Accessing healthcare as a trans teen: Dorian’s story

Posted on April 21, 2023May 10, 2023 by NCCJ

Accessing healthcare as a trans teen: Dorian’s story

April 21, 2023
Category: Perspectives
Tags: Anytown, Anytown Alumni, Healthcare, Human rights, Inclusion, Transgender, Youth Ambassador,

A trans flag with a medical plus symbol on top. At the bottom, there is a drawing of five people standing, looking up

Healthcare is a basic necessity in life, no matter who you are or how you identify.

However, the way that the American healthcare system is built makes it incredibly difficult for LGBTQ+ people, especially transgender and gender non-comforting individuals, to receive the care that they need.

Through the difficulties with funding, the overall inaccessibility of care, the lack of representation, and the stigmas attached to receiving gender-affirming care, our healthcare system is often unfriendly – and sometimes downright hostile – to LGBTQ+ people. This is especially true for transgender people.

Here is the story of a student we’ll call “Dorian”. (To protect their privacy and safety, we are not using their real name.)

Dorian is an Anytown alum and a transgender teenager living and attending school here in our Piedmont Triad community.

In Dorian’s own words, these are their experiences navigating the healthcare system as a trans teen:

“I can personally speak to the issue of the American trans healthcare system being very difficult to work with. I have been seeking transition-related care since October of 2021, and have been met with roadblocks at almost every turn. Before you start any kind of transition-related care, nearly every doctor wants a letter from a therapist or psychiatrist. I had to do three months of therapy before I could even see a specialist to begin hormone therapy. Hormone replacement therapy, or HRT, is a very common process for transgender people to go through. It involves taking medicinal hormones to more closely align your body with how you identify. I’ve been seeing an endocrinologist for HRT since January 2022, and it’s been a profoundly difficult process. There’s very little standardization of care for trans patients, which means that every doctor will tell you something different about how hormones work, what dosage you need, how they should be administered, (pill, patch, gel, shot), and what levels are correct. This has been especially frustrating when trying to adjust my treatment plan over time to fit my needs, because my doctor is convinced her way is correct, even when there is much peer-reviewed evidence to contradict her.

I’m speaking from the position of being financially stable with good health insurance, which is not everybody’s case. Finances are a huge barrier to trans care. Specialist appointments, the medicine themselves, psychiatric care, and prices for surgery that are often not covered by insurance can all stop people from being able to medically transition. That’s just unjust. There have been legal battles here in NC to make trans care coverage by NC insurance providers mandatory, but those rulings face challenges from transphobic legislators and may not go through.

That’s not to mention the frustratingly long time span that medical transition takes. Of course hormones need time to work, but their efficacy is slowed down by doctors that don’t know what they’re doing. Even getting in with a specialist endocrinologist can take months, and getting surgical consults for gender affirming procedures is also an incredibly lengthy process, spanning months or even years. I would certainly say that after a year of medical transitioning, I have been severely prohibited by the process. It’s inaccessible from a financial standpoint for anyone that doesn’t have that support or good insurance, and even someone who does will find that providers are often not knowledgeable, hard to work with, and have waiting lists that are incredibly discouraging.

The most important change that we can make to this system is to make it more financially accessible. We need people who are willing to go to bat in courts and legislators who support trans people in order to make state health plans cover ALL transition-related procedures. We need providers who are willing to listen to us, and adjust treatment methods when their patients feel like something isn’t working for them. We need therapists who are willing to expedite the process of referring patients to a specialist, and we need trans care not to be stigmatized.”

Now that you have heard Dorian’s story about their experiences with the healthcare system, here are some questions to reflect on:

What if you needed care and couldn’t get access to it?
What would happen if you couldn’t afford crucial care?
How would you feel if your doctor didn’t listen to you when you were vulnerable with them?
How do you think trans people who don’t have access to medical transition feel? Many trans people feel that they must transition medically and not just socially for the sake of their mental health.
What if you had to drive hours to a specialist for the care that you needed?
What if you had to wait months or years for a life-altering surgery?
How would you feel if legislators actively fought against your right to equity in healthcare?

