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| Individual professional counseling and therapy: The frequency and length of sessions are determined by the client and the therapist. Clients and therapist contract for an initial number of sessions and evaluate their progress at regular intervals. Some clients will meet with their therapist at the central facility. Others meet with their therapist at that clinician's private practice office at various locations in Broward, Dade or Palm Beach Counties. Couples Counseling: Therapy groups: Support and Counseling Groups: Family and Youth Services Services include:
Family Therapy: Referral Services: |
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| SUNSERVE
COMMUNITY EDUCATION SERVICES
The Valuing Our Families Annual Conference Our objectives….
Upcoming Conferences: October 7, 2006, VALUING OUR FAMILIES: SENIOR STYLE The “Senior Style” Conference focuses on addressing the needs of LGBT seniors and provides workshops on topics of interest to them. The Conference is designed to provide up to date information on health care, financial and social concerns with attention to the unique needs of our LGBT families. The conference includes a health fair and a special honors luncheon. The conference has opportunities for seniors of all levels of ability and care givers for seniors who may have special needs, all in a fun and supportive atmosphere. WATCH THIS SPACE FOR MORE DETAILS AND ON LINE REGISTRATION November 10, 2006, VALUING OUR FAMILIES PROFESSIONALS’ MINI CONFERENCE Now in its third year, this mini conference for mental health professionals provides up to 6 hours of CEUs for psychologists, social workers, nurses, mental health counselors and marriage and family therapists. Workshops in recent conferences have included such topics as
WATCH THIS SPACE FOR MORE DETAILS ABOUT 2006 CONFERENCE OFFERINGS AND ON LINE REGISTRATION March 24, 2007, 4th ANNUAL VALUING OUR FAMILIES CONFERENCE Workshops at the Annual Conference : Recent conference workshops covered such topics as:
WATCH THIS SPACE FOR MORE DETAILS ABOUT 2007 CONFERENCE OFFERINGS AND ON LINE REGISTRATION THE ANNUAL VALUING OUR FAMILIES AWARDS : The Valuing Our Families Awards are given annually at the Spring Conference to honor those who as individuals, or as a couple or family: 1. Have served as advocates on behalf of the gay and lesbian "family." Examples include, but are not limited to: someone who has witnessed to the legitimacy and value of gay relationships, or who has advocated for partnership rights or family concerns in schools, courts and the workplace, etc. Or it could be someone who has served as an advocate for the needs of young people who are struggling with issues of coming out, or someone who has sought to change public policy to respect gay and lesbian youth, families or seniors. 2. Have especially empowered the gay family: Examples include, but are not limited to: someone who has provided ongoing support and encouragement to gay and lesbian families, or who has done direct service work to assist gay and lesbian families who are at risk, or someone who has changed practices in social service delivery to recognize gay and lesbian relationships, or who has taken on special family responsibilities such as adopting children others would have otherwise been overlooked. 3. Have publicly celebrated the new realities of gay and lesbian family life: Examples include, but are not limited to: someone who has presented a positive or healing image of our relationships through the media, or by publicly acknowledging the gifts that gay and lesbian families have given the community at large, or by providing leadership in our community to raise our own awareness of how we contribute to the communities where we live, or families who publicly honor and affirm their gay children. NATIONAL VALUING OUR FAMILIES AWARDS 2006 NATIONAL VALUING OUR FAMILIES AWARD FOR CULTURAL LEADERSHIP: ARMISTEAD MAUPIN Though Armistead Maupin was one of the first of a new breed of openly gay authors, his appeal has always resided in his inclusiveness as a storyteller. His beloved characters from 28 Barbary Lane in the Tales of the City series have cut an unprecedented path through popular culture—from a groundbreaking newspaper serial to six internationally bestselling novels to a Peabody Award-winning miniseries starring Olympia Dukakis, Laura Linney, Billy Campbell, and Thomas Gibson. Tales of the City placed out gay characters in the center of American family life. No fanfare, no excuses, no stereotypes, just real people who happen to be gay and part of the family.
