On November 15th our group headed over to Hetrick-Martin Institute (HMI) where we learned about an organization whose mission is to create a safe space for young people, regardless of their sexual orientation or identity. In 1979, Dr. Emery Hetrick and Dr. Damien Martin (who was a professor at New York University) decided to gather a group of individuals dedicated to help the LGBTQ identified youth reach their full potential and accordingly created the Institute for the Protection of Lesbian and Gay Youth (IPLGY), which was renamed later to The Hetrick-Martin Institute.
HMI takes a rather holistic approach in the way it seems to create a safe and supportive environment not only for its youth, but also for the greater population. With the presence of the Harvey Milk School, founded as a public school for at risk youth (those who idenfitied as LGBTQ), came the possibility where individuals could grow in a harm-reduced and uplifting environment. There are numerous after school programs, advocacy and capacity building training programs, and other ways for the youth, professionals, and CBO’s to get more involved. HMI successes also acts as a blue print for other organizations to incorporate into their own initiatives.
HMI has affected many lives. They use numbers as a means to quantify the level of their imapct on the youth:
– Annually more than 2,000+ youth participate in HMI Programs.
– 200 youth participate annually in job-readiness training.
– Close to 100% of HMI youth take part in our innovative Health and Wellness Program, including HIV-prevention.
– 10,000 hot meals were served last year.
– 92% of Harvey Milk High School seniors graduated in 2008
Hearing about the intricacies of HMI- not only pertaining to the programs held for the youth, the founding of the Harvey Milk School, and the different forms of outreach and advocacy initiatives, but also the passion all the staff has in their work, was very inspiring. HMI’s goal is not only to work in the treatment aspect by providing counseling, guidance, and informative programs, but also seeks to create prevention strategies by building a network with other organizations and individuals by various holistic training sessions.
NYU Public Health Professions and Practice 