto. Like why did I think
Valentina:Y ou know what I felt like rejection is like cosmetic redirection. So it led the farm life is not for you, but it led you to
Davrielle:That's exactly, exactly it and so I the beautiful timing was that I was farming end of May, early June. And June is when all the pride events are happening. And surprise, surprise, there was a queer job fair. And I was like, oh my goodness, if I want to stay in Guelph, I have to get a job here. I have to do the thing. And what better than to find my people as a non binary, generally femme presenting person of color. I was like, Ooh, time, there we go. And there was a panel of speakers and like, I was also like, really, in. Like, I've been in a very like, up and down spiritual place with my newfound gifts that I've gotten. Love them a lot. And it's like when Jax was speaking, so Jax is on the panel of these like queer entrepreneurs. And when Jax speaking there was just like a halo like around Jax. Jax was arua just like, lit up. And I was like, Okay, I need to talk to this person. And so when the panel ended, I like got my tuchus, right to like, wait to talk to you know, when like, you have to wait to talk to like panelists, because they're like, all important. Like poeple are talking to them, so i'm like waiting to talk to Jax. And literally in that conversation, Josh was like, let's meet for coffee tomorrow.
Valentina:Oh my gosh.
Davrielle:And I was like uh ah that?
Valentina:Were you expecting that?
Davrielle:No. I was expecting, like, so many questions, but they're just like, yeah, like, send me a resume. And so I didn't realize what the conversation was. But I realized it was a job interview in the middle of it being a job interview. Yeah.
Julia:Sorry. You went for coffee?
Davrielle:Yes.
Julia:And you realize halfway through your coffee that you were at a job interview?
Davrielle:Absolutely.
Valentina:Honestly. I feel like there's pros and cons. But I feel like the major pro with that. Is that like they're able to know like the real you I feel like when you know it's an interview, you kind of get scared and you're something you're not really like completely. yourself. So did you feel more comfortable?
Davrielle:Oh, yeah. Well, Jax's just like a super comforting person in general. Like they they're very, like self aware. And like, they know what type of energy they're putting out. And they're generally putting out like, pretty, like calm chillax energy for the people around them. Yeah. Like that was like very easy peasy. I mean, like, Jax must have said something like, oh, like, let's let's talk about your resume. Like when we, like go out for coffee or like, oh, like, like, maybe I missed the cue that it was supposed to be, like a job interview. Like, it was like, oh, let's get to know each other more. Like, we will see what your strengths and strengths are that you can like, bring to the team. Maybe I just missed the mark. Maybe I was just like, so. In the clouds, or like, I didn't like realize what was like, happening. But it was just so easy.
Valentina:Yeah
Davrielle:like the path of least resistance. Like, that's when I like really knew that, like I was on the right track, right? Because like, there's been so many times in my life where I've tried so hard to do the thing. And for whatever reason, the thing just like doesn't want to happen, the thing that just like isn't happening or like it rained that day, or like 10 people called in sick that day, or like, you know, sometimes things just like don't want to happen. And I've been in this flow state for a little bit
Valentina:nice.
Davrielle:That's just been like, okay, like, it's very surrender. And I'm like, actively trying to work on the art of detachment in my own In life currently. And so, when things are just not happening, like, we're gonna plan something else, this is just not the thing to be doing right now. Like, we don't have to be fighting because it can be easy. And I think we as human beings don't realize that.
Valentina:Yeah.
Davrielle:And of course, I do understand like, my privileges, like where I'm coming from in terms of like, what types of things I've been given in my life that like others might not have,
Valentina:right.
Davrielle:But yeah, like certain things, if it's coming easy if it's coming naturally, and it's not provoking anxiety. Well, it's happening or like, when you think about it, you're like, Yeah, okay. And it's just this like, calm, relaxing feeling. That's the thing to go for.
Valentina:Yeah, you feel it's meant for you.
Davrielle:yeah yeah. And so with, like, speaking to Jax at the job fair, I was like, a little bit nervous and like, anxious, because I was just like, really in a place of like, I was picking up all the business cards from all the tables. So I was like, Look, I just need a job to stay here. Like, I just need a job in general. So ahah. But being with Jax one on one that was very, like, calm and relaxing.