2006 NATIONAL VALUING OUR FAMILIES AWARD FOR POLITICAL LEADERSHIP: US CONGRESSMAN BARNEY FRANK ( D-MA ) Our nation’s first “out” representative in the US Congress has won the respect not only of his constituents in Massachusetts, but of his fellow legislators in the US Capitol as well. He has been re-elected to the US congress by his district every election since his coming out in the late 80’s. He has spoken forcefully against LGBT discriminatory practices and laws in the workplace, on the national and international scene and has deftly supported LGBT community causes in politically charged settings.
2005 NATIONAL VALUING OUR FAMILIES AWARD 2004 NATIONAL VALUING OUR FAMILIES AWARD
SHARON GLESS Twice recipient of an Emmy for her starring role as Chris Cagney in the 80’s hit television series, Cagney and Lacey, and winner of the Golden Globe Award for her starring role in The Trials of Rosie O’Neill, Sharon Gless has taken on a new persona as Debbie Novotny in Showtime Cable TV’s pop series Queer as Folk. She took on that role at a time when most other actors were shying away from controversial gay affirmative television programming. Her support of LGBT families does not stop with her spirited television portray of the quintessential PFLAG mom. She has been a highly visible and deeply valued friend who has readily demonstrated her commitment to equality for the LGBT community. In 2002 she and Sir Ian McKlellan were "Celebrity Grand Marshals" leading the annual Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender Pride parade before a crowd of more than 500,000 spectators in San Francisco. That same weekend she appeared with the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus. STATE AND COMMUNITY VALUING OUR FAMILIES AWARDS 2006 VALUING OUR FAMILIES AWARDS KAREN DOERING (Florida State Award) Karen Doering has extensive experience litigating civil rights cases. She first joined Equality Florida in 1998 as a volunteer attorney, and left private practice in February 2001 to help create Equality Florida's Legal Advocacy Project. While at Equality Florida, she worked cooperatively with various national and statewide organizations including Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and NCLR. While in private practice, Doering handled primarily race and gender discrimination class action cases. She has also worked with NCLR and Lambda since 1995 as a cooperating attorney. She has been at the forefront of some of our community’s most important legal struggles. NAME WITHHELD This award recipient is unable to have his name appear on this website because he is in the process of adopting a child. Attend our 2007 conference to work toward changing Florida's outrageous discriminatory laws. 2005 VALUING OUR FAMILIES AWARDS CAROLE BENOWITZ has been called the “Johnny Apple Seed” of PFLAG since she has been instrumental in the founding of just about every PFLAG chapter in Florida. That is not all. She has founded chapters in GA, MS, AL, Puerto Rico and Mexico City. A member of the national Board of Directors of PFLAG and the Florida State Coordinator for the organization, she recently started a chapter in three days in Tallahassee That was while she was lobbying for the passage of the Dignity for All Students Act! Carole has said “ My work is not done until every gay, lesbian and transgender person has all the same rights as I do. STEVEN ALICEA knows first hand what it means to be a gay child in foster care. Between the ages of 10 and 17 he was in seventeen different placements. When he came out as a gay teen he experienced rejection, hostility and attempts to “cure him.” When he was taken in by Miami’s Pridelines’ Youth Services Exec. Dir. Denise Hueso he came to learn the transformative power of being in a loving family. Now he is active in forming Gay-Straight Alliances in schools and has addressed foster care parents about the special needs of GLBT teens. In 2004 he was the recipient of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s prestigious Collin Higgins Foundation Courage Award for his advocacy for gay youth. 2004 VALUING OUR FAMILIES AWARDS DOUG HOUGHTON has been a critical care nurse practitioner in the Ryder Trauma Center of the University of Miami/Jackson Health System for the past six years, he runs his own real estate investment company and is a single father to a 14 year old boy, Oscar. Doug and Oscar were plaintiffs in the legal challenge to Florida’s prohibition of gay adoption, supported by the ACLU. WAYNE LaRUE SMTTH & DAN SKAHEN have been partnered for fourteen years. While wanting a family they have devoted themselves to parenting children unwanted by others. In 1999, they joined several other plaintiffs and the ACLU in a legal challenge against the adoption ban in Federal Court. That case has been a rallying point for many in Florida and throughout the nation who are working to promote gay and lesbian families in legislative and court proceedings They live in Key West where Wayne is a commercial lawyer in private practice and Dan is a real estate broker. EDITH LEDERBERG, Executive Director of the Broward County Area Agency on Aging, and her co-worker and confident, Noble McArtor, had a vision of opening a day care facility to meet the special needs of LGBT seniors and their caregivers. She wanted to make a difference for frail LGBT seniors who often face a senior care system laced with stigma and ignorance. Noble’s tragic and sudden death increased her resolve to make this dream a reality. Edith marshaled every resource from right here in her our own back yard to Washington D.C., to open the nation’s first adult day care center to meet the needs of the LGBT community. Thanks to Edith, the Noble A. McArtor Adult Day Care Center will forever be a safe, warm and empowering home away from home for our seniors. |
