Diversity Richmond Continues Support of Holocaust Education

holocaust educationJay Ipson is no stranger to Richmonders. The co-founder of the Virginia Holocaust Museum, Mr. Ipson has also been a longtime community partner with Diversity Richmond in educating people about the horrors of the Holocaust. A Holocaust survivor himself, Mr. Ipson, at age six, and his family hid for nine months in the German countryside. Six of those months were spent literally underground, hiding under a potato field. The Ipsons immigrated to America when he was twelve.

Our most recent project with Mr. Ipson, or "Jay," as we all know him is an interesting one. As Jay recently shared, "From Biblical times to the present, precious metals played a huge part in men's survival, as so it was during World War II."

"In 1940 Hitler and Stalin made a pack, and the Russians invaded Lithuania, confiscating all business belongings. Paper currency was of little value. The world stood by and did nothing; so Hitler invaded Lithuania and the Nazi's and our Lithuanian neighbors stripped us of our worldly goods, placing us in a Ghetto. Some of us that had gold coins managed to hide them."

"My parents came up with the idea of taking Mother's sweater and hiding gold coins inside the buttons." So, many years later Jay had his mother's sweater recreated and sewed quarters inside the buttons. The mannequin that wears the reproduced sweater was donated by Diversity Thrift. Jay uses the mannequin to help share his family's story of faith, resilience and incredible courage. We are very proud to play even this small role in helping.

Thanks to Altria and Hamilton Glass, another mural is cast

DR 2nd mural

Our second mural, designed by Hamilton Glass, was completed this past week. As with the first, the project was funded by Altria. The company's volunteer pool of employees also contributed hours of painting to fill in Ham's drawing, with many finishing touches to come. The mural is located on a wall of the building located in the thrift store parking lot. "We wanted something that was fun and colorful and also addressed the store," shared Bill Harrison. "Hamilton and Altria did their magic once again. The store customers love it. We have heard praises all week."

Diversity Richmond says goodbye and THANK YOU to Debra Terry

DR DTerryProgram Coordinator, Debra Terry, has been with Diversity Richmond for four years, first as an intern and then as an employee. As a seasoned activist, Debra has spent the past four years helping to strengthen the bonds of the LGBTQ+ community and advocating for the needs of LGBTQ+ individuals. Though she loves the work that she does, Debra will be moving on to her next adventure by the end of May. As her intern, I was able to sit down with her to discuss more about the journey that she has been on and the new one that lies ahead.

Becoming a Social Worker

Debra’s journey began as a graduate student in the Masters of Social Work (MSW) program at Virginia Commonwealth University, but becoming a social worker, Debra says, was an accident. She had studied psychology during her undergraduate program, and she originally wanted to do counseling. Social work was the quicker and cheaper way to pursue this career path, but when Debra started the program, she was not satisfied. In fact, she hated it and felt like she was “just trying to survive.”

But these feelings changed when she fell in love with her social justice class, which was taught by Terry Pendleton at the time. “It changed my orientation from micro to macro because I was so taken by issues of social justice. Through the class, I started to identify with the social work profession.”

Ending up at Diversity Richmond

During her first year in the social work program, Debra interned at Minority Health Consortium. At Minority Health Consortium, she did work focusing on HIV education, outreach, testing, and prevention. She was placed there because of her interest in sexual risk reduction in transgender communities. After this experience, she knew she wanted to work specifically in transgender and queer communities for her second year internship, and Diversity seemed like the best place to do this. Starting off at Diversity was rough and rocky because she was the first social work intern they had ever had, but she positions it as being a valuable learning experience for both her and the organization.

Debra credits her experience as an intern to Rita McNeil, her supervisor from Minority Health Consortium. Once Debra left there, Rita was gracious enough to volunteer her time at Diversity so Debra could do her internship here. If it were not for Rita, Debra says she doesn’t know where she would be right now.

Watching Diversity Richmond Grow

Over the years, Debra has seen many changes occur at Diversity Richmond. One of the most significant changes she has noticed is the intentional shift to become more inclusive. When Debra started, Diversity Richmond was still known as the Gay Community Center of Richmond (GCCR). At the time, a community-based needs assessment had been conducted and found that many identities within the community felt excluded from GCCR. Many felt that the organization seemed to be channeling most of its energy into catering to the needs of specifically white, gay adults.

Since then, Diversity has rebranded and made a conscious attempt at becoming more inclusive, but as Debra mentions, there’s still more work that needs to be done. “It’s a process. It’s never over. We always have to be inclusive, truly inclusive, and we have to have a really intersectional lens that we do this work through, to make sure we are working with, and supporting, all members of our community.”