This video shares other LGBTQ+ individuals’ experiences within the American healthcare system:

Students organize walkout, demand action on gun violence

Posted on April 14, 2023May 5, 2023 by NCCJ

Students organize walkout, demand action on gun violence

April 14, 2023
Category: Event
Tags: Community, Education, Event, News, Youth Leadership,

Multiple students hold up a large banner that reads: "I should be writing my essay, not my will"

On April 5, 2023, hundreds of Guilford County students participated in a walkout to honor victims and demand action on gun violence. Cece, a 17-year old student at Grimsley High School and an NCCJ Youth Ambassador, organized the Grimsley walkout. Cece says, “My peers and I organized the Grimsley walkout to give students a chance to share their voices. We will continue fighting to make our school and community safer while providing others with chances to share their stories and use their voices.”

Keep reading to hear more from Cece and other teens who participated in these walkouts.

Gun Violence in our Community

Students across the United States are increasingly confronting the reality of the prevalence of guns and gun violence in their communities and schools. According to Everytown for Gun Safety, the largest gun violence prevention organization in the country, firearms are the leading cause of death for children and teens (ages 1 to 19) in the U.S.

In an average year, approximately 1,500 people die by guns in North Carolina. This puts North Carolina as the state with the 14th highest rate of gun violence in the country. The rate of gun deaths has increased 47% from 2012 to 2021 in North Carolina, compared to a 39% increase nationwide.

On a more local level, there are over 200 deaths every year from gun violence in Guilford County. In June 2022, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners declared gun violence a public health crisis. By declaring gun violence a public health crisis, the health department could use educational campaigns to promote safe gun storage, teach children the dangers of gun violence, or hold school and community events. District 5 commissioner Carly Cooke stated, “this is one of the tools that we have as a county, we are responsible for supporting the public health of our community and approaching this problem through the public health lens is, is one way that we can try to, to increase safety and improve outcomes for.”

We interviewed a few NCCJ student ambassadors about how gun violence has impacted their school and their lives. Here’s what they had to say:

How has local and national gun violence impacted you, your community, or your school?

“In the past few years, Grimsley lost several students to gun violence, most recently Ariyonna Fountain on April 2nd, 2023. Personally, not a day goes by that I don’t worry about someone bringing a gun onto campus, which is something that has happened several times this year alone. Many times when firearms or other weapons have been found on students or people who don’t belong on campus, we don’t know until the end of the day. This is something that neither I nor many of my peers appreciate.

Just a month or so ago, we went into a ‘soft lockdown’ and teachers were told to lock our doors and continue with class. However, everyone in my class nervously laughed because the glass panel right beside the lock of our classroom door was broken, so locking the door wasn’t going to do much, nor would a door that’s half glass anyway. It’s unfortunate that we were so desensitized to gun violence that we laughed.” – Cece, 17, Grimsley High School

“Local and National gun violence has impacted my school and my community by the shooting that killed one of our students, Ariyonna Fountain. Ariyonna was only 17 and was shot and killed. It affected our school heavily with the amount of people that knew her. The morning of the walkout, we held a memorial in honor of Ariyonna.” – L., Grimsley High School

Firearms are the leading cause of death for American children and teens. How does this statement make you feel and how does this impact your community?

“There aren’t words to properly describe how I feel about it. I feel anger, sadness, confusion, and so much more. We have the right to live long, happy, and healthy lives, but that’s impossible with the constant fear of being shot.” – Cece, 17, Grimsley High School

“It’s an overwhelming feeling, it’s hard to know that any day I leave the house could be my last. It’s hard to accept the fact that the place where I should be learning new things and meeting new people could be the place where I die. You could argue that that could happen anywhere but school out of all places should be the last. Therefore, that statement is an overwhelming feeling.” – Lane*, 17, Grimsley High School

Student Walkout

On April 5th, 2023, hundreds of students across Guilford County participated in a walkout to protest the rising gun violence among youth. As students gathered at schools and marched through neighborhoods, they demanded action from local lawmakers.

The Grimsley High School community recently felt the impact of gun violence when, on April 1st, 2023, 17-year-old student Ariyonna Fountain was shot and killed in an act of gun violence.