Valentina:And it was probably to like, it isn't just like, oh, I need a job. Like, no, this is something like I'm actually passionate about. And it just works for me. And I feel it's meant for me,
Davrielle:totally. And I actually had a medium telling me that I would be working with LGBTQIA plus youth, like, and so like, I think that reading happened like a couple of years ago. And at the time, I was just working with you have like, I've had like a lot of experience working with kids. And like I was just working with the general population. Like it wasn't like an niche . I was like, Yeah, I can see sonething like that for myself like. And then it just happened so easily. Like a couple years later. Yeah.
Valentina:And did you recall that like, meeting with your medium? When you had that conversation with Jax?
Davrielle:I think it hit me a little while later. Like it hit me. Probably like a couple of weeks, like a month later, when I was like I was in the ground floor, like actually participating in programming with the youth. And I was like, Oh, I'm doing this thing. Oh, I remember I forget that lady's name. But she she was cool
Valentina:She was right
Davrielle:She was right about a lot of things. But yeah,
Valentina:was there anything that really resonated with you when Jax was speaking or when you were in your interviews last you didn't know it was an interview, type meeting.
Davrielle:I think just how collaborative Jax is. And like, is trying to make this organization so thoughtful and considerate about the needs of everyone involved. So like Jax was very much like, here's like a piece of paper, like we're gonna go through, like your strengths. And we're gonna go through like your weaknesses. And we're going to try to incorporate things that like you like to do in this job. And there is of course, going to be things like you don't like to do but like, let's try to get you to like mostly do the things like you want to do, and others are there things you want to learn and like Jax took on this mentorship for me. Because I am like still in my mid 20s. And like, they are older. And they're like yeah pretty much took me under their wing. Because it is we are rainbow mentors, like so mentoring is actually happening within our staff. And you know, like being able to allow yourself to be the student and also oop accidentally, I'm the teacher now, you know, like it's just like such a cycle that we are all going through, I think in our lives. And yeah, that's something that really struck a lovely, lovely, lovely chord with me how how much this executive director was down to listen. And I think we find that a lot more nonprofits, which is why I generally do nonprofit work because like, it's such it's so soul fulfilling work. And the people you get to meet and work with are like sweet, like they're just sweet human being. I was gonna say sick. They're sick. They're sad. I was like sweet is probably better than it was like gonna come out as like a swick now the combination word. So yeah, the people you meet, they are just swick.
Valentina:I love it. It makes swick happen. You heard it here first everyone Fetch is never gonna happen Swick is gonna happen, its gonna happen Oh my gosh
Julia:swick rediculous you're so right about Jax. Like, it's I got involved, because I had a zoom call with Jax after seeing like a Facebook post in a group. And it's like, Hey, I work with teenagers. Maybe I could be a mentor. Yeah, done tons of work with teenagers over the years. And we were on a zoom call chatting, and I was just like, I love everything you were saying I am So down , I remember literally saying like, please let me be involved in this. I would love to volunteer. I was like I can give you one day a week. And Jax was like Cool, great. Come aboard. Let's figure this out.
Valentina:So for both of you, Jax was definitely someone who was very inspiring. For you both, is what I'm gathering.
Julia:Yeah. And it's really interesting, thinking about how it started versus where we are now, end of November. And, you know, the, what Davrielle talked about sort of the energy of Jax and the goals that Jax has. I think that is what seems to draw people in. And then also Jax just has this way of being honest and real about whatever's going on for them, while still caring for everyone around them. And that is something that I am learning from Jax and seeing kind of how they do it. I'm hoping for like osmosis or something like, enters into me
Davrielle:photosynthesize Jax's vibes
Julia:And one thing I really do like about our staff is that we are such different people. And we have, we have different strengths and different interests. And we also we all work a little bit differently. But then we come together and we fit different roles, which is really nice. Or it's like, okay, here are things we have to get done, who wants to do them,
Valentina:right
Julia:And then you know, we will each say like, Okay, I'll handle this, or I'll handle that. And it's really nice to be in that kind of a work environment where it's like, okay, well, like I don't really want to do this social media, but I can definitely start it.
Valentina:Yeah.
