Fiesta Youth Provides Virtual Space for LGBTQ Youth
May 30, 2020 - San Antonio
The nonprofit Fiesta Youth celebrates during the 2019 PRIDE Parade. Courtesy Photo: Chris Fournier.
By Brigid Cooley - Staff Intern, San Antonio Sentinel
As San Antonio responds to the Covid-19 pandemic with social distancing practices, nonprofits and local organizations have to shift their focus and adapt quickly.
According to Fiesta Youth President David Laidacker-Luna, the pandemic remains a weekly discussion topic for the organization. Fiesta Youth provides local LGBTQ youth support through group meetings, college readiness programs and other community events.
Normally, the organization hosts meetings for youth participants and their allies every Tuesday night at the Woodlawn Pointe Community Center. Now the meetings take place remotely via Zoom. They also launched a communication server through Discord to provide more opportunities for connection.
“We miss each other for sure, but we’ve also been able to have participation from youths that were not able to do so before, either from lack of having a supportive driver or transportation, being too far out to reliably make the trip every single week, or dozens of other reasons,” said Gideon Del Rio, youth facilitator at Fiesta Youth.
Despite the adjustment, the change in programming has increased outreach in the community and will help Fiesta Youth expand.
“Once we do go back to in-live sessions, we will have the in-live session but we will also have an additional night just via Zoom because we do see that it has great advantages for those youth that can’t make it to the meeting,” Laidacker-Luna said.
Fiesta Youth had initially planned to begin programming with their new branch in Corpus Christi, but had to postpone because of the pandemic.
Fiesta Youth sells Fiesta-themed medals to help with fundraising for their programs throughout the year. Courtesy Image.
Now, meeting facilitators focus on letting participants express how the coronavirus has affected their daily lives.
“We allow time to really allow the youth to express their feelings, what they’re going through. You know, how was this week, how was your school this week, is everything at home okay?” Laidacker-Luna said.
Although virtual outreach has helped the organization expand, the lack of face-to-face meetings has resulted in less participation for some.
“We haven’t seen a few of our regular kids in a while,” Del Rio said. “You always wonder how they are, how they’re doing and you hope that they’re okay.”
As social distancing and restrictions on gatherings ease, Fiesta Youth aims to continue their mission in closer physical proximity to one another.
“If all goes well and all the pieces fall into play, we’ll be able to start in-person meetings in August, right when kids are going back to school,” said Laidacker-Luna.
Fiesta Youth meets virtually at 6:30 p.m. every Tuesday evening. For more information on events and programming, visit www.fiesta-youth.org.
Brigid Cooley is the editor-in-chief of The Mesquite, a student publication of Texas A&M - San Antonio. Email her at reporter@sasentinel.com.