Service to the Community: A Chat with Tara from YouthSeen

Not only is YouthSeen one of the leading nonprofit organizations in Colorado helping QTBIPOC youth, they’ve also partnered up with OFM on some upcoming events and projects. We sat down with YouthSeen founder Tara Jae (they/them), who is also one of the founders of Black Pride, to get the inside scoop on all the amazing work they do for the community. 

Can you tell me a little bit about what y’all do at YouthSeen? 

Yes, so I am the founder and executive director of YouthSeen, and our focus is mental health and wellness for QTBIPOC folks in Colorado; however, I also try to be conscious of the fact that we do work with folks outside of the state as well. 

What are some of the programs or initiatives that you offer?

We have four different programs right now. We have our mental health program, which is our clinical program. That is for folks to come in and get talk therapy, so it’s affirming care. We also have CampSeen, which focuses on getting folks out into nature and being able to take up space in nature. Our last program is TransSeen, and that focuses really on trans and nonbinary folks. We’re also involved with Black Pride as well. 

How did YouthSeen get started?

Youth Seen really came out of a need for me. As I moved to Colorado in 2017, I very quickly realized that there was a lack of resources, affirming care specifically, and mental health and wellness for QTBIPOC folks. So, it started there, and then it grew. 

What were some of the holes in community resources that you were looking to fill?

In the beginning, there was a strong focus around therapy services. Most of the therapists that I was going to were not people of color. What I was finding is that, even in 2017, for therapist of color there’s a waiting list and then therapists of color who identify as queer is a even smaller group. I knew most of them, so it’s kind of hard to go in and get therapy from people that you’re already working with. So, yeah, I was really just focusing on that and making sure that we have those resources within the community. 

Can you expand a little bit on your CampSeen program?

CampSeen is an excuse to get people out in nature and able to enjoy what is surrounding us here in Colorado. Most folks get to enjoy and have that privilege of enjoying without being watched or being interrupted because of the color of their skin, and other folks feel that they are doing something wrong. CampSeen is really about giving that space to our youth to grow into. I think that that’s really what it comes down to is just being able to just show up and being able to connect without having oppressive rules around how they’re showing up. 

Does TransSeen have a similar motif about being outdoors and with nature, or is it different? 

It’s kind of different in the sense that we like to educate folks. So, it’s really about sexual health. We do work with It Takes a Village to do testing because we want to normalize testing and having that as a part of our sexual health and making it routine. That isn’t something that you should be fearful of. It is something that the more knowledge you have, the better it is for you and the folks around you. 

In your experience, do you feel like that was something that was particularly lacking in the trans community?

Oh absolutely, gender-affirming care is still a thing. What I mean by it’s still a thing is, there’s still not a lot of education even for the providers who are giving it to people. What bedside manner is, which questions to be asking. Consent is still a thing when you’re going in to see the doctor and being able to like go into those spaces with that knowledge. Sometimes it’s just nice to have someone go with you so that if you’re not understanding or you’re feeling that there is something off you have someone who’s right there advocating with you because oftentimes it falls on trans and nonbinary folks to teach their providers how to treat them. 

I work with Denver Health a lot within their LGBTQ+ center. I’m often working with medical providers and, you know, pretty involved with WPATH and how those standards are coming to be. In fact, there’s not a lot of trans and nonbinary folks making those decisions, so advocating for more folks with lived experience to be able to be making those decisions and pointing out the fact that often times, when policies and standards are set up, the folks who actually need to meet those standards are not even at the table.

How did you get involved with Black Pride?

I was one of the co-creators of Black Pride Denver. I grew up on the East Coast, and Black Pride was a staple in the community, like that was just a part of Pride. And Denver was lacking, and that is not to say that there weren’t other things that were going on, but specifically around Black Pride, there was a void. So, there was a small group of us that gathered and put it together, and now it’s going on its third year. 

What’s some of the work that you’ve done with them?

In 2021, we had our first Black Pride events; it was three or four days, and there were different events ranging from drag shows to a gala. It was really just an opportunity to have fellowship with the rest of the community, specifically for queer folks of color, and it also happens to coincide with Juneteenth. It was really about bringing folks together who felt that they weren’t being represented at Pride events but then also weren’t being represented in Juneteenth as a queer person, and then coming together to have black pride. 

This year, which was our second year, we added another component to it because we got feedback from the community that we needed to be a little bit more family-friendly as opposed to just bar events. So, this year we ended up doing a cookout, which was an all-afternoon event where there were vendors and kid games and shows, and it was just an opportunity for folks to come out and relax and get to know other community members, but very focused on family this time around. 

Keep up to date with future YouthSeen events and programs by following them on social media @youth_seen or visiting their website: youthseen.org.  

Photos by Julius Garrido