Julia:Or I don't really want to call this person to set this thing up. Can somebody else do it? And like someone else would be like, yeah, no problem, or it's, it's really supportive. And, you know, when we are feeling lower energy or capacity, or if we're ill, or something, we just let each other know, like, hey, not feeling it today. And that's totally okay. And acceptable. And, you know, it's like, okay, can we get you anything? Do you need anything? Do you want me to drop off soup at your house? Or do you want you know, like, there's just so much care involved, and it's something that's so important for me, working with other people is really recognizing that we are whole human beings. And yes, sometimes we have to push through and get things done, because there are deadlines, or there's important work that has to be done. There's also very much like, let's take care of ourselves and each other while we are doing this.
Valentina:And obviously, like doing that with your, like, coworkers, it definitely gives that same vibe to like the youth like the youth see that? So if you're projecting that they're going to feel like okay, if, you know, they like each other, like, I am safe here to be here because I feel like work environment honestly is so clear. Like once you walk in to any, any place I feel like you know whether, like people live with each other on a lot.
Julia:Yes.
Valentina:So I feel like if you walk in as a youth to like this new space that you're you like you're new to you want to be in a space where people are like on that same vibe, not giving bad vibes.
Julia:Yeah, definitely. And I think one thing, we laugh a lot, we joke a lot. We poke fun at each other constantly. We all make funny sounds and have ridiculous phrases like swick
Valentina:It happened.
Davrielle:oh noo
Julia:And, you know, I think that because we do get along and like each other, and we poke fun at each other, that does your right impact the vibe that's happening. So like, especially with teenagers, like teenagers roll their eyes constantly. They're constantly calling each other out. They're poking fun at each other. And they see that we can do it. So then they're like, oh, okay, I can I can make fun of you. Yeah, this is fine. And we still we set boundaries, and we let people know. But I think it really does help that, yes, this is our work. But we're also so engaged and having fun while we do it. And we it's important to us that we're having fun while we do it. Yeah. Especially because we're working with youth. And there's, as part of the queer community, there is such, how do I say this? We really need fun, safe spaces for us, we need to know that it's okay to be ourselves, and that we can still have fun and celebrate and find joy in this life. I think that's really, really important. And so it's really great that as a staff team, we can do that. And then with our volunteers, we can do that. And then with our youth, we can do that. It. It's so important. And and especially right now, because there's constant horror and travesty within the queer community. Like even just this weekend. So the celebration and the joy, I think makes such a difference. And that's why I think a lot of our kids keep coming back.
Valentina:For sure, like, as you said, like, it's a need a need that needs to be fulfilled. So it kind of leads me to my next question, which was programming and like, what rainbow mentors really offers for you once they come in? So if they're coming in for the first time, what should they expect?
Julia:Oh, interesting question. What should they expect? It really depends on the program or the space. But definitely, they can always expect they can expect laughter. They can expect silliness combined with serious topics. Yeah, they can definitely expect that there will be some kind of art or craft, Jax loves crafts, so much. So we're always crafting. And like our droppings, for example, we will always have coloring pages. And then sometimes we will also have like info graphs, or we're going to be talking about something. So for example, our first drop in is always just coloring, so we just hanging out and we color. And then our next one, the one we're in the works, or that is in the works. So we're gonna color and also talk about how to manage stress. That's something that all of us deal with goodness know students, students these days have all kinds of stressors. So when kids come in, we'll be in different spaces, like the Grove, we love being at the Grove, there's just so much good energy here. And we do our best to be sort of, I have to say, like cool people that that you can just talk to, like, that was the goal. We're approachable, or at least we try to be. And it's easier said than done. Yeah, for sure. But I think that we work on it. And also we, by working on it, you know, we we have some trainings that we are making for like onboarding volunteers and such so that, okay, this is how we start things off. This is, this is what makes it okay. And we always like scouts, for example, we always start off by introducing everyone and then we talked about kind of like our expectations for the day or the move. Well, we don't call them rules, we call them agreements. what are agreements? while we're here like how we're going to treat each other. We lay that out right away, so that everybody knows that we are going to listen we are We're going to be respectful, we are going to allow people to express themselves in the ways that they need to, we know that not everybody is going to be sitting down the whole time. But that's okay. You can walk around, you can squat, you can sit on the ground, but still be listening. And that we are going to be trying to impart some knowledge. And it's sort of up to everyone how much that knowledge they want to take with them. But we do want them to participate in ways that feel good for them.
Valentina:Yeah. That's awesome.
Julia:What would you add to that?
