About Mountain Meadow: Vision and Values
We envision a society where all families are recognized and treated fairly. Our work is a combination of social/recreational and educational/advocacy efforts.
We achieve this by providing a "safe space" outside the classroom, where diverse groups of young people from all kinds of families come together, be themselves, and develop social support networks. Through programs and activities that encourage positive responses to negative encounters such as homophobia and oppression, we help young people get more comfortable with the fact that their family is "different." We promote team-building and communication-building to help youth cope with LGBTQ siblings, parents, or not-so-tolerant students (or teachers) at school, or other peers. Our work aims not only to enhance self-esteem and self-confidence, but to inspire young people to become agents for positive social change and leaders within their schools and communities.
We value safety, equality and justice for all youth and their families and understand that, to achieve this, we need to educate the LGBTQ community, the school community and the mainstream about the unique and diverse experiences and needs of the youth and families we serve.
We value diversity and respectful expression of diverse views, ideas, and opinions in order to progress as a community.
We value inclusion, and offer accessible programming that strives to meets needs of all kinds of alternative families.
We value and are committed to the effective use of consensus and other processes that support honesty, transparency, and integrity in all levels of our organization.
We value fiscal responsibility as a means to continuous organizational growth and learning.
We value youth empowerment and encourage youth to challenge and be challenged by their environment, involving youth at many levels of the organization.