'Rewarding experience': Rainbow Cafe seeks volunteers for LGTBQ youth programs – The Southern
Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter.
The Rainbow Cafe is looking for volunteers for its youth programs.
Growing up, Carrie Vine, a vice chair of the Rainbow Cafe LGBTQ center, didn’t see many people like her and didn’t know of many queer mentors she could look up to.
She and others at the center want to make sure this isn’t the case for other LGBTQ youth in Southern Illinois.
But to do that, they need volunteers.
In an ideal world to run the center and its programs, Vine said they need about 30 to 50 volunteers. She said they currently have about 10 active ones.
The center recently had to cancel a few their weekly Friday night “drop ins” they usually host for those ages 13-18 because of a lack of volunteers. And while they are back up and running, they still need more people who are willing to help.
Vine said those who volunteer have the opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of teens.
“I always say it’s a very rewarding experience to volunteer and the place where we need the most volunteers are with the youth,” Vine said. “There’s been studies where they say, you know, especially with LGBTQ youth, if they have one person in their life that they can go to, that can make a difference. It can literally change like how that youth looks upon life, like whether or not they think about suicide whether or not they’ll even complete suicide, those kinds of things.”
Vine said the shelter is not only important to her as an member of the LGBTQ community, but it is important to her child who attends programs at the center and is also part of the community.
“I’m 45, so like, when I was growing up, you know, it was never really even accepted at all,” Vine said. “You know, so it was always kind of one of those things where I was like, ‘Oh, my God, this is such a nice thing for youth to have and adults to have to be within the community and be accepted and have that option.’”
Michael Coleman, a 23-year-old SIU student and head chair of the human resources committee for the center, echoed the need for volunteers. He said he hopes the teens who utilize the center’s resources understand that they aren’t alone.
He said he was drawn to the space because he had never really had the opportunity to experience anything like it — where LGBTQ people could gather safely. He said he loves learning from the kids and trying to be there for them.
“I love working with the younger generation of LGBTQ youth, because they are the future honestly,” Coleman said.
Volunteers can fill out an application with the center to be approved. They qualify if they are 19 or older. They also must be vaccinated against COVID-19 and pass a DCFS background check.
The center’s website is rainbowcafe.org and more information can be found there.
In addition to providing services to teens, the center also provides resources for adults, young adults and the older LGBTQ community of Southern Illinois. They recently celebrated 21 years of being in operation and they are saving up for a down payment to hopefully move their center to the strip in Carbondale to be more centrally located.
A video with hundreds of recent shares on social media shows a Carbondale officer attempting to detain a young, Black teenage girl at a Casey’s General Store.
Former Facebook employee Frances Haugen speaks during a hearing of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security, on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
A visitor wearing a face mask to help curb the spread of the coronavirus takes photos in a field of cosmos flowers in Goyang, South Korea, Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Former New York Yankees Bucky Dent (middle in Yankees cap) watches as Boston Red Sox fans cheer after Yankees’ Brett Gardner struck out in the seventh inning of the American League Wild Card playoff game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, Tuesday Oct. 5, 2021 in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
New York Yankees watch from the dugout as Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi delivers in the fifth inning of an American League Wild Card playoff baseball game at Fenway Park, Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
A Chinese opera performer wearing a face mask to help curb the spread of the coronavirus prepares for the stage in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Venezuelans cross illegally back to their country in La Parada after shopping in Cucuta, Colombia, Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021. Venezuela partially reopened its border with Colombia after closing it on 2019 due to political tensions. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia)
A protestor holds a banner on the runway during the Louis Vuitton Spring-Summer 2022 ready-to-wear fashion show presented in Paris, Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)
A protestor is removed from the runway during the Louis Vuitton Spring-Summer 2022 ready-to-wear fashion show presented in Paris, Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)
Syukuro Manabe speaks during a news conference in Princeton, N.J., Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021. Manabe and two other scientists have won the Nobel Prize for physics for work that found order in seeming disorder, helping to explain and predict complex forces of nature, including expanding our understanding of climate change. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
A demonstrator stomps on a smoke canister during a protest against vaccinations and coronavirus measures in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021. EU leaders are meeting Tuesday evening in nearby Kranj, Slovenia, to discuss increasingly tense relations with China and the security implications of the chaotic U.S.-led exit from Afghanistan, before taking part in a summit with Balkans leaders on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Teachers from across the country protest for higher salaries outside the Economy Ministry in Asuncion, Paraguay, Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021. The teacher’s union launched a national strike starting on Monday to demand a 16% increase, twice the pay increase proposed by the government. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)
Police detain a demonstrator during a protest against vaccinations and coronavirus measures in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021. EU leaders are meeting Tuesday evening in nearby Kranj, Slovenia, to discuss increasingly tense relations with China and the security implications of the chaotic U.S.-led exit from Afghanistan, before taking part in a summit with Balkans leaders on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Adriana, 50, poses for the photo while walking in the Bel- Air neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
A conference goer wearing a “Tory Scum” badge in reference to a recent remark by Labour politician Angela Rayner is seen at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, England, Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
A teacher holds a cake during a gathering for National Teachers Day and to demand women’s rights and equal education for women and girls, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021. (AP Photo/Ahmad Halabisaz)
Women, teachers and students demonstrate inside a private school to demand for their rights and equal education for women and girls, during a gathering for National Teachers Day, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021. (AP Photo/Ahmad Halabisaz)
A man carries a mannequin depicting Superman ahead of a no confidence vote agains Romanian Prime Minister Florin Citu’s government in Romania’s parliament in Bucharest, Romania, Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)
Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter.
Reporter
Kallie Cox is a general assignments reporter for The Southern with interests in political science, crime and courts, immigration, and social justice. Kallie is a SIU student and joined the newsroom staff in 2021. kallie.cox@thesouthern.com
{{description}}
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
For many Carbondale teens, walking across the street from the high school to buy snacks from Dollar General and Casey’s is an afterschool tradition.
A SIU math professor and researcher accused of fraudulently obtaining $155,099 in grants has now been hit with additional charges from the fed…
Family and friends of Heath Toothman, 17, an Eldorado High School senior, are in mourning after his death Friday.
CARBONDALE ― A viral video with more than 10,000 views and hundreds of recent shares on social media shows a Carbondale officer attempting to …
John A. Logan College hired seven new faculty members who began their teaching roles at the college for the fall semester.
A county-by-county look at lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases in Southern Illinois, updated daily.
U-Foria, the local band whose singer’s “Happy Birthday” video went viral, is wants help designing the album resulting from the online clip.
How is enrollment other state institutions which compete with SIU for students? To answer that, The Southern looks at university enrollments.
A May graduate of Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s aviation program was among three killed in a Wisconsin airplane crash Wednesday.
Unity Point School District No. 140’s board of education is one of just 35 school board statewide being recognized for effective governance.
The Rainbow Cafe is looking for volunteers for its youth programs.
Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device.