During the walkout, students wore pink and held a memorial in honor of Ariyonna. The local events took place in solidarity with a national walkout on April 5th, organized by Students Demand Action. Across the country, tens of thousands of students took collective action to demand change.

Cece, an NCCJ Student Ambassador, organized the walkout. Here’s what they had to say about the preparation for the events and next steps:

“I wanted to share my voice and let the world know that we students won’t just sit back and let our lives be endangered for no reason. I organized a team where everyone had specific tasks. I and another person were in charge of keeping communications with Students Demand Action, someone else was in contact with the media, and others created flyers to share on social media and to hang up across campus.

Go to the Students Demand Action/Everytown website at studentsdemandaction.org to get more info! Find out your regional organizers’ information and see if they can help you start a walkout at your school. You can also start a club dedicated to raise awareness at your school and push for changes to make it safer. Organizing big events is also much easier with a team, plus it gives more people a chance to share their voices!”

More reflections from NCCJ student ambassadors on gun violence in their communities:

What message would you like lawmakers to know?

“You are prioritizing your guns over my life. My life, the lives of my peers, and all of the wonderful things that we do and will do in our lives could end in an instant simply because our elected leaders are prioritizing a weapon that, as the past and recent times have shown, almost always does more harm than good in our communities. Our legislators should be protecting us, not allowing us to be in more danger. Gun violence needs to end now. “ -Cece, 17, Grimsley High School

A message I would like the lawmakers to know is that it should not take thousands of people’s lives to do something about gun laws. especially children out of all people. We speak up, nothing happens. Hundreds of news articles go out and nothing happens. So my message is, what is it gonna take? Is it going to take your own child to die due to your lack of restrictions on gun laws? And if so, how can you live by that?” -Lane*, 17, Grimsley High School

What message would you like youth/students to know?

“My peers and I organized the Grimsley walkout to give students a chance to share their voices. We will continue fighting to make our school and community safer while providing others with chances to share their stories and use their voices.” -Cece, 17, Grimsley High School

“I want the students and youth to know that there are more of us than there are of them. I want them to know that we do have a voice and to keep being courageous by using it.” – Lane*, 17, Grimsley High School

Why do you think students should care/be activists?

“This affects us!! As much as I love many people in the generations before us, and their support is indispensable, they as a whole aren’t going to make the changes necessary to end gun violence. Saving our own lives shouldn’t be something we need to do, but it is. Nobody else is going to do this for us – we have to take a stand ourselves.” – Cece, 17, Grimsley High School

“I think we should care because this generation of students are the ones who genuinely could make a change. Students should be activists because people should hear from the ones experiencing the issues and living in it. If not us, then who?” – Lane*, 17, Grimsley High School

Listed below are resources for learning more about guns and gun violence and for taking action against gun violence:

Learn more:

Take action:

*”Lane” is a pseudonym.

“Maud runs” in Greensboro and High Point honor Ahmaud Arbery, create spaces for conversation about racial justice

Posted on February 21, 2023February 21, 2023 by NCCJ

“Maud runs” in Greensboro and High Point honor Ahmaud Arbery, create spaces for conversation about racial justice

February 21, 2023
Category: Event
Tags: Community, Community-Building, Event, News, Open Minds Respectful Voices, Program, Racial Equity, Respect, Run,

On Saturday, February 18, hundreds of people gathered in Greensboro and High Point to kick off a week of Maud 2.23 runs across North Carolina.

Organized by Together We Stand NC and with profits benefitting NCCJ, these runs were community events held to honor the memory of Ahmaud Arbery (who was murdered during an afternoon run on February 23, 2020) and to create spaces for more people to have courageous conversations about racial and social justice.

After the Greensboro run, we gathered at the Green Bean for a community conversation facilitated by NCCJ.

As the saying goes, it “takes a village” to build communities that are inclusive and welcoming for all of us (not just some of us).

NCCJ is grateful to everyone in our Triad community who showed up to run (or walk) and talk on Saturday.

