Over the course of the past 6 years RESCQU.NET has been trying to get ourselves stable footing because it's hard to convince traditional LGBT+ funding organizations that closeted people can be catered to - let alone that it can greatly impact emergency organizations.

But this year is different. 

2018 marked a come-back.  We experienced an explosion in readers, viewers, and attention on the closeted, questioning, and stealth communities. Organizations have sought more connections this year than in the past two.  The quality of the organizations has also increased.

So in 2019 I'd like to take some time to put forward our plans for the 2019 year,
And it sums up with one word: STRENGTH.

Partnering with other organizations is time consuming, arduous and takes a lot of volunteers.

After hiring our resource coordinators Ricki and Charlie we spent a long time discussing the program's future.

So our plan is just going to be to fill it to make it a better resource for all of you.

Then we'll be focusing on increasing the level of partnership interaction we have with these organizations using the closet-friendly program: a program that incentivizes organizations to change the way they interact with their audiences and make it more amenable for people who want to remain anonymous for any reason. 

Why you should contribute to this goal: 
We don't collect much user data. But we do have a ticker that counts enters and exits.

So we know for a fact that we get between 150-200 hits on the database per day and each lasts between 3-6 minutes.  That means the database, in its current incomplete format is already providing one resource every 40 minutes on average.  

That's useful.  That's a LOT of people.

And if we can increase it's accuracy, it's reach, and it's support we could increase the rate at which resources are provided.

You can donate here to help us make this a reality:

One of the most sought-after programs we had in prior years was the support group program. 

But it never happened until last year.  It took years to get the technology, leadership, and facilitators in place. 

So when we did get it into place we were a little taken aback at how little it was utilized.  

We know what we did wrong though.  Advertising and reducing the hurdles to attend are our number one and number two positions.  We have to be careful with these tasks moving forward, but we genuinely feel that these support groups can make for a powerful connection to community for a great amount of people.  

So we'd appreciate your help by spreading the word about our support groups. 

Why you should contribute to this goal: 
Support groups are often one of the best ways for people to get over the hurdles that stop them from doing things emotionally.  A nonprofit can reach out and provide as many resources as possible, but you can't make a horse drink.  

At a support group people can feel more comfortable, and become a part of a community that guides them more, without pressuring them.  They are places where you can "feel" your identity - not just express it.  

So the more support groups we have for questioning, closeted, and stealth people, the more high-quality support we can put into delivering our resources.  They can be an active community.  

And there is no way that isn't worth it. 

If you've made it this far down this post, I just want to say thank you.  

It's clear that you care a lot about the impact that RESCQU.NET has made in your life.  And that is empowering to all of us.  

But what we wanted to provide more was a sense of ACTIVE community.  

Prior to 2017 our communities were a mailing list.  "interaction" happened through our youtube team on Trans Youth Channel, in emails, and private communications and you couldn't really call it empowering.  

But this year we are officially launching our upcoming Whisper community, and we'd like you to be a part of it!

It's currently up for you to join at this link, but we will officially launch it around the beginning of march :) 

​A few weeks ago I, Ricki Palmisano, introduced myself here as the LGBT+ resources coordinator and outlined my number one goal: 

But before I can show you how to do that, you gotta know how to use the database in the first place! 

So we created a super handy video for you to learn how to use the database, and this blog will outline step-by-step how to find the resources you need!  

How to use our resources database: A how-to video on finding the right resources for you.

Now, using the database starts with this deceptively simple top navigation bar.  With this top-bar you can search the entire database using any keyword you want, filter the results based on your needs, and sort them based on any piece of information you want.

NOTE: ​If you're on mobile this bar doesn't show. We're still working on a way to make this searchable,  but if you put your phone in landscape mode it may show depending on the size of your device.

This section is alternatively called *drum roll* "The Relevance System"

One of the biggest issues our community of questioning, closeted, and stealth people have is that your problems tend to be complicated corner-cases and exceptions that leave you feeling hopeless.  

Your issues are complex, involve a ton of catch-22s, and when you're in the thick of it, things can feel like you don't know where to start. 

​You may need to know how to change your name in a specific state, but that state won't accept your federal identity information.  Finding a therapist that is trans* friendly is a gargantuan task, and there aren't a lot of resources if you're a lesbian going home to your conservative family for the holidays.  

So, we've created the "relevant tag" system. 

This is a list of different tags that we've asked our organizations to state they have a "specialty" in solving. 

First, Use the "filter" feature [1] and sort by the "relevant to...[keywords[" column [2], to pull up a list of those tags.  Then simply turn on the tags relevant to your issue [3] and the database narrows down all of our resources to the export organizations that will help solve your problem! 

For a full "list" of the available keywords we use to sort, or what they mean, consult this index, but we'll also provide a text list in a future blog:

The biggest advantage to this system is the "emergency" tag.  This tag allows you to find all organizations that deal with getting you help NOW.  Add Emergency plus the relevant tag to find access to resources that can help you in a pinch.  

So what do you do when you have the resource up and in your hand?  

Once you've found the resource you need, clicking on it [1] will populate a more advanced "card" of data that includes all of the relevant tags that organization has claimed expertise in, [2], a description of the organization, and most importantly...

One closet-friendly person you can contact either via phone or email to help you find the best person in that organization to handle your issue, anonymously, quickly, and quietly [3].

In this case, we're looking at the emergency sexual assault organization and educational organization RAINN.  At RAINN, we've found Jodi Omear, who is a high ranking member of the organization.

You can use a private and separate email account to message her directly, or call the RAINN hotline (800-656-HOPE [4673]) about potential sexual assault issues, legal paths to getting out of the situation, and what to do if you're in a domestic violence situation right this moment.  

My job is to make these cards easier for you to use, but a simple 3 step, 10-second process can get you the resources you need right now and with every partner organization we add to the database, we hope you'll find this database the most useful it can be. 

If you know an organization that isn't on the list feel free to shoot them a link to ourPartner page here, and keep a look out for our next database indestructible: how to use the relevant to features! 

Ricki is our lead Database Coordinator for RESCQU.NET. Working with a team of other volunteers, she vets and establishes partnerships with organizations to ensure closet-friendly resources are in the database, updated, and have a singular contact who can field your needs at that organization. In her off-time she loves tea, studies copyright law, pets, and being an absolutely amazing friend.