Thank You: A round of applause for our Mentors and Mentees
Rainbow Labs Roundtable talk with some of our mentors, mentees, staff and Americorps CEO
Michael D. Smith
The driving force for many of our volunteers, mentors, and even staff who join our program is that many of us did not have access to resources that affirmed our LGBTQIA+ identities in our youth. Like many mentorship programs, there's always a model designed to provide the resources and pivotal tools to help mentees achieve much-needed success. With Rainbow Labs, we find it necessary for queer youth to have those same essential tools along with guidance from fellow queer figures who can enlighten our youth that there is space for them as queer/trans and GNC youth to thrive.
Though our programming caters to youth for many of our mentors, our work is just as rewarding and fulfilling.
For Andre Shields, a mentor for our program site at Animo James Taylor Middle School for a little over two years, their time spent working with our youth has been transformative, more than they had imagined. "I didn't realize there's a big part of me that also needs to be there. There's a young Andre that didn't have a space like that, and it's been very healing to walk into a classroom and a community like Animo."
He continued, "seeing people exercising the audacity to be themselves, and to show up in that classroom and to hold someone's hand, or to try, you know, new names, try new pronouns. It encourages me that, through all the horrible things going on in the world, that there's still hope."
Like Shields, many of our returning mentors have been able to visualize an adolescent version of themselves within our program, which gratifies the individuals they are today.
Many of our mentors and even staff agree that early exposure to a mentor-based project plan like Rainbow Labs would have been a titular asset to our development and evolution into adulthood.
Individuals such as Matt Gottula, who joined our One Bold Summer programming as a mentor this past year, explained their involvement was motivated by the lack of a third space that encouraged authenticity in their early development.
"I didn't see any gay-straight alliance or what we would call a third space outside of school and home. A safe space for kids to figure themselves out and try different pronouns, there was nothing like that for me."
Mentors like Gottula and Shields are returning because they see our presence's impact on youth.
"I'm floored that the youth can figure themselves out even earlier than I did. That's something that I heard from other mentors as well in our summer program; we were motivated to do this, to volunteer as mentors, because we oftentimes lacked that a decade or two ago, and Rainbow Labs is filling a niche that is so valuable and will be even more valuable I feel in the next four years," Gottula said.
Our programming, whether our Storytelling Lab, Sports Lab, Youth Council, One Bold Summer Programming, or Youth Softball League, has been sustained through many external sources. From countless volunteers, board members, grants, and obviously, our mentors, our youth binds our organization together. Our programming youth are inspiring, innovative, thought-provoking, and so much wiser beyond their years. Holding a space where they can ascend to levels they didn't know were possible is the most rewarding component of this work.
For our East LA Storytelling Lab Mentor, such as Dale Neuringer, seeing the growth of youth is also a growth within our organization.
"It's not on these kids to welcome us into their space, yet they intuitively do so." Neuringer continued, "I think it's very moving, you know, over the course of the last Storytelling lab program, to watch those numbers in attendance just jump. The commitment was unbelievable and incredibly moving. I truly feel they deserve the world and will go out and take the world, and that fills me with extreme joy."
Immersing yourself in these spaces can be daunting, and our South LA Storytelling Lab mentor, Mel Matos, didn't necessarily realize how much of an impact they had on the South LA students just by being present. They recalled an incident when programming had finished, and they received letters from the students thanking them for their time as mentors.
"I'd like to thank the mentees for honestly meeting us where we are in the same way that we're meeting them. Where they are, showing up as their whole selves and opening up whether they realize we see it or not, their journeys are just so inspiring, and their growth so awesome to witness as an adult and as a mentor." Matos said.
Overall, it's a collaborative effort and an enriching experience for them as much as it is for the mentors, staff, and even our Founders. To be able to provide the resources and pivotal tools to help queer, trans, and gender nonconforming youth, especially now more than ever, is a gift beyond measure, currency, and fulfillment.
Having launched in 2020, we knew that there was an untapped demographic of LGBTQIA+ kids who needed opportunities, services, and even a moment that allowed them to excel while going against the grain of systemic adversities that try to limit them continuously.
Rainbow Labs is a testament to the power and right that Queer, Trans, and Gender nonconforming youth deserve these safe havens… and, quite frankly, the world.