Davrielle:Yeah, I think like something that has been helpful to tell the youth when they're with us is like, we're not school. Like, we don't expect you to sit still. Yeah, like, we're very, there's less rules. Yeah, with us. And it's more relaxed. It's,
Valentina:there's more freedom. Yeah,
Davrielle:it's more casual, less formal, like, there's still like education happening, which I think is like a very important factor of like, who we are what we do. But it's gonna be fun. It's sort of like hiding veggies in like a cake or like a smoothie. If you like, blend it up just right, and you add other flavors. No one's gonna know there's veggies in it. Yeah. And so like, I feel like we do that with our programming is like,
Valentina:honestly, that's a good way to put it. Carrot cake pops up in my head, right?
Davrielle:There's like so much frosting on it. And there's so much sugar in it, though. It's just like, and that was removed. I didn't just eat a whole carrot when I did. And so, you know, like, like, the youth, I think, leave our sessions, feeling the funnest, like, having the adrenaline rush of like, yeah, like, that was so fun there. And then like, not even realizing that they were leaving with some education. And some, like, they learned a couple things with us and they, like, are not even gonna, like realize that until, like, Who knows when, but,
Julia:and we like to give them different opportunities to and so for example, we know that teenagers need to have like a certain number of volunteer hours. And so, you know, some of the teams that we work with Bill, they'll be like, hey, I really like to come hang out with you all. Like, would you now any chance you want to volunteer with us? Like any chance? Do you want to be involved in this in some way? And some of them are like, yeah, please let me let me volunteer my time. And others are like, can I just hang out? And that's totally cool, too. Yeah. But providing different opportunities is part of the mentorship. And that's so far, proven to be quite useful for everyone involved.
Valentina:So real mentors is obviously an amazing, amazing resource community space for youth. How does rainbow mentors kind of guide parents and include parents into the mix?
Julia:Okay, question. We're working
Davrielle:on it. Yeah. I mean, like, would we consider fit? Like, we're doing that program? Right, the families and transitions? Yep. That's a thing.
Julia:That's one. I've we've just just had a meeting last week with the founders of fit. It's Toronto organization that runs fit, and that's where Jax was trained. And then now we're doing Families in Transition here as well. And I believe we're starting, I think in January, maybe not, but I My understanding is that it's a 10 week program that has, at the same time, the parents are reading a one room and like kids, their kids are meeting in another room so that what, essentially the parents get to ask all of the questions that they want to ask, often that are ignorant questions, not necessarily negative, ignorant, they just don't know they have sort of base level questions and we're happy to answer them and also it means that like, their kid doesn't have to be educating them on everything which can
Valentina:little yikes for their kid. Yeah.
Julia:And so that I think it's a 10 week program. If memory serves that's awesome. And then the educational platform will be in the works. So that is also how we can work with parents. And you Davrielle have been meeting up with one parent.
Davrielle:No, just just one for now. But something that we also like are starting to do is like sort of like one on one coach. Yeah, so like, Jax is like a social worker like by degree and Julia's like a full on life coach and then I have my own, like whatever I have so a lot of lot of balls being juggled in the air. And so yeah, like we are doing, we are also offering like these one on one sessions, as well as like the group, like the support group offerings for like the parents. Because like, yeah, I've I personally, like I come from a household where I was parentified as a child. And so I was very mature from a very young age. And like, I was like, my parents, friends, therapists, whatever. And so being able to have this space, to be able to give education to the parents, I think is so rewarding for the parents and for the children so that the kids can literally just like be kids. Yeah. Because it's, it's hard because parents like, love their kids. Parents love their kids. And generally what like we are turning to find is like, there's a lot of supportive parents out there, they just like don't really know
Valentina:how to support
Davrielle:Yeah, they don't know how to support like, this is something that they've, like, never come across in their life. Like, you know, they have never met, like, a queer person, or they don't know that they met. Yeah, definitely. They definitely met a queer person, they just like, don't realize that they have. Or they met a trans person, a non binary person, like they just don't even realize that they've met them. So yeah, like, they're just like, really, really new. And there's a lot of supportive parents, which is like, generally, the kids who are like driven to our programming, it's because they have at least one supportive parent. But, and generally, like, there are some parents that are just fearful, yeah. Like, they are just worried about their kid because they've seen on the news, like, there's a lot of like terrible statistics out there about the LGBT community and like violent crimes and like hate crimes happening against like our community. And so, you know, when their kid comes out to them, which also there's like, a lot more kids coming out to their parents, like, it's super young ages, like, we have, like, kids under 10.
