St. Albert's Outloud supports LGBTQ youth

For many youth, growing up in the LGBTQ community isn't easy. An Edmonton-area organization hopes to change that.

The Outloud Foundation for Community LGBTQ Supports and Services, located in St. Albert, is a non-profit that has supported youth since 2014. 

Through the open doors is a large room with comfy chairs on the outskirts, plus a fridge and a bench with pizza boxes on it. Pride flags adorn the walls.

"My first day here I was very shy, I was very scared. I didn't do the intro thing because I was too anxious," 19-year-old Mikey Roseborsky told CBC Edmonton's Radio Active. 

But now, the organization is a regular part of their life. 

The idea for Outloud came from its executive director's daughter. Terry Soetaert said his daughter Mia attended Camp fYrefly a few times, and loved everything about it. Camp fYrefly is a national leadership camp for LGBTQ youth.

"Except for the fact that it only happened once a year and she wanted something to happen more like once a month," he said.

Inspired by Mia, the two worked together to start something local, and something that could be a more reliable source of support for LGBTQ people in the area.

The first Outloud group meeting was made up of a handful of kids. The group after was slightly bigger. 

"Now, eight years later, there's 30-some odd kids in there," Soetaert said.

The foundation offers group sessions for people of all ages. Meetings are held on the first and third Tuesday of each month.

Sessions usually start with a quick introduction, followed by an icebreaker question. 

The meetings are made up of games, activities or guest speakers. One time, Soetaert brought in chickens, something to make the kids smile, he adds.

"It is infinitely important to have these kinds of resources and just connections with people, because without them you start to feel like you're alone in your fights," Roseborsky said.