Excerpted from coverage by Jackie Pascale at WXII Channel 12 News:

“We see it as an opportunity for our community to come together to act directly toward racial dignity and raise awareness against racism,” said Triad ambassador for Together We Stand NC, Mollie Caragol. “Greensboro is kind of known as a protest city since back in the 60s. This keeps that momentum going, keeps it progressing forward and keeps the message alive.”

Saturday’s run started at the International Civil Rights Center & Museum on Elm Street and ended at The Green Bean coffee shop, where participants took part in “Courageous Conversations,” in partnership with the group, North Carolina for Community and Justice.

In small groups, they were given prompts for conversations using everyday words that often evoke anxiety, misunderstanding and frustration. They were also given a framework to shape the conversation, using a LARA approach: Listen, Affirm, Respond, Ask Questions.

“Our work is about creating a community that is safe for all of us, not just some of us,” Michael Robinson said, program director for NCCJ. “We want folks to think, ‘How am I actually engaging? What are some of my tendencies when I’m engaging in conversation about difficult topics? How can we work in partnership with other people to build safe and welcoming communities?'”

The courageous conversation that NCCJ hosted at the Green Bean last Saturday was based on the monthly community programs we hold in support of our ongoing Open Minds, Respectful Voices initiative. Right now, those programs are still happening on Zoom each month. Click here to learn more about Open Minds, Respectful Voices and register for an upcoming program (they are free and open to all!)

You can also click here to view, download and print a handout about the LARA (Listen, Affirm, Respond Ask Questions) framework that NCCJ uses to guide our dialogues.

Reflections on 85 Years of NCCJ

Posted on November 17, 2022November 22, 2022 by NCCJ

Reflections on 85 Years of NCCJ

November 17, 2022
Category: Citation Award Dinner
Tags: Community, Community-Building, Diversity, Equity, History, Inclusion, Interfaith, NCCJ,

Newspaper clipping from 1943 with a quote from Franklin D. Roosevelt describing NCCJ's Brotherhood Week.

In 2022, NCCJ is celebrating our 85th year serving Triad communities. We were founded in 1937 as a local chapter of a then-national organization that had its roots a decade earlier, in the 1920s.

Today, as we reaffirm our dedication to fighting bias, bigotry and racism and building more inclusive and compassionate communities, we reflect on our origins and consider what they can teach us about our present – and our future.

Listening to the news or scrolling through social media, it can feel like we are more divided than we’ve ever been before.

It can feel that way – but it’s not true.

Black American soldiers from the 15th New York National Guard Regiment, 369th Infantry Regiment, also known as the Harlem Hellfighters.

The story of our nation is also the story of a series of social and economic upheavals.

NCCJ was born from one of those eras.

The first world war and a global pandemic had upended social structures and systems.

Workers were demanding better treatment.

Women were voting.

At the same time, fascist movements were on the rise.

Masked healthcare workers during the 1918 Flu pandemic. — Masked healthcare workers during the 1918 Flu Pandemic.

These included the Ku Klux Klan, which championed the interests of white Protestant Christians and demonized other Americans – especially Black people, Jewish people, and Catholic people.

Many Americans were drawn to these hateful ideas.

But many were strongly opposed.

Three white women cast their ballots to vote in 1920. Many Black women and other women of color would not be able to exercise their right to vote in the United States until the 1960s.

NCCJ’s co-founders were a broad coalition of people from many walks of life, including some folks you’ve probably heard of like the social reformer Jane Addams and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Charles Evans Hughes.

Their goal was to de-escalate tensions and promote tolerance by creating opportunities for respectful dialogue between different groups of Americans.

In the words of historian Kevin M. Schultz, their vision was for “a new kind of America. It was a pluralist vision, and it was intended to be nationally all-inclusive.”

This vision caught on and NCCJ quickly become a leading organization in the growing movement to advocate tolerance.

One of NCCJ’s most famous early efforts was a group of three faith leaders – a minister, a rabbi, and a priest – who called themselves the Tolerance Trio.

Workers on strike holding placards during the 1919 Steel Strike.

In the early 30s, the Trio would travel the country, rent out halls and talk to audiences about the stereotypes of Jews being overly interested in money and Catholics wanting to overturn democracy.

They would make jokes, and it was entertainment.