Most Rewarding Experience

Debra’s time at Diversity Richmond has been full of rich experiences, both rewarding and tough. When asked about her most rewarding experience, Debra mentions the Trans Inclusive Shelter Project (TISP). TISP is a program at Diversity Richmond which Debra, personally, got to develop and implement. The goal of the organization is to influence policies and practices of homeless shelters and services in order to create safer places for transgender individuals experiencing homelessness or unstable housing. The idea for the project was sparked by a single client of Debra’s. A young transwoman reached out to Debra looking for resources because she had just turned 18 and was asked to leave her grandmother’s home, but she had nowhere to go.

At the time, Virginia’s policy on housing according to gender identity did not exist, and Debra’s client was forced to go into a men’s shelter. Since then, things have changed. Shelters are now required to house folks according to their gender identity, and the team of advocates who make up TISP including Debra, Afton Bradley from Fan Free Clinic, Nichele Carver from the Department of Housing and Community Development, Alex Wagaman from VCU’s School of Social Work, and Rae Obejero from St. Joseph’s Villa continue to work toward inclusive, affirming policy and practice within homeless services.

Even though this is the case, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done around educating and training homeless shelter providers on competent and friendly care for transgender individuals. In order to address this issue, TISP is getting ready to do a statewide, educational webinar series in May. This will be Debra’s last project both with TISP and Diversity Richmond.

What’s Next?

Debra’s next journey is going to be in the mountains in Montana. Her and her partner will be moving out there at the end of May to continue working on the cabin they currently have half built. Debra’s extremely excited to be heading out there because it’s going to be something brand new for her. “We’re going to build and play in the snow and figure things out.”

As for her work, Debra is approaching it as an experiment. The closet city is an hour and 15 minutes away, and the closest town might be a bit too conservative for the work she wants to do. “...There’s an LGBTQ+ community center [in the city], and homeless shelters, and Planned Parenthood, so the things that I have interest in and/or experience in are not at my fingertips. I thought a little bit about organizing and trying to do some rural organizing, but I just don’t know. And I think that’s okay. Because the first thing I need to do is to go out there and take care of me and myself and do what I’m doing with my partner. And as far as work goes, I think I need to go out there and look and listen and be quiet, and see what’s out there.”

To Community Members

From Debra:

“As it relates to my beloved LGBTQ+ Greater Richmond Community, and as it relates to this work, and my organization, I would say... we always need to be effortful and mindful of inclusion in the work that we are doing. We’ve seen a lot of really great successes, but we still have a lot of work to do in our community. It can be really easy to grab our little success and just run away with it and feel good (and we should feel good), but I think we really need to focus on the vast amount of work that needs be done.

It’s really important to look around and stand with the folks who need us the most, and be with people who are facing the greatest obstacles due to systemic oppression, homophobia, transphobia and racism. That’s where our focus should be; standing with, sitting with, working with our folks who are most vulnerable to bigotry and violence. Fundraisers, and mixers, and social events are important. But we also need to be out in the community working with local homeless shelters, in schools talking with students and teachers, on the street with our fellow protesters, and remembering to show up and challenge politicians and employers to be inclusive.”

Debra’s last day is officially April 27th, but she’ll still be helping out around Diversity Richmond until the end of May. Be sure to stop in, wish her goodbye, and say thank you!

Pictured: Debra Terry and board member Rodney Lofton

Iridian Gallery at Diversity Richmond committee making waves

IG meeting

Our phenomenal art gallery committee recently met to map out the details of our upcoming shows.

You can still see the current show, {D}Light: Works in copper by Cathy G. Vaughn, for a couple more weeks.

After that, we have Truthful History Heals, curated by our own Beth Marschak. She posed the question: If the conversation about the Civil War statues on Monument Ave. was VISUAL, could more voices be heard? We are hosting this visual salon as part of exhibit, and want your participation. Contributions will be printed out and added to the walls for the duration of the show. Open to artists AND non-artists, and open to ALL. Get your entries in asap, and pass it on.

Stay tuned for more from the Iridian Gallery at Diversity Richmond, and thank you to this incredible group of talented volunteers!

Diversity Richmond supports Equality Virginia

EV dinner 2016

Diversity Richmond board members and staff attended the 2016 Equality Virginia Commonwealth Dinner, celebrating our community big time!

Customer "treasures" Diversity Thrift

DT APopeAngie Pope shops at Diversity Thrift because she "always finds something I must have."

She recently found a vintage Christian Dior hat (one of several donated to us) and was very pleased with her purchase. When asked what keeps her coming back, her answer quickly came. "Oh, my gosh, all the treasures here."

Diversity Thrift, 1407 Sherwood Ave, 23220, is open Wednesday-Sunday, 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM. Check us out on facebook!

"We just love Diversity Thrift!"

DT AdamsMeet Juanita Adams and her daughter, Tiffany. Both are regular shoppers at Diversity Thrift and have photographs to prove it. "The store has such a wide selection of merchandise. My home is filled with everything from my beautiful bed, to rugs, to crystal, and a mantle and fireplace screen," said Juanita. "I have been shopping at Diversity for years. We both love coming here."

Tiffany agrees. "I have a teenager and coming here saves me a lot of money. I always find things here I need."

