Below you will find some of the stories I wrote for my news reporting class at Cronkite
Below you will find some of the stories I wrote for my news reporting class at Cronkite
One-n-ten Switches to Online Programs to Serve LGBTQ+ Youth
4.27.2020
One-n-ten is a Phoenix based organization that works to help young members of the LGBTQ community across the state of Arizona. In normal circumstances, the organization provides a safe space for the young people of the LGBTQ community to build relationships, navigate difficult situations and be themselves; but as the coronavirus began to completely alter the makeup of everyday life for people across the world, a physical safe space became less and less feasible.
On March 13, one-n-ten published a statement to their website that said “Out of concern and caution over COVID-19, effective tomorrow, March 14, one-n-ten program sites will proactively and temporarily close. Our events and participation in community gatherings will also be cancelled or rescheduled.”
One-n-ten not only has a youth center in downtown Phoenix, but satellite locations can be found throughout the entire state from Flagstaff to Yuma.
The events program manager and camp director at one-n-ten Dani Logan said, “Our satellites and youth center and all of our programs are safe spaces for young folks and some of those spaces are the only times that young folks are able to be their most authentic selves.”
With the help of technology, one-n-ten has been able to continue to facilitate a meeting place for the young people in the LGBTQ community across Arizona. The safe space that the organization works to maintain has simply been moved to an online setting.
“We made the decision that it was in the best interest of the health and safety of our staff, volunteers, and the youth that we serve to close down in person programs,” Logan said.
One of the ways that one-n-ten has utilized technology to continue to maintain a community among the youth that they serve is by using a platform called Q Chat, which is an online discussion group service for LGBTQ youth. One-n-ten is one out of a handful of LGBTQ youth centers across the country who are a part of the Q Chat program and they have been using the platform since 2019.
Because one-n-ten had previous experience with using Q Chat, there was a quick turnaround when the organization chose to close their doors. In person programs were cancelled on a Friday and by the following Monday the discussion platform was accessible to the young people who take part in one-t-ten’s in person programs. The organization is using the platform to hold six text-based support groups throughout the week.
Additionally, the organization is holding meetings via the video conferencing platform Zoom each week. Each Zoom meeting has a different discussion topic for the youth to contribute to. Members of the youth advisory council have also contributed ideas for programs held via Zoom. For example, one of these sessions was created for the young people to talk in depth about things they are passionate and knowledgeable about in a TED Talk format.
There are multiple Zoom groups which are separated by age-group to help better accommodate the different needs of the young people in their different periods of life. Young people age 11-13 can also join the Zoom sessions with parent permission.
The Zoom sessions are something that one-n-ten are looking to maintain once the social distancing orders are no longer in effect.
One-n-ten training specialist Wallace Hudson said, “From an accessibility standpoint I think
that is a necessity. There are youth who for whatever reason cannot make it to either our
downtown Phoenix youth center or our satellites.”
Visit onenten.org for more information about one-n-ten and their programs during and after
quarantine.
One-n-ten is a Phoenix based organization that works to help young members of the LGBTQ community across the state of Arizona. In normal circumstances, the organization provides a safe space for the young people of the LGBTQ community to build relationships, navigate difficult situations and be themselves; but as the coronavirus began to completely alter the makeup of everyday life for people across the world, a physical safe space became less and less feasible.
On March 13, one-n-ten published a statement to their website that said “Out of concern and caution over COVID-19, effective tomorrow, March 14, one-n-ten program sites will proactively and temporarily close. Our events and participation in community gatherings will also be cancelled or rescheduled.”
One-n-ten not only has a youth center in downtown Phoenix, but satellite locations can be found throughout the entire state from Flagstaff to Yuma.
The events program manager and camp director at one-n-ten Dani Logan said, “Our satellites and youth center and all of our programs are safe spaces for young folks and some of those spaces are the only times that young folks are able to be their most authentic selves.”
With the help of technology, one-n-ten has been able to continue to facilitate a meeting place for the young people in the LGBTQ community across Arizona. The safe space that the organization works to maintain has simply been moved to an online setting.
“We made the decision that it was in the best interest of the health and safety of our staff, volunteers, and the youth that we serve to close down in person programs,” Logan said.
One of the ways that one-n-ten has utilized technology to continue to maintain a community among the youth that they serve is by using a platform called Q Chat, which is an online discussion group service for LGBTQ youth. One-n-ten is one out of a handful of LGBTQ youth centers across the country who are a part of the Q Chat program and they have been using the platform since 2019.
