In Our Own Voices gives outlet to LGBT, people of color – Albany Times Union
In Our Own Voices, located on Lark Street in Albany, is one of a few organizations that focus specifically on the needs of LGBT people of color.
IOOV provides a wide variety of services, from support groups and legal clinics to a food pantry and help finding health care.
“Many of those services, we are the only organization that provides them in the Capital Region and sometimes it’s a very low number nationally,” said LGBT Health and Human Services Director Shadey Mercado-Perez.
But most importantly, IOOV provides people a place to feel comfortable with who they are.
“A lot of folks, if they don’t feel comfortable in their identities and who they are, they won’t engage with their physical or their sexual health,” said EL Evelyn, who is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns. “And so to have a space where they can be affirmed in their identity I think is really important.”
Evelyn is the WSW (women who have sex with women) program coordinator for intervention services, supporting LGBT women and nonbinary people of color. That involves doing some light case management — connecting people to services like doctors, lawyers and mental health providers — as well as running support groups.
The support groups are a key part of what IOOV offers, said Ria Sarkar, domestic violence and sexual assault advocate.
“Feeling like you have support if you’re struggling with your sexuality, if you’re struggling with your gender, that someone has been there before and can kind of guide you and support you through your process” is important, she said. “I think just having the space and having the resources gives a sense of safety to individuals who may be struggling.”
Sarkar provides case management and emotional support to the people she serves, as well as training other agencies to provide services that are accessible and inclusive of LGBT people of color.
Mercado-Perez is responsible for everything health-related that’s not HIV or Hep-C, which falls under a different arm of the organization.
Her main focus, though, is community events like the annual Black and Latino Gay Pride, which allows community members to showcase their talents and celebrate Pride as well as access some of IOOV’s services.
She also runs the Pulse Check community survey, which asks respondents about their experience with Capital Region medical providers and if they would recommend them to other LGBT people of color.
“It’s always like a little gem when we find one provider that our community feels comfortable with,” Mercado-Perez said.
“A lot of mainstream providers are also very white-centered, and very cisgender and heterosexual-centered in the work that they do,” Evelyn said. “Our space exists as a more specialized one for folks to get health care that is beneficial for them, health care that makes them feel comfortable, that makes them feel affirmed in their identities.”
An important part of IOOV’s mission stems from their name — listening to the community it serves and allowing them to point the way forward for the organization.
“We want to be able to create spaces where we don’t ascribe to people what is happening, we give space for them to tell us what are their needs, what is happening in the community, how can we help,” Mercado-Perez said. “So ‘In Our Own Voices’ is always having that space for people to be able to come and talk about their experiences or their necessities or anything that might be bothering them.”
For example, when many people were struggling during the pandemic, IOOV gave people money directly, for electricity or rent or whatever they needed, Sarkar said.
Donations to IOOV are, of course, welcome (and can be made on the organization’s website), but that’s not what sprang to Mercado-Perez’s mind when asked how the broader Capital Region could support her work.
“Partnerships, partnerships, partnerships,” she said. “The best way we as an organization can work with the community is getting services and resources to the community. So if I don’t know what other organizations are doing and other organizations don’t know what I’m doing, how can we better serve the community?”
Sarkar emphasized the importance of empathy and being understanding of others’ identities.
In Our Own Voices
245 Lark St., Albany; open Monday-Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
518-432-4188 or info@inourownvoices.org
“It’s important for every individual to be respected and understood even if you don’t necessarily agree with who they are and their choices,” she said.
Evelyn, a University at Albany graduate, came into contact with IOOV during a school project. As a student, they were too busy to volunteer, but reached back out to the organization after graduation. Now, they said, they find the work incredibly rewarding.
Many of Evelyn’s clients express hesitation at seeking health care services because of bad past experiences.
“Somebody who’s like, ‘I haven’t been to the doctor in years,’ and I’m like, ‘Oh, well I can get you a doctor,’ and they’re like ‘I don’t like going to the doctor because I’m a queer person,’ and I’m like, ‘Well, I know lots of queer doctors, that’s my job, that’s what I do,’” Evelyn said. “And people get to go to the doctor and be healthy! And it’s nice to be able to not just bridge the gap for folks in terms of health care but also redefine their relationship with health care.”