People would learn how false these stereotypes were.

And they would preach tolerance and mutual respect.

Newspaper clipping depicting NCCJ's Tolerance Trio in the 1930s. — Newspaper clipping depicting NCCJ’s Tolerance Trio in the 1930s.

The idea was to model how people of different faiths could encounter each other respectfully – and show that these were three equal religions.

It was so popular that it spawned more of these trios, which ultimately led to the creation of a National Brotherhood Day in the 1930s, timed to coincide with George Washington’s birthday to underscore the (quote) “Americanness” of the day.

By 1936, Brotherhood Day was expanded to a week, with President Franklin D. Roosevelt as the first honorary chairman.

(As a side note – the national Brotherhood Week would later evolve into annual community events like this Brotherhood / Sisterhood Citation Award Dinner.)

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Charles Evans Hughes

By 1941, NCCJ had established permanent local roundtables to hold community dialogues between Protestant, Catholic and Jewish people in over 200 cities – including Greensboro, where a group of local leaders established our NCCJ in 1937.

In 1941, the sociologist Alfred McLung Lee credited NCCJ with creating enough social change to help ensure that the Great Depression era “did not produce an integrated, ‘financially successful’ intolerance movement like the Ku Klux Klan of the post-World War I period.’”

Instead, Lee found that NCCJ had been successful in shifting the national discourse to create what he called “a mood new in the history of human relations in the United States.”

Of course, the past never maps directly to the present. But as the saying goes, “history doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.”

We’re confident that you can connect the dots and appreciate why we chose to tell you this story about NCCJ’s creation and original purpose.

Social reformer and activism Jane Addams — Social reformer and activist Jane Addams

But we will spell it out anyway – NCCJ’s approach for de-escalating tensions and promoting tolerance works.

That’s because once you sit down with someone to have a respectful conversation and you get to know them, it becomes so much harder to stereotype – or dehumanize – or hate them.

When enough of us embrace a “nationally all-inclusive” vision, we can turn the tide away from hate and toward tolerance and compassion.

We know we can do it – because we’ve done it before.

Above text is excerpted from a speech written by Erika Rain Wilhite and delivered by Paul Ringel at NCCJ’s 2022 Citation Award Dinner.

Our 2022 Citation Award honorees

Posted on September 9, 2022November 5, 2022 by NCCJ

Our 2022 Citation Award honorees

September 9, 2022
Category: Citation Award Dinner
Tags: Citation Award, Citation Award Dinner, Community, Community-Building, Honoree, NCCJ,

NCCJ will honor community leaders Addy & Paul Jeffrey and Linda & Tom Sloan with the Brotherhood/Sisterhood Citation Award at the 56^th annual Citation Award Dinner (in-person and livestreaming) on Wednesday, November 9.

NCCJ is thrilled to honor the Jeffreys and the Sloans. These extraordinary leaders have made a profound impact in many areas of our lives: from education to healthcare to the arts, and more. Each of them has a long history of meaningful and sustained contributions to make our community more welcoming and inclusive for all people.

Notably, the Jeffreys are also the first Latinx people to receive this award.

We are glad to have this opportunity to celebrate the powerful work of both of these remarkable couples.

ABOUT OUR HONOREES

Paul and Addy Jeffrey are changemakers working to expand access and advance equity for all people. They have dedicated their lives to creating and contributing to community-wide diversity, inclusion and social justice initiatives. Much of their work is focused on advocating for marginalized people and creating more equitable access for healthcare and education.

Addy has made meaningful, sustained contributions to the civic and cultural life and the health and wellbeing for communities of color, immigrant and refugees, and people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She is a mentor and volunteer translator for our immigrant and refugee community – especially young people – and a staunch advocate for the Latinx community’s full participation in all areas of the community life. She was instrumental in the development of the Latino Community Coalition of Guilford and Caza Azul of Greensboro and was closely involved in the strategic planning and re-establishment of the City of Greensboro Human relations Commission’s International Advisory Committee.

