The Silver Lining Foundation
About The Silver Lining Foundation
The Silver
Lining Foundation officially registered as a non-profit organisation with the
Ministry of Legal Affairs, Trinidad and Tobago on October 10th, 2013.
The Silver
Lining Foundation is a youth led Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) acting to
serve the interests of the youths of Trinidad & Tobago and the Caribbean
region, as a whole. The organization primarily acts as a guardian body for
marginalized youths seeking to prevent suicide and discrimination. The focus,
while on bullying and discrimination, is centred on youth with regards to
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) issues and those of Gender
Identity & Expression.
The
foundation is a youth-led response to the tragic suicide of a 16 year old high
school student. He found it impossible to deal with the difficulties arising
from his sexuality and in September of 2011, he took his own life. Young adults
from across Trinidad & Tobago came together, in February of 2012, inspired
to prevent future tragedies so his death wouldn’t be in vain. It was this
monumental move that led to the inception of The Silver Lining Foundation. This
organisation concurrently set out to deal with issues of youth sexuality,
suicide and bullying prevention. Special emphasis has been placed on the area
of addressing bullying and violence within the framework of sexual diversity
due to the lack of attention it receives.
The Silver
Lining Foundation is guided by a framework of: Support, Education &
Advocacy (S.E.A). It is a three-pronged approach to the idea of youth
empowerment and by acting on these three avenues, we can fully encourage the
youth of our nation towards a better and brighter future and hopefully, ensure
them a significantly better life.
- Through the Pillar of Support, we
aim to provide young persons in need, with a friend or in more serious
cases, a professional, along with the means of support that they may not
have.
- Through the Pillar of Education,
we move to dispel the host of myths and misconceptions that surround LGBTQ
persons.
- Through the Pillar of Advocacy,
we hope to contribute to the development of national policy that will
protect kids from bullying and discrimination.
Our Mission
“To mobilize
youth to create and facilitate a support network for their peers who experience
adversity on account of their sexual orientation, perceived or otherwise”
Our Vision
To create an
environment conducive to respect and self acceptance, and to provide a support
system for marginalized youth regardless of sexual orientation or gender
identity/expression, leading to a sustainable and functional life.