Southern Steep: Brewing Stronger Community

On this episode of Southern Seep, Rodderick and Jacobi take a dive into the intersection of art, healing, health education, and advocacy with the founder and director of Brave Soul Collective(BSC), Monte J. Wolfe. BSC is a DC-based multi-disciplinary arts, education, and HIV/AIDS outreach organization working to illuminate the lives of LGBTQIA+ people of color through the performing and healing arts. Through BSC, Monte integrates storytelling into advocacy to amplify the voices of the most marginalized communities. During this episode, we discussed artist collaboration, the link between art and advocacy, and the importance of mentorship. Stayed tuned to the end of the episode where Monte graces Southern Seep with a monologue performance titled “Sacrifice”.

Southern Steeper’s Jacobi Hunter-Wright and Necole Elinoff come together to talk prevention, equity, access, and how trans-masculine identified communities are operationalizing leadership not only in the South, but across the landscape. Ty and Lee explore how the intersections of their personal and professional endeavors impact how they approach their communities and work. This discussion centers trans-equity, the need for additional resources, and provides the lens of trans-communities fighting for health equity and accessible resources and opportunities.

In this special episode of Southern Steep: Brewing Stronger Community, Nicole and Isaiah speak with attendees of NASTAD's first ever Southern CBO Summit, which took place in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, in January. This dynamic episode features  Dexter Davis (LGBT Life Center), E. Lee Dyer IV (BONDS), Dean Edwards (PALSS), & Malcolm Reid (THRIVESS), summit attendees from four impactful community-based organizations in the South, covering Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia. Learn more about their organizations, what leadership means to them, and what they took away from participating in this year's inaugural Southern CBO summit. Save the date for 2024's Southern CBO Summit, taking place January 17-19, 2024, location to be announced.

This episode starts with Southern Steep host Isaiah calling Rodderick out on channeling Barbara Walters with his check-in question. Together they interviewed special guest Dietz on patient navigation and gender-affirming care. Dietz (any pronoun used with respect) is a transgender health educator, trainer and consultant who has specialized in the field of healthcare navigation in various iterations since 2012. Dietz specializes in expanding and improving transgender and gender non-conforming healthcare access and best practices throughout the South, and strives to strengthen community coalitions through shared compassion, courage, and expressions of liberatory joy. This episode took a dive into gender-affirming care, collaboration, pulling resources together, sharing strategies and solutions.

For this month’s Southern Charm we highlighted, Crescent Care formerly known as NO/AIDS Task Force. Crescent Care is a federal qualified health center in New Orleans, Louisiana that brings caregivers and the community together as partners in health and wellness for all. They offer wrap-around services including primary medical care, dental care, behavioral health, case management, PrEP/PEP, food for friends pantry, gender-affirming services, and much more.

As part of its CDC-funded Capacity Building Assistance (CBA) project, NASTAD released Re-envisioning Community Engagement: A Practical Toolkit to Empower HIV Prevention Efforts with Marginalized Communities, in the summer of 2022. The toolkit was the culmination of a yearlong project aimed at enhancing community engagement efforts in the southern United States, and is inclusive of NASTAD’s collaboration with many community leaders across several jurisdictions. Project lead Kristina Santana, Senior Manager for Prevention at NASTAD, joins the podcast to discuss how the project came together, and why the toolkit has proved so useful to community-based organizations. You can download the toolkit here: https://nastad.org/resources/re-envisioning-community-engagement-toolkit

On this episode of Southern Steep, Bianca, and our newest host, Rodderick, interview the Assistant Director of Health Services at JASMYN, Christina Woodhouse. JASMYN is an organization that works with LGBTQIA+ teens and young adults to provide HIV/STI testing, PrEP, housing support, and mental health services in Jacksonville, Florida. This episode covers various topics, including mental health, body autonomy, youth homelessness, and public health nerds. Christina shares her strategy to work with youth effectively by meeting them where they are. She also discussed the importance of representation and allowing space for youth needs to be heard and seen. Christina talked about maintaining boundaries in practicing self-care with herself and her staff while doing intensive community work.

We highlighted the Community Health and Empowerment Network in Miami, Florida, for the Southern Charm. The Community Health and Empowerment Network is a not-for-profit organization that provides health education, screening services, and resources to low-income and underserved individuals, aiming to help bridge health gaps in the community to reduce health disparities in Southern Florida.

On this episode of Southern Steep, Nicole and previous hostess with the mostess, Justine, speaks to Mulan Montrese Williams. This episode covers a wide range of topics, including: pageantry, sex work, housing, and ultimately the importance of investing in other Black, Trans Women and Black, Trans led organizations. Mulan shares more about her work with Divas in Dialogue, a sisterhood of trans women of color empowering, building and strengthening each other and how she is making a difference in her community. Mulan was recently featured in a NASTAD video titled, Our Story, Our Resilience, which can be watched here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4saBw-tPLc. To learn more about Divas in Dialogue and ways to support their organization visit here: https://miracleofloveinc.org/did/ This episode's Southern Charm highlights the Unspoken Treasure Society, founded in June 2018 by Ms. Regina Livingston, a Black transgender women who recognized a lack of support and resources for Transgender and Gender non-conforming (TGNC) people, particularly TGNC people of color. To learn more about the Unspoken Treasure Society, visit: https://www.unspokensociety.org/

Southern Steepers Jacobi Hunter-Wright and Bianca Ward come together to talk prevention, equity, housing, and how women are operationalizing leadership in the South. A true Florida gal, D’Metris explores her humble beginnings in the work as she explores her experiences in the South fighting for health equity and accessible housing.

This episode's Southern Charm B.E.A.T. AIDS which stands for, “Black Effort Against the Threat of AIDS.” BEAT AIDS expresses that their commitment to excellence is met by their ability to meet people where they are: whether recovering and desiring change, or homeless, incarcerated, abused/neglected, isolated, actively addicted. To learn more about their work and how to support visit. www.beataids.org.

In this episode, Isaiah and Nicole speak with S. Mandisa Moore-O'Neal, Executive Director of the Center for HIV Law and Policy (CHLP), a national research and advocacy organization. Mandisa shares more about her background and what brought her to this work, her and CHLPs investment in the South, and provides an overview of the state of HIV criminalization in the southern region. As an added bonus-- Isaiah and Mandisa bond over both being Louisianans, creating another Louisianan connection for Isaiah. To learn more about the Center for HIV Law and Policy, visit www.hivlawandpolicy.org.

Keeping with the Louisiana theme, this episode's Southern Charm highlights TIDAL NOLA. TIDAL: Transgender Inclusive Development Advocacy and Learning, is based in New Orleans and are a trans-led collective of community members, healthcare providers, students and educators in the Gulf South, united in their commitment to trans-liberation through equitable healthcare and healing. To learn more about TIDAL NOLA, visit https://www.tidalnola.org/.

The Southern Steep team reunites for a third season, bringing back some familiar voices and welcoming a new host! The team share their wishes for season 3, their why for doing this work, and what listeners can expect for this season. The team also learns more about Rodderick's potato salad. We hope you enjoy season 3.

This episode's Southern Charm highlights The Normal Anomaly Initiative, a Houston based organization centering Black, queer plus persons to overcome barriers, end stigma and problematic narratives to actualize a new normal. To learn more about The Normal Anomaly Initiative, visit https://www.normalanomaly.org/.