Out Youth offers several types of support groups to youth who come to our Drop-In Center. All groups are free and you can join anytime!

Support groups are a great place to share your thoughts and feelings with people who will listen, care about, and understand your problems. Youth often find it helpful to hear other group members’ stories and learn from other people’s experiences.

Every Wednesday from 6:30pm to 7:30pm we host a support group called the Youth-of-Color Identity Group, which is open to anyone between the ages of 12 and 19 who identifies as a youth-of-color. We also offer a Gender Identity Group for transgender and genderqueer youth and a general support group called Life Chat.

In the Youth-of-Color Identity Group, youth talk about common topics such as multiple identities (being a person of color and also being LGBTQIA), experiences of racism and discrimination, coming out to family and friends, and other topics brought up by group members. Group members agree to abide by a set of group norms which include confidentiality, active listening, and sharing time equally among group members.

The group is co-facilitated by two adults who are either licenced social workers or adult volunteers who have received special training from the Clinical Supervisor. All group facilitators receive ongoing supervision to ensure that group members receive the highest level of support. We also make every effort to ensure that at least one of the group facilitators identifies as a person-of-color.

If you have any questions about the Youth of Color Identity Group, please contact Monrovia Van Hoose, Clinical Director, at 512.419.1233 or monrovia@outyouth.org.