Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) will host a transgender panel at the March 24th PFLAG Support Meeting to educate the community and celebrate the upcoming Transgender Day of Visibility slated for March 31st. Panel participants will each tell a 5 minute story about their journey and take questions from the audience. The event is a great way to gain perspective about the transgender journey. Two of the participants are a married couple, one of whom is transgender. They chose to stay together and their story is heartwarming.

The support group portion of the evening will be from 6-7 PM and the Transgender panel presentation will be from 7-9 PM. Information and referrals for the transgender community will be available at this meeting. Meetings are held at the Unitarian Universalist Community of the Mountains located at 246 South Church Street in Grass Valley.

For more information contact Pat Rose at 274-1423.

PFLAG is looking for volunteers to help with the following:

Outreach:  

PFLAG needs people who would be interested in working with local youth at the GSA (Gay/Straight Alliance) clubs. Also needed are people to help with presentations to local service clubs to educate them about what PFLAG does in our community.

Email/Newsletter:  

Enter submitted information into email and newsletter format for a monthly newsletter.This is done in an online program that is very easy to use and can be done from home. From time to time additional emails may need to be sent.

Webpage Manager:  

Keep the webpage updated with monthly meeting information. Keep all the resources updated to make sure sites we recommend are still working properly. Add supportive businesses to our business section. Post monthly stories. Other tasks as the volunteer and PFLAG determine how to make a more effective website.

Events Coordinator:  

Assist PFLAG board members to help plan for our yearly events. Some examples are the Constitution Day Parade, National Coming Out Day, Fair Booth at the Nevada County Fair, and other events as they are developed.

To learn more, contact Pat Rose at 274-1423.

The IHSS Public Authority is seeking new and used children's books for a new program that's starting in March. The program, called Nevada County Works!, will provide training and hands-on work experience for participants of the CalWORKs program. As part of the program, participants will collect, organize, and refurbish books to distribute to kids in the community, all while learning valuable employment skills such as boundaries, communication, organization, and teamwork.

"We're really trying to kill three birds with one stone," said Executive Director Ann Guerra. "We're providing a place for CalWORKs participants-all of who are parents-to learn new job skills, while also giving them an opportunity to give back to their community and help their own families." The idea for the book program came from a news report about the difficulty some families have in accessing books to read to their kids. "We've heard a lot of news lately about the importance of reading to young children. Language is hugely important to children's development," Guerra said. "Not all parents can afford books or have time to go to the library. We want to put books in the hands of children and parents and eliminate that boundary to literacy."

The Public Authority is partnering with community organizations that serve children to help distribute the books to families in need. Nevada County Works! participants will sort, clean, and repair the books and distribute them through partner organizations such as Child Advocates of Nevada County and PARTNERS Family Resource Centers.

To donate books:

The Public Authority is seeking donations of new and used books for children of all ages. Books can be in any condition, from New to Well-Used. Books can be dropped off to the Public Authority office at 464 Brunswick Road in Grass Valley, Monday through Friday between 9am and 5pm. For more information, contact Tammy Veralrud at 274-5601.