COLAGE at MCC
First and third Sundays of the month
474 Ridge St., NW, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
colagedc@yahoo.com or 301-920-1913

pan>www.colage.org

COLAGE partners with MCC

The Washington, D.C., chapter of Children of Lesbians & Gays Everywhere (COLAGE) is initiating a pilot program in partnership with the Washington congregation of the Metropolitan Community Church.

Ryan LaLonde, who founded the local branch of COLAGE in 1998, says that this is the first time a COLAGE chapter has partnered with an MCC. COLAGE has no religious affiliation, which this partnership will not change. Instead, the church will provide the organization with a place to meet on the first and third Sundays of each month, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

“It is not faith-based at all, our stuff, so there is no religion, unless the kids bring it up in the context of their lives,” LaLonde, 33, says.

The focus of the workshops will be promoting healthy development. COLAGE plans to help kids learn to deal with stress and oppression and connect to the world around them in ways that will promote self-awareness.

The students will be broken up into three age-based brackets. Children 5 to 8-years-old will be in one group, 8 to 14-year-olds will be in another and teenagers can attend the organization’s leadership meetings instead, so they can learn how to work with younger students or find other activities for themselves.

“It’s going to tweak and change as we go along, but we’re excited about it,” LaLonde says, who’s hoping for a turnout of about 30 at the workshops. For more information, contact LaLonde at ColageDC@yahoo.com.