Diversity Thrift, 1407 Sherwood Ave, 23220, is open Wednesday-Sunday, 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM. Check us out on facebook!

Another satisfied Diversity Thrift customer

DT J. DagenartJerry Dagenhart just returned home to Richmond after living in Roanoke for several years and was startled when he saw the Diversity Thrift building being painted. "I was afraid you had gone out of business!" He was relieved to learn of the renovations in progress.

Jerry was actually a volunteer years ago when Jon Klein first opened Out of the Closet Thrift on West Main Street. That store was the main funding source for ROSMY. After getting ROSMY launched, Jon then opened Diversity Thrift. We are in our second location.

We welcome Jerry back home. He loves the store and has already become one of our regular customers since his return.

Photo: Customer Jerry Dagenhart and Diversity Thrift employee Josh Astles

Diversity Thrift is a major reason that Diversity Richmond has put back over $865,000 into the community, helping organizations such as ROSMY, Equality Virginia, Fan Free Clinic and Richmond Triangle Players. All donations are tax deductible.

Big crowd supports Diversity Richmond at Pasture fundraiser

Chef Jason Alley, far right, presents a check to Diversity Richmond board chair Beth Marschak, with board members (R-L) Art Toth, Crystal Suber and Ray Green.

Pasture, the popular downtown eatery and bar, attracted a big crowd recently in an effort to raise needed funds for Diversity Richmond. Chef and owner, Jason Alley, shared that he was happy to sponsor the event as "Diversity does such a good job every day for the community and we are proud to support their work."

Thank you to everyone who supported the event and a big thank you to Jason and his staff for being such great hosts. And special hugs go to Kevin Clay of bigspoonagency, and Erin Bagnell and Katherine O'Donnell of Richmond Region Tourism for helping coordinate the event.

Chef Jason Alley, far right, presents a check to Diversity Richmond board chair Beth Marschak, with board members (R-L) Art Toth, Crystal Suber and Ray Green.

Reception to welcome Richmond's LGBTQ+ Liaison

We recently hosted a reception and community conversation for newly appointed Richmond City Police LGBTQ Liaison, Captain Angela Greene. Capt. Greene and Chief Alfred Durham are ever-present within our community and are working to ensure that all citizens are treated fairly. ROSMY and Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities will soon begin cultural diversity training for Richmond Police, as already done for Henrico officers.

"I love coming to Diversity Thrift!"

Rebecca Wilson"I always leave the store with a smile on my face and a car full of amazing treasures!"

Diversity Thrift has lots of regular customers. Meet Rebecca Wilson, owner of The Runaway Dish. Her longtime love of vintage dinnerware turned a hobby into a lucrative business. Rebecca finds the treasures, old and new, at thrift stores, junk and consignment shops and then rents the wares to folks having wedding receptions, parties or business luncheons and dinners.

"I love to shop at Diversity because they have a fabulous collection of vintage housewares. I am always on the hunt, scouring the city for unique plates, glasses, silverware and other tableware. Diversity always has the best and no matter how often I come in, there is always something new."

"And the best part is, everyone that works there is so fun about my zany shopping sprees. I never feel like I am a burden when I score entire shopping carts full of goodies, everyone just pitches in. I always leave with a smile on my face and a car full of amazing treasures."

As her web site shares, she has rescued everything from plates that were "marketing come-ons for long gone detergents," to "leading China designers."

"I rescue them from oblivion and give them a new life," she added. "And it's also the greenest alternative available." Check out her site www.runaway-dish.com and while you're at it, check out the treasures at Diversity Thrift.

Rebecca Wilson is a treasured regular at Diversity Thrift

Personal journeys highlight Diversity Richmond's Black History Month celebration

Last month, Diversity Richmond presented "RVA LGBTQ Black History: The Old and The New." The event opened with a showing of vintage film footage featuring RVA drag luminary, Christmas Snow. The footage allowed attendees to have a brief glimpse into Richmond's drag history and for some, an inspired trip down memory lane.

Diversity Richmond Board Member, Rodney Loften shared some memories and spoke about his friendship with Christmas.

The second part of the event featured a panel discussion, moderated by Diversity Richmond Program Committee Member, E. Taylor Doctor. The panel guests were Christopher Murphey, owner of Digital Empire Graphics; Crystal Suber, Diversity Richmond Board Member; Micky Alexander Jordan, S.O.N.G.; and The Rev. Derek A. Terry, Pastor of St. Peter's United Church of Christ who was also featured on an episode of Iyanla Fix My Life.

Panelists shared stories from their personal journeys of coming out and living in their truth as out members of the black community. The discussion was lively with many audience members asking questions of the panelists and also sharing from their own personal journeys. It was obvious that this type of event could be a regular offering of Diversity Richmond, as guests were eager to continue discussion after the final question was taken for the night. Attendees enjoyed refreshments that were provided by AARP Pride.  

Subcategories