Because one-n-ten had previous experience with using Q Chat, there was a quick turnaround when the organization chose to close their doors. In person programs were cancelled on a Friday and by the following Monday the discussion platform was accessible to the young people who take part in one-t-ten’s in person programs. The organization is using the platform to hold six text-based support groups throughout the week.
Additionally, the organization is holding meetings via the video conferencing platform Zoom each week. Each Zoom meeting has a different discussion topic for the youth to contribute to. Members of the youth advisory council have also contributed ideas for programs held via Zoom. For example, one of these sessions was created for the young people to talk in depth about things they are passionate and knowledgeable about in a TED Talk format.
There are multiple Zoom groups which are separated by age-group to help better accommodate the different needs of the young people in their different periods of life. Young people age 11-13 can also join the Zoom sessions with parent permission.
The Zoom sessions are something that one-n-ten are looking to maintain once the social distancing orders are no longer in effect.
One-n-ten training specialist Wallace Hudson said, “From an accessibility standpoint I think
that is a necessity. There are youth who for whatever reason cannot make it to either our
downtown Phoenix youth center or our satellites.”
Visit onenten.org for more information about one-n-ten and their programs during and after
quarantine.
CLICK ABOVE TO VISIT THE ONE-N-TEN WEBSITE
Many Churches Switch to Online Services
4.10.2020
Churches across the country have been switching over to live-stream services in the wake of the recent COVID-19 outbreak. The outbreak, which has effected most parts of the world in recent months, has created many issues and opportunities for flexibility to a variety of communities.
The CDC and multiple elected officials have called for the indefinite end of large gatherings in places such as churches, hair salons, live entertainment and gyms in order to help combat the spread of the coronavirus.
The Grove, a Chandler church that has been active in the local community for almost 20 years, has taken all services online in hopes to continue the community that the church facilitates on a weekly basis.
All services are being live streamed on the church’s Facebook and YouTube pages on a near daily basis. The church’s online sessions are all-encompassing of the usual ministries that meet in large groups or individually on a weekly basis.
There are streams for the young members of the church up through college age, separate men’s and women’s ministries, counselling services from the licensed counselors that work with The Grove, musical worship sessions, and regular Saturday evening and Sunday morning services.
Ashli Bellinger who has been a professional counselor with The Grove since 2019 has had to put her one on one sessions on hold for the time being but has remained in contact with some of the people she works with through phone calls.
“A lot of people basically chose to not pursue phone sessions, which is what I was going to offer. I have a few that I have kept in touch with, but for the most part everyone says they are fine and that they are going to wait until we meet again in person and that has been a little bit strange,” Bellinger said.
The counselling team at The Grove has been addressing broader issues that may relate to the circumstances in which the world is living, such as grief and anxiety, in their weekly online sermons.
Bellinger also works with the children’s ministries and has been utilizing email and social media to distribute content to the children who attend The Grove with their families.
“We are creating weekly lessons for videos that the kids can sit down and actually watch,” Bellinger said.
The high school and young adult ministries have also postponed all upcoming events and trips but are continuing with their weekly meetings in an online setting. Additionally, the high school ministries leader Byron Chinchen has been holding Zoom sessions and reaching out to his students on multiple social media platforms to maintain the relationships that are built within the youth group.
“We want to stay connected much as possible,” Chinchen said in an Instagram video posted to the high school ministry page.
These livestream services were uncharted territory for The Grove as the church had no live streaming capabilities and had to make something from what they had at very short notice.
Josh Havens who is the worship pastor at The Grove said, “When you have a great team that works well together, they can rise to the occasion and overcome any challenges and I have really seen that with our team. Over the course of a week our tech team figured out how to broadcast and live stream, which is not an easy thing to do, but they figured it out.”
Havens is also the lead singer of a successful Christian band called The Afters and said that they had to cancel more than three months’ worth of shows.
Although live streaming takes away the ability for the members of the congregation to have in person connections, the community has been continued and expanded in the online services. Both Bellinger and Havens said that they knew of people watching the live streams that had never attended The Grove or had previously attended the church but moved out of state.
Alan Gavin and his family have attended The Grove for nearly 18 years has been watching the streams from his home.
“It’s nice being in the comfort of your own home and being able to watch it and absorb it,” said Gavin.“You still want to go into a building and see people and have that face to face interaction but if you’re tight on time and have things going on that you need to work around, or if you are on the road or travelling, or the times when you’re not feeling well and want to be in the comfort of your own home it is nice to have that option.”