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SUNSERVE EDUCATION, TRAINING AND CONSULTATION FOR PROFESSIONALS Each training seminar is delivered by seasoned clinicians with substantial expertise in meeting the needs of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. In addition, each training will:
Community Training and Consultation SunServe professional staff and volunteers provide training and consultation for South Florida organizations, departments of government, schools and social service agencies to help meet the needs of LGBT persons who make use of their services. SunServe has been contracted by the Broward County Children's Services Council to provide training for agency and school system professionals on issues of concern to gay, lesbian, transgender and questioning youth. SunServe also has provided in services training to Broward County School Board’s family therapists social workers, TRUST counselors as well as consultation for agencies and organizations such as Henderson Mental Health, Pavilion Hospital, Camelot Community Care, Children’s Home Society, Memorial Health Care Systems, Sexual Assault and Treatment Center, Broward Teachers’ Union and the Parents' Advocacy Coalition. |
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| SUNSERVE COMMUNITY OUTREACH SERVICES
The Center for Community and Family Development constantly strives to build partnerships with other agencies, universities, health care providers and social service organizations to address the multiple needs of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered persons in South Florida. Affiliations with various organizations enable SunServe to address such community concerns as homelessness for gay, lesbian, transgendered youth. SunServe partners with governmental and grassroots groups to better serve these and others shunted to the social margins in South Florida. The goal of our outreach program is to develop proactive initiatives that reduce the instances of violence, abuse, neglect, addictive and self destructive behaviors. In sum CCFD is not only about the task of repairing broken and bruised lives through therapy. We are dedicated to outreach and supportive programming that foster behavioral, emotional, psychological and relational health at the root sources. EAGLE (End Abuse for Gays and Lesbians Everywhere) Domestic Violence Project SunServe has partnered with the South Florida Gay and Lesbian Community Center and Women in Distress, Broward County’s leading social service agency for domestic violence concerns, to raise awareness about domestic violence in same sex relationships. The joint venture provides education, support, counseling and assistance to gay men and lesbians who are victims of domestic violence. A full range of services is available for the LGBT community so that no one need suffer domestic violence afraid, unprotected or alone. |
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Sunshine Social Services Main Page SunServe Center for Community Services and Family Development Our Philosophy | Location | Contact and Hours | Services Offered | Service Fees | About Our Therapists Noble A. McArtor Senior Daycare Center Location | Contact and Hours |
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ROSIE AND KELLI O’DONNELL In addition to raising their four children with tremendous love and honesty, Rosie and Kelli have managed to find time to be the most compelling advocates for LGBT equality. No one family has done more to raise the visibility and issues of gay parents than Kelli and Rosie. Their dedication to this movement, this community is only surpassed by their devotion to their own family. Anyone who ever watched Rosie’s popular TV talk show knows her as an advocate for children. Her 4 All Kids Foundation has distributed more than $56 million dollars to children’s organizations and centers since its inception in 1997. And when Rosie powerfully, passionately, intelligently and courageously came out as a gay parent on “Primetime Live” three years ago, she forced a national discussion on the issues around foster care and adoption and so-called non-traditional families. When she told millions of Americans “I am a gay parent” she made gay parenting a reality for so many who had never given it a thought. Kelli and Rosie have been honored by the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, HRC, Lambda Legal and the Family Pride Coalition, just to name a few. 