One of Addy’s most significant accomplishments occurred in 2011: after her advanced breast cancer was missed by annual mammograms, Addy joined forces with the City of Greensboro’s Commission on the Status of Women. Together they successfully lobbied for state legislation to improve breast cancer screening for women with dense breast tissue. Their efforts led to the passage of the 2013 North Carolina Breast Density Law, significantly improving awareness and care for women across North Carolina.

As a Senior Vice President at Cone Health, Paul serves as the President of both Wesley Long Hospital and Behavioral Health Hospital. Previously, during his six year tenure as Cone Health’s first Chief Inclusion Officer, Paul played a key role in launching the hospital’s diversity, inclusion & health equity strategy by enrolling his fellow colleagues in racial equity and empathy-building training. As a leader he has prioritized assessing and addressing healthcare disparities across racial, gender and socioeconomic lines, shifting policy and practices to increase equity and quality of care for people who are historically underserved. As a result, Cone Health has been nationally recognized for equitable and inclusive policies and practices related to LGBTQ+ patients, visitors and employees.

Addy has worked closely with organizations including the Cone Health Foundation, the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro, the League of Women Voters of the Piedmont Triad, TEDX Greensboro, the National Folk Festival, and the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce’s “Other Voices” program. Paul has served on the board of organizations including the Cone Health Foundation, Guilford County Behavioral Health Oversight Board Committee, the Latino Professional Forum, the Mental Health Association of Greensboro, Family Services of the Piedmont, and NCCJ.

Both Addy and Paul have received the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce’s Change Agent Award (2011) and both have been recognized as Notable Latinos of the Triad by the Latino Community Coalition of Guilford. Addy’s recognitions also include the Greensboro News & Record’s Woman of the Year, the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation’s Presidential Volunteer Service Award, Susan G. Komen Survivor of the Year, and the YWCA Social Justice Advocate Award.

Linda & Tom Sloan are bridge-builders and opportunity-makers. Their projects and philanthropy are an expression of deeply held convictions about personal and collective responsibility to create a more respectful and inclusive community. Both independently and in collaboration, Linda and Tom have undertaken a substantial number of meaningful projects to improve the wellbeing of our entire community, to enhance Greensboro’s downtown culture, and to enrich education for young people.

Both as role models for community service and philanthropy and through the impact of their work, the Sloans have been a major influence on our community. Linda has been a strong and effective advocate for women’s issues and has a passion for making the arts a focal point of excellence in the community. Tom has a special ability to bring people together to build consensus and foster tolerance and collaboration. To help children learn to think strategically, Tom implemented the “Guilford School Chess” program which is now part of Guilford County Schools’ second-grade curriculum.

“Tom and Linda have gone where no path has ever existed. They have absolutely left a trail; enhancing Greensboro’s downtown culture, creating educational opportunities for children, teens and college students in chess and the arts.” – Marilyn Forman Chandler, Greensboro Jewish Federation

Tom and Linda were instrumental in the founding of Triad Stage. Linda also played a central role in the creation of Women to Women and has significant impact on ArtsGreensboro, GreenHill Center for North Carolina Art, UNC-Greensboro, the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro, and Greensboro Day School. Tom has provided leadership to Temple Emanuel, the Cone Health System, UNC-Greensboro, the Greensboro Jewish Federation, and the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro.

Tom received the Ben Cone Award for Community Service from the Greensboro Jewish Federation in 1997. Linda’s awards include the 2012 O. Henry Award presented by ArtsGreensboro and the Greensboro Partnership. The Sloans have jointly received honors including Greensboro Business Leaders Hall of Fame Award from Junior Achievement; the Lifetime Achievement Award from United Way of Greater Greensboro; and the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ Outstanding Philanthropists Award.

ABOUT THE CITATION AWARD DINNER

The Citation Award Dinner is the Triad’s largest annual event dedicated to diversity and inclusion. It is also NCCJ’s biggest community program and fundraiser. The 2022 Citation Award Dinner will be held both in-person and virtually (livestreaming) on Wednesday, November 9.

In honor of NCCJ’s 85^th anniversary, this year’s event is co-chaired by NCCJ’s Board of Directors, a diverse and hands-on group of 36 leaders led by board chair Ron Milstein.

Click here to learn more and reserve your tickets or sponsorship.