Bellinger and Havens both said that The Grove plans to continue with some form of live streams in the future. Visit TheGroveAz.org to find out more about The Grove and the online services they are holding.
Churches across the country have been switching over to live-stream services in the wake of the recent COVID-19 outbreak. The outbreak, which has effected most parts of the world in recent months, has created many issues and opportunities for flexibility to a variety of communities.
The CDC and multiple elected officials have called for the indefinite end of large gatherings in places such as churches, hair salons, live entertainment and gyms in order to help combat the spread of the coronavirus.
The Grove, a Chandler church that has been active in the local community for almost 20 years, has taken all services online in hopes to continue the community that the church facilitates on a weekly basis.
All services are being live streamed on the church’s Facebook and YouTube pages on a near daily basis. The church’s online sessions are all-encompassing of the usual ministries that meet in large groups or individually on a weekly basis.
There are streams for the young members of the church up through college age, separate men’s and women’s ministries, counselling services from the licensed counselors that work with The Grove, musical worship sessions, and regular Saturday evening and Sunday morning services.
Ashli Bellinger who has been a professional counselor with The Grove since 2019 has had to put her one on one sessions on hold for the time being but has remained in contact with some of the people she works with through phone calls.
“A lot of people basically chose to not pursue phone sessions, which is what I was going to offer. I have a few that I have kept in touch with, but for the most part everyone says they are fine and that they are going to wait until we meet again in person and that has been a little bit strange,” Bellinger said.
The counselling team at The Grove has been addressing broader issues that may relate to the circumstances in which the world is living, such as grief and anxiety, in their weekly online sermons.
Bellinger also works with the children’s ministries and has been utilizing email and social media to distribute content to the children who attend The Grove with their families.
“We are creating weekly lessons for videos that the kids can sit down and actually watch,” Bellinger said.
The high school and young adult ministries have also postponed all upcoming events and trips but are continuing with their weekly meetings in an online setting. Additionally, the high school ministries leader Byron Chinchen has been holding Zoom sessions and reaching out to his students on multiple social media platforms to maintain the relationships that are built within the youth group.
“We want to stay connected much as possible,” Chinchen said in an Instagram video posted to the high school ministry page.
These livestream services were uncharted territory for The Grove as the church had no live streaming capabilities and had to make something from what they had at very short notice.
Josh Havens who is the worship pastor at The Grove said, “When you have a great team that works well together, they can rise to the occasion and overcome any challenges and I have really seen that with our team. Over the course of a week our tech team figured out how to broadcast and live stream, which is not an easy thing to do, but they figured it out.”
Havens is also the lead singer of a successful Christian band called The Afters and said that they had to cancel more than three months’ worth of shows.
Although live streaming takes away the ability for the members of the congregation to have in person connections, the community has been continued and expanded in the online services. Both Bellinger and Havens said that they knew of people watching the live streams that had never attended The Grove or had previously attended the church but moved out of state.
Alan Gavin and his family have attended The Grove for nearly 18 years has been watching the streams from his home.
“It’s nice being in the comfort of your own home and being able to watch it and absorb it,” said Gavin.“You still want to go into a building and see people and have that face to face interaction but if you’re tight on time and have things going on that you need to work around, or if you are on the road or travelling, or the times when you’re not feeling well and want to be in the comfort of your own home it is nice to have that option.”
Bellinger and Havens both said that The Grove plans to continue with some form of live streams in the future. Visit TheGroveAz.org to find out more about The Grove and the online services they are holding.
CLICK ABOVE TO VISIT THE GROVE WEBSITE
Coronavirus Impacts International Travel
2.14.2020
In the wake of the recent novel coronavirus outbreak with confirmed deaths and cases increasing daily, many airlines have stopped flights to China and some countries have restricted incoming flights from China, the country where the outbreak began.
Delta Air Lines was one of the first to suspend service to China. The airline stopped flights to or from China on Feb. 2. A statement on the airline website says, “Delta is temporarily suspending all flight activity involving China through April 30 due to ongoing concerns related to the coronavirus.”
Before the travel restrictions, Delta was operating 42 flights between the U.S. and China on a weekly basis, according to the Delta Air Lines website.
Arizona State University has put into effect travel restrictions of their own after a member of the ASU community was confirmed to be infected with the virus.
ASU President Michael Crow issued a statement that said, “No institution-related travel, such as study abroad or other academic program visits, to China will be authorized or approved by the university. This travel restriction is similar to restrictions many businesses and organizations across the U.S. have implemented.”
