SAFE HARBORS

ATTENTION – STATE OF STATE SURVEY OPEN!

Survey Link

This survey is open for any organization that serves youth across North Dakota. It will be open until Dec 1st. It will be conducted every year. The goal of the survey is to locate support structures, understand barriers, and identify new partners in the work.

Safe Harbors Introduction

Safe Harbors is intended to be a way for individuals to locate supportive structures for LGBTQ+ Youth across North Dakota by:

  1. Locating the support within schools, communities, and child protective services
  2. Share resources with individuals across these communities
  3. Create a statewide networks of safety across North Dakota

Harbor Health Initiative is doing this because by the data, many of our LGBTQ+ youth in North Dakota are not safe and some bills passed in 2023 that have made them even less safe. Superintendent of Grand Forks Public Schools Terry Brenner even said, “My concern is that the suicide rate was high among transgender students previous to the law being enacted and there’s concern that that metric will rise moving into the future.”

While Superintendent Brenner was powerless to stop this harm, we can do many meaningful things to keep these youth safe as possible!

Safe Harbors Project

To find Safe Harbors, we’re asking for volunteers to help us! Volunteers will be reaching out to folks who work in schools to ask them a series of questions. Each volunteer will be assigned five people from a pre-determined list of individuals involved in mental health to reach out. An assignment that should take between 30 minutes to an hour. Once complete volunteers may request additional assignments.

Project Logistics: Begins Sept 16th and ends Jun 1st of 2025 for this cycle, taking volunteers at any time, please sign up!

Volunteer Sign Up Sheet: Google Form

Questions

  1. On a 1 to 10 scale, with 10 being the highest – how well do you feel LGBTQ+ youth are doing at your school?
  2. Would you consider yourself a safe person for LGBTQ+ youth to talk to?
  3. Do you know anyone else you’d recommend for us to talk to as part of this project?
  4. Are there any community resources you’re aware of that help LGBTQ+ Youth? Person, organizations, or anything like that?
  5. Are you interested in learning about resources that help LGBTQ+ Youth?
  6. Would you be interested to be on a mailing list to stay up to date on these resources?
  7. Would you be interested in being involved in a statewide LGBTQ+ Support Network

Safe Harbors 2024-2025 Project Goals

Each year we focus on areas we’ve identified as issues during past years. To the right you can look at the Project Goals we have for the 2024-2025 school year.

While the Safe Harbors project is not simply aimed at education, the reality is that the majority of our youth will be intersecting with the education systems and it will be the most likely area to ensure they have access to support.

This year outside of looking for support for youth, we’re going to intentionally be looking for ways to support school staff as well. The trauma they experience is real and the associated burnout and stress from not being able to help kids who are suffering making their work so difficult in this state.

Like with the entirety of the project, we always take feedback for what can be done better or what needs to be focused on!

Resources for Interested K12 Staff

Hello! As part of the questions above various associated school professionals might express interest in resources, staying on top of new resources, or express desire to be part of an LGBTQ+ Support Network.

Best Resources for LGBTQ+ Youth in North Dakota

Stay in Touch for LGBTQ+ Resources, Opportunity, and News

Statewide LGBTQ+ Support Network
This will be created at the end of this project and represent the entirety of invested stakeholders who want to make sure LGBTQ+ youth have the safety to learn and environment to thrive. It’ll be a place to share resources, support each other, and support the youth. What this means will continue to evolve, but it is ultimately intended to make our k12 staff feel more support, less isolated, and more secure in their resources and knowledge for students.

Contact

For any issues or questions about this project, please reach out to project coordinator Faye Seidler at Fayeseidler@gmail.com.