THE STORY OF THE OUTREACH

During my set at Tadd's on Saturday Sept 24th 2011 one of the VIP's imed me and requested a song,he then shared with me a link and a event that happened in his town.After my set I checked out the link and read about the death of Jamey Rodemyer.I could not believe what I read and saw on the video.How could this happen.Why did this happen.

After doing a search I read other stories about how teens were being bullied and taunted leading to suicide

I posted the link on my Facebook and made the comment how I wanted to do a event in Second Life to raise awareness about Bullying and Taunting leading to Teen Suicide in the LGBT Teen Community.The comments and support I received was overwhelming.

On October 22nd and October 23rd Be A Warrior-Warriors For Jamey took place at Tadd's.The Event was geared toward Raising Awareness and Creating a Outreach in Second Life for at risk teens.The support for the event was amazing,so many people turned out for this 2 day event.

A few weeks after the event,I felt really down I felt I had failed in my mission.Yes we raised awareness but where was the Outreach.As the months went by I felt that I needed to do more,the suicides and bullying were still happening.

On New Years Day of 2012 I logged into SL and started putting together a notecard.What did I want the Outreach to do.For the next couple of days I kept adding to the notecard.I had a rough idea of what I wanted so I passed the notecard to a couple of friends I asked them to read it and give me their feedback.

At the end of January I met my beautiful husband Justin,we started dating and as the relationship delveloped we found ourselfs spending most of our time at my sim.Justin also had a sim,he decided to give it up,so I asked him to please talk with me before he did.I passed him the notecard and The Outreach was born.Justin believes in the mission of the Outreach just as I do and is 100 percent behind this project.

The Goal of The Outreach is to create a safe haven  within Second Life for the LGBT Teens in SL.With the migration of the Teen Grid into the Main Grid it is important to ensure that they have such a place.

The Outreach provides them with Vendor boards where they touch and receive information regarding issues  that arise in a  teen's life.The biggest issue  for a gay teen today seems to be bullying and taunting leading to suicide.

The Outreach also provides them with information about  Crisis Counselors in their area's in  that they can discuss ongoing issues in their lives and seek help within their communities

There is a Reflection Garden, as you enter the garden you will see the eternal flame at the front of the flame it says"Their Legacey is For Others to Fight and Win The Battle to Live Life" .The Garden is Dedicated To All The Teens Who Suffered and Ended Their Lives From Being Bullied.This Must Stop Please Help Us. The Memorial has over 200 names of Teens who lost the battle.As we find more names they will be added.

There is a beach club for teen parties.I hope that some of the teens would like to pick up the skills of DJing.In my mind if we create a safe and happy,fun life here in SL that it will bleed over to their real lives.

The following is Our Staff

Jared Palianta - Chairman and CEO
Justin Resident Palianta- Co-Chair and Director Of The Outreach
Tadd Rives-Director of Events
Eddi Haskell-Director of Publicity

As the Outreach grows the plan is to put together a Teen Peer Group who will meet with us each month to discuss ongoing issues and also the work of the Outreach.

There are plans for a event to take place on May 12th and 13th a fundraiser and the opening of The Outreach.More Details to follow

Stats

Every 45 minutes a teen ends their life by suicide

65 percent of teen suicides happen at age 14 a shocking number.What is even more shocking 99 percent of the age 14 group are LGBT Teens.