The travel restrictions have impacted travelers and flight crews alike as some flight patterns that do not fly directly to China have also been affected.
“I was supposed to fly to Mumbai, India] on Super Bowl Sunday and they realized my first officer had just been to China in the last two weeks,” Delta pilot and Chandler resident Al Gregory said, “India was not allowing anybody into the country that had been to China in the last two weeks, so they actually cancelled my flight to Mumbai.”
Other than the flight cancellations, the airlines are not yet doing much to prevent the spread of the virus among the pilots, flight attendants and other airline staff.
“Crew members have been advised to self-monitor. For the employees, there were not any masks the last time I flew. I think the guys that were flying to China at the end of January beginning of February were concerned enough to have bought their own masks,” Gregory said.
However, the airline did implement a plan of action in the case that a passenger was to show symptoms.
“I read in our flight operation updates that if you did have anybody on your flight during that time that was symptomatic, you would contact a service that Delta subscribes to called STAT-MD. It is doctors who are familiar with aerospace medicine. If you were en route you would contact them via the satellite phone that we have on board and consult with them and come up with a plan of action," Gregory Said.
The family members of these pilots and crew members have concerns of their own as these airline workers are constantly in contact with people from all around the world. The incubation period for the coronavirus could be up to 24 days, making it difficult to determine early on if the workers may be carrying the virus.
Gregory’s wife, Yvonne Gregory, said, “Just because of the exposure of being around other workers and other crew members, pilots and flight attendants who always fly all over, there is always the thought of who they were in touch with and who they crossed paths with. It does make you think ‘where is it safe to go, where people who could have possibly crossed paths with someone who is infected, now they’re shopping at Sprouts or at a conference or in a church building.’”
Gregory, who has flown for Delta for 31 years, said 9/11 is the only other event that has impacted travel this heavily.
In the wake of the recent novel coronavirus outbreak with confirmed deaths and cases increasing daily, many airlines have stopped flights to China and some countries have restricted incoming flights from China, the country where the outbreak began.
Delta Air Lines was one of the first to suspend service to China. The airline stopped flights to or from China on Feb. 2. A statement on the airline website says, “Delta is temporarily suspending all flight activity involving China through April 30 due to ongoing concerns related to the coronavirus.”
Before the travel restrictions, Delta was operating 42 flights between the U.S. and China on a weekly basis, according to the Delta Air Lines website.
Arizona State University has put into effect travel restrictions of their own after a member of the ASU community was confirmed to be infected with the virus.
ASU President Michael Crow issued a statement that said, “No institution-related travel, such as study abroad or other academic program visits, to China will be authorized or approved by the university. This travel restriction is similar to restrictions many businesses and organizations across the U.S. have implemented.”
The travel restrictions have impacted travelers and flight crews alike as some flight patterns that do not fly directly to China have also been affected.
“I was supposed to fly to Mumbai, India] on Super Bowl Sunday and they realized my first officer had just been to China in the last two weeks,” Delta pilot and Chandler resident Al Gregory said, “India was not allowing anybody into the country that had been to China in the last two weeks, so they actually cancelled my flight to Mumbai.”
Other than the flight cancellations, the airlines are not yet doing much to prevent the spread of the virus among the pilots, flight attendants and other airline staff.
“Crew members have been advised to self-monitor. For the employees, there were not any masks the last time I flew. I think the guys that were flying to China at the end of January beginning of February were concerned enough to have bought their own masks,” Gregory said.
However, the airline did implement a plan of action in the case that a passenger was to show symptoms.
“I read in our flight operation updates that if you did have anybody on your flight during that time that was symptomatic, you would contact a service that Delta subscribes to called STAT-MD. It is doctors who are familiar with aerospace medicine. If you were en route you would contact them via the satellite phone that we have on board and consult with them and come up with a plan of action," Gregory Said.
The family members of these pilots and crew members have concerns of their own as these airline workers are constantly in contact with people from all around the world. The incubation period for the coronavirus could be up to 24 days, making it difficult to determine early on if the workers may be carrying the virus.
Gregory’s wife, Yvonne Gregory, said, “Just because of the exposure of being around other workers and other crew members, pilots and flight attendants who always fly all over, there is always the thought of who they were in touch with and who they crossed paths with. It does make you think ‘where is it safe to go, where people who could have possibly crossed paths with someone who is infected, now they’re shopping at Sprouts or at a conference or in a church building.’”
Gregory, who has flown for Delta for 31 years, said 9/11 is the only other event that has impacted travel this heavily.