Julia:Yeah
Davrielle:coming to scouts. Yeah.
Valentina:But you know, what, we're, you are in a different world right now. Yeah, I feel like, thankfully, youth, especially younger youth are just exposed to more things and are seeing more of the queer community, on TV and on things like that, that was never there before. So It like makes sense that, you know, they're coming out earlier, because they're like, oh, my gosh, like, that. I don't identify with this. And like, representation is just so important. And there wasn't as much. I mean, there's still so much room for more, but the fact that it's here now, it obviously influences like youth a lot more to be like, Okay, that's me.
Davrielle:Yeah, yeah. And like, something that I'm just like, really excited about, like in the music industry is like, the song unholy is like at is at the top charts. And it's literally like a duet between the non binary, the trans artist , like, how incredible it is. And like, we have some like out people like in Congress, like throughout the world, and like, it's, it's becoming more mainstream to be able to be out and to, like, live authentically. And like, I feel like that's happening in like a lot of different ways. So, yeah, like, I think being able to support the parents is like a big thing that we want to be doing. Yeah. So like, I'm just, I'm really excited to do more of that.
Julia:And the organization was started because there is such a lack of services for queer trans kids. And we know that we can't only be working with the kids, we also have to be working with their caregivers. We're aware of our capacity. And yeah, we want to keep working with parents for sure. Yeah. And so we're gonna figure out how, how we have regular programming for parents and for kids and maybe Is the fair program? Or maybe it's the simultaneous or maybe it's just okay. We're having a series of talks. And you all can show up at your leisure.
Davrielle:Yeah, we'll see. But yeah, I think we all agree that like having something for the parents is like, very, very important. Because like, yeah, we see the youth what, like, once a week for two hours, depending on which drop in center, we go to, like, maybe less than that. And like, you know, they have to go to school, they go to school for like, a ton of hours a day, they are at home with their guardians for like, tons of hours a day, like, as long as like, it's good that they know that we exist. But like, we also realize that we don't, we're not with, like our target demographic all the time, which is the youth and kids. Yeah. So how do we make their lives like their surrounding personal lives better?
Valentina:So that kind of leads into my next question, which is kind of how rainbow connect, Rainbow mentors, oh, my goodness. But
Davrielle:Rainbow Connections
Valentina:How rainbow mentors connects with other organizations and what they can offer for other organizations? Kind of like what we're doing right now. Hey, The Grove, Rainbow Mentors collab, but What was that sound?
Davrielle:like, oh,
Julia:Yeah
Davrielle:like when songs like,
Julia:I got you
Davrielle:up on the dance floor? Like? I'm the DJ here.
Valentina:I love it. I love it, I have so many things.
Julia:Oh, my goodness, how do we connect with different organizations, we are part of a network of organizations and The Grove is one of those organizations. We are up for collaborations for projects, or for dropins, we don't have our rainbow mentors does not have its own space to do drop ins. So we love working with organizations like Grove, who have space and are looking for different kinds of programs are like, Hey, we are happy to come and run some programming for you. So we are part of this network, that is a bunch of organizations, we go to different fairs and sort of like meet and greets and interact with a whole bunch of people letting them know that we exist and that we have these different programs. And then we kind of see what people are interested in. And some organizations are reaching out to us to provide different kinds of training for them on, you know, more inclusive language or a how to how to work better with their queer and trans youth, or adults. And we are working on creating some kind of training. But also, if we we've decided if we're going to be doing trainings, and you have to be paid for those trainings. And we're not going to offer free trainings, even though we're a nonprofit. And we many of our programs don't have costs associated with them, but some will. So I think also really like it's just being part of the community showing up to various events that are happening in the community and building those connections just with other organizations, and people in the area. I think that's really important for us. Yeah, like our natural lives are not isolated. So why should we be doing this type of work in isolation, like this really is, Community Building, community engagement. We reach out to the community, they reach back we're like ah ah ah! you know?
