Wisconsin youth HIV prevention institute: Diverse & Resilient.

Community served: lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth

Diverse & Resilient is a capacity-building, non-profit organization whose mission is the healthy development of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth in Wisconsin. There are currently nine community-based gay youth groups located in diverse Wisconsin communities providing youth development programming, including HIV prevention, for these young people. These community-based programs form a statewide network, the Rainbow Alliance for Youth, or RAY.

The bi-annual Wisconsin Youth HIV Prevention Institute is a strategy used by Diverse & Resilient to enhance the peer-education and HIV-prevention skills of LGBTQ youth affiliated with the RAY programs. In the most recent Prevention Institute, held July 8-10, 2003 on a college campus, more than 60 youth and young adults participated in a full schedule of experiential activities to develop peer-education skills, increase their motivation to avoid, delay, or reduce risks associated with sexual activity, reinforce prevention messages, and develop a community of youth to serve as a model of what is possible in schools and communities.

As part of the conference, the youth participated in a game called Thrivers Challenge, a take-off on TV's popular Survivor series. Thrivers Challenge is a cluster of activities in a challenge-course setting designed to help participants practice basic HIV-prevention skills including using barrier methods, negotiating safer sex, responding to coercion, and facilitating peer conversations that promote health and reduce risk. Teams of delegates have to complete all activities at each station and are "certified" as Thrivers once the entire team successfully completes the challenge. This approach reminds delegates that no one gets left behind; everyone has a part in the process of HIV prevention; human relationships are vitally important; and that the ultimate goal is not merely surviving but thriving.

The Prevention Institute featured other experiential activities including caucuses based on social identity groups, a large group cultural exchange simulation, and the creation of a three-dimensional art project that reflects the themes of diversity, resiliency, big lives, and community. Participants for each RAY program then developed brief action plans explaining how they would share the information and skills they learned with their peers and use them to enhance programs in their community.

Contact information: Gary Hollander, PhD, Diverse & Resilient, Inc., 315 W. Court Street, Suite 101, Mihvaukee, WI 53212, phone: [phone], email: [e-mail].