CURRENT WORK

The current phase of research and action focuses specifically on the experiences and needs of sexual minority women (e.g., non-heterosexual, bisexual, lesbian, queer, same gender loving, and pansexual people who currently or fluidly consider themselves women) living in upstate New York.

SOLACE stands for Support, Opportunities for Learning, and Community Empowerment, which captures the spirit and goals of the project. "Solace", if you're not familiar, means comfort or consolation in times of anxiety, sadness, distress, grief, or misfortune. We call this project "lavender" SOLACE because lavender is used as a symbol of LGBTQ+ people, especially sexual minority women, mentioned as early as Sappho's writings in the seventh century. Lavender has also been used as a symbol of our community's resistance and empowerment. Read more about the significance of lavender here.

We recognize that sexual minority women have received much less attention in health and wellbeing research compared to sexual minority men. We also recognize that LGBTQ+ people living rurally, as many in upstate New York do, have less access to support services compared to those living in larger cities. We aim to center the most marginalized and least resourced women of the NY LGBTQ+ community in this project, including sexual minority women of color, bisexual, pansexual, and queer women, and those living rurally upstate. 

Currently, we are working towards building a free program to support the mental health and healing of LGBTQ+ women in upstate New York!

To do this, the lavender SOLACE research and action team plans to...  

• Interview 20 mental health service providers and other healers (e.g., therapists, social workers, nurse practioners, and others) about what they have seen help LGBTQ+ women and their communities heal. This research will help us better understand our community's needs from a bird's eye perspective. We can offer a $50 incentive for interviewing. 
• Hold focus groups with 50 LGBTQ+ women who experience mental health challenges like depression and anxiety to learn more about what kinds of programs or support might be most helpful. We will share the results of the interviews and focus groups with LGBTQ+ and academic communities. This research will help us tailor the peer mental health support program we will build to the needs and preferences of those who might use it. We can offer a $90 incentive for participating in a focus group. 
• Assemble a project advisory board of a diverse group of 10 LGBTQ+ women to broadly oversee the development of a new mental health peer support program for LGBTQ+ women in upstate New York. This will help keep the project a collaborative effort involving both those in and outside of academia. 

Then, we plan to develop and launch a free mental health peer support program by and for LGBTQ+ women!  

The program will provide training on how to give and get mental health support as LGBTQ+ individuals within LGBTQ+ communities. Additionally, there will be opportunities for further mental health peer counselor training and certification for those considering a career in the mental health or social services fields. We are currently seeking funding for this next phase of the project. 

Learn more about how you can get involved!