Valentina:yes, I know. I know. For everyone who's listening, Davrielle and I were connected. And this is how this all got started this how we're why we're sitting here. So like, we're sitting all here because we care about the same thing. So it's awesome. I love it. And I love that you both are here. I'm so happy we're here. Thank you so much for this. This is great.
Davrielle:Yeah,
Valentina:thank you for coming, but we're not even done yet. I'm not even done yet. But I want to know to like, more specific to both of you what rainbow mentors means to you.
Davrielle:Geez, do you want to take this one first Julia?
Julia:The look on my face right now is like Okay...? gotta think what does it mean to me, to me rainbow mentors is is an organization that gives youth more adults they can trust. I think that is only a good thing. We know from various studies that kids need at least five adults they can trust in order to have, quote, unquote, healthy development. And turns out that it's quite difficult for a lot of youth to find five that they can really trust.
Valentina:Yeah even thinking about it now, like, five seems like a lot to me right. Now. I don't know that I can list five adults.
Julia:Yeah, right. Exactly. So I mean, if we're lucky, there are two parents and a teacher or maybe two teachers. Yeah. And maybe like, another family member, as an adult, or like a friend of the family. Maybe, and that's if we're lucky. Yeah, you know, and, like, really lucky. So I think in my own life, it I think would have made a really big, important difference. had, I had another organization that I could go to where there more people, adults, I can trust, and probably it would have helped me come to terms with my queerness a lot sooner. Because I guess it took a lot for me to be willing to accept my own queerness. And, you know, it wasn't until I was 29, that I was like, Oh, this is so obvious. And look at all of these things in my life that has led me to now be like, Yep, definitely, I'm queer. And I think if I had known when I was younger, that it was okay, that there were different possibilities, that relationships can look all kinds of different ways. Like that, I think would have been really helpful. And would have made an important difference in my life. So rainbow mentors, for me, is about, I guess, being a person that I could have used when I was younger. And also, you know, just having brave spaces, I was going to say safer spaces. So now I mean, brave spaces. And we've been told, from various kids who've been at our programs, like, this is the place where I feel the most Okay, being myself. And that is huge for me, like if we're if we're people, and if we create a space where kids can just be themselves and feel like, Oh, this is a load off. Like, I don't have to be worried about this, that the other that is amazing. To me, I love that so much.
Valentina:And it's definitely something you probably resonate with a lot, because you want to provide for these youth because it's something that you didn't have when you were younger. Yeah. So it makes it that much more special and important for you, I bet.
Julia:Definitely. Yeah, for sure.
Valentina:And how about for you Davrielle Sorry what was the question? That was answered so beautifully No, don't even worry. It was what a rainbow mattress means to you?
Davrielle:Yeah, like I think I agree with Julia that like, This, for me is like, a lot of inner child work as well. And actually, like we had a parents, we have like some parents like come by for scouts. Like they just like so then. Because we have so many young kids that come to like that specific program. And that parent had never toasted marshmallow or over a fire like roasted a marshmellow on the fire.
Valentina:really.
Davrielle:And so like, that person along with all these kids getting like this type of programming for like, maybe the first or second time. Like this was also a person having this first experience with these kids. And so it was just like, such a beautiful thing because like this parent was like emotional at a certain point. And it made me emotional. And you know, I think we all have that inner child I really love like family parts work myself, like both like love it. It's, I've always wanted to be able to help people and I've always wanted to be able to heal people. That's sort of like my whole thing. And so community is the most important thing for children and like, especially teenagers, like, if you don't feel like you're connected to other human beings, if you don't feel like you are seen, for who you are or accepted for who you are by other human beings, you're gonna have a bad time, you're gonna have a really, really, really bad time. And so I think a lot of what rainbow mentors is doing is like, we are a preventative measure, just like how they may put like, I don't know, like music courses or classes into like, like a school that doesn't have a lot of funding. Because if we don't have these types of programs available for our queer and trans youth, we know the statistics, right? Like, we know how many attempts there are, we know how many mental health emergencies and crisis is we run into without these types of programs? Yeah. And so honestly, to me, rainbow mentors is a life saving place. Yeah. And I think we are doing life saving work. And we are doing preventative work. And, you know, like, it's just you can't, you can't put a price on it. Yeah. And it's just so important. For sure. It's both of you. Like that was so beautifully said. And I feel like it answers. The next thing I wanted to ask too, which was what you specifically want to tell to youth out there youth who feel that they're part of this community, and just don't really know what to do, who to connect with, and feel alone? What would you specifically want to tell them? I would tell youth that are listening to this podcast, or anyone truly that's listening to this podcast, you can identify as a youth or not that you are not alone. And it doesn't always get better. But you don't have to be going through whatever problems or issues you might be having alone. And there are resources out there. But first you started have to be brave. And air what's happening? Yeah, because I feel like a lot of people keep to themselves, their hurt. And there's so many people walking around this world, keeping their hurt inside of themselves, because they don't know how to talk about it, or they feel like they're going to be a burden for you know, whatever, or the people around them, like they don't trust that, you know, the people around them will be able to take in the information that they are hurting, which might be real. And so I would urge you to find either online communities, if you feel like no one's listening to you like in your home or whatever, if you feel like school is not a good place or whatever. Like you can find some good things online. There can be horrors online also. So like Be careful. But you know, there are like good places on online like hotlines, or, you know, whatever. But yeah, there are resources, if you can find it, at least trust just air your grievances, because maybe the even if they can't help you personally, maybe they can find people that can help you. Yeah, right. So it can be a train sometimes of like, okay, like, this person can't help me, but they can help me find someone else. Yeah, who may be able to help me. So, you know, I hope that you do speak up and know that your worries are not going to go on deaf ears.
Julia:I think along with that. School can be a really scary place for a lot of queer and trans kids and youth. And I think it's really important to find people outside of school to lean on or to be your friends or to you know, find different supports and that can be online or that can be in person. I know that I would not have survived school if I didn't have extracurriculars, but I do have stuff going on outside of school. All right. And also, like these days, we have so many books, both fiction and nonfiction. Like you can find a library featuring queer stories. I think that's really important to know you're not alone. And also like, you know, statistics tell us that one in 10 People are queer. I would argue it's more than that. But at the very least, we know it's one in 10. So like, even if you think you're the only person in the room who's queer, you're probably not, and take comfort in that. That can be something at least I have found it really helpful if I'm feeling a little bit uncomfortable in certain situations, like, oh, yeah, okay. I'm not alone. And also, I'm just going to embrace my awkwardness and the other awkward weirdos are going to find me and it works every time. Every time.
Davrielle:Yeah, there's a lot of awkward weirdos Out There fully. Yeah, very much so.
Julia:And one reason we get along so well is because we're awkward.
Davrielle:Truly, truly is. It's true. And also, you know, you are loved. Even if you don't always feel that way. Even if you're like convinced the people around you don't love you. You know, we Rainbow Mentors. We love you.
Julia:And you matter. I think that's I have you matter and you are loved written on my mirror. Because I think it's something that we all need to hear all the time. Even if you're telling yourself you are loved and you matter. You do you matter, your opinions, your voice, your feelings it `all matters.
Davrielle:Yeah, I'm a huge proponent for like, post it notes on your dressers or on your bathroom mirror or like on someplace like go, you're going to look at regardless, there's just like, maybe like put a post it note and like write down something nice. You know, like, I am loved, or I matter or I look good in my shirts, or whatever. Yeah, oh, it's just something nice that you can do for yourself as well.
Valentina:This was so lovely. Was there anything else? Julia? You're thinking?
Julia:I have, I have thinking face. But there are so many things that I want to say, but it's okay.
Valentina:We will have so many more conversations in the future. And I know youth listening right now. Can't wait to meet both of you. Meeting both of you myself has been such a lovely experience. And I really appreciate both of you for being here and for speaking about such a relatable topic for a lot of youth. And hopefully they can. This podcast resonates with them. And we will see more and more youth in the future that wants come to you. So I appreciate both of you. And as a final thoughts. Or as a final note, where can you learn more about Rainbow Mentors.
Julia:So find us on Instagram rainbow.mentors. We also have a community on Facebook, Rainbow mentors. And our website is rainbowmentors.org. All right, we are working on our website. If anyone wants to help us. We will be super interested in your assistance. Please, please help us. Someone please, please.
Valentina:Thank you so much. You too.
Julia:Thank you Felt the love and I'm obsessed
Davrielle:This has been so great. Thank you so much.
Julia:Thank you. Thank you.
Valentina:Oh, you're great. You guys are Great