Jennifer Wesselhoff, President/CEO of the Sedona Chamber of Commerce & Tourism Bureau, will be the featured speaker at the upcoming Monday, February 13, 2017 support meeting of PFLAG Sedona/Verde Valley. The meeting will begin at 7:00 p.m. at the Church of the Red Rocks, 54 Bowstring Drive in Sedona, in the Painted Cliffs Hall.

Jennifer Wesselhoff oversees all aspects of management for the Sedona Chamber of Commerce & Tourism Bureau, Visitor Center, Film Office and the Sedona Marathon Event. Ms. Wesselhoff is an active member of several national and statewide professional organizations and is the Past President of Destination Marketing Association West, is the President of the Board of Directors for the Verde Valley Regional Economic Organization, and sits on the board of the Arizona Chamber Executives.

Ms. Wesselhoff’s presentation will focus on the ways the Sedona Chamber of Commerce is marketing to the LGBT local and tourist community. After her talk, support meeting attendees will have a group discussion with Ms. Wesselhoff and will brainstorm additional ideas for the Chamber of Commerce to consider in the area of LGBT marketing and promotion.

Please join us for this informative and educational evening. All are invited and welcome to attend.

Please join us as we celebrate the 5^th anniversary of PFLAG Sedona/Verde Valley.  Our gala will begin at 7:00 pm on Monday, January 9, 2017 at The Church of the Red Rocks, 54 Bowstring Drive, Sedona, AZ .  We hope to have many of our presenters from the past five years present, as well as all of you.  Come for food, fun and community.

 

Please join us at the upcoming Monday, December 12, 2016 support meeting of PFLAG Sedona/Verde Valley. The support meeting will begin at 7:00 p.m. at the Church of the Red Rocks, 54 Bowstring Drive in Sedona, in the Painted Cliffs Hall. Our speaker will be Laurie Moore, a 19-year resident of Sedona and the Director and Co-Founder of the Sedona Area Homeless Alliance (SAHA).

The Sedona Area Homeless Alliance was established in 2015. The mission of the SAHA is to create projects, services and programs that protect, advocate for and empower the local homeless community. The SAHA offers ways to address the immediate needs of the homeless and mobilizes the community to help create long term and permanent solutions, and develop a network of members and supporters. The SAHA is dedicated to ending homelessness in Sedona and the Verde Valley.

It is estimated that there are at least 250 homeless people, including children, in the Verde Valley, with about 30% living in the Sedona area. The SAHA has launched “Project 45 Degrees and Below” this year. The goal of this Project is to shelter homeless men, women and children in warm rooms when the nighttime temperatures fall below 45 degrees. This Project relies solely on donations from the community. With the community’s assistance, the SAHA will provide a bed in a warm, dry, clean space and a hot meal, warm shower and clean clothes.

Besides being the Director and Co-Founder of the SAHA, Laurie Moore is a member of the Verde Valley Homeless Coalition, the Verde Valley Shelter Subcommittee and the Arizona Coalition to End Homelessness.

If you would like to donate to SAHA, you may bring donated items to our PFLAG meeting on December 12^th.   Donated items may include cash, new or like new sleeping bags, tents and blankets. Also needed is new socks, underwear, long underwear, all winter-type clothing, such as pants, shirts, coats, sweaters, gloves and hats. Additionally, you may donate bar soap, deodorant, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes and grocery gift cards.

You won’t want to miss this very educational and informative meeting and learn about the Sedona Area Homeless Alliance, and what you can do to help solve the homeless problem in Sedona and the Verde Valley. All are invited and welcome to attend.

Please join us at the upcoming Monday, November 14, 2016 support meeting of PFLAG Sedona/Verde Valley. The support meeting will begin at 7:00 p.m. at the Church of the Red Rocks, 54 Bowstring Drive in Sedona, in the Painted Cliffs Hall. Our speaker will be Jen Emmerich, a Sedona therapist, who specializes in gender identity/LGBTQ issues, bariatric weight loss, eating disorders and eating issues.

Jen Emmerich has been working with and providing therapy to members of the transgender community since 1991. Her presentation is called “The Many Faces of Transitioning Gender” and will include a brief historical overview and discussion regarding gender as a social construct and occurring on a continuum. Jen will talk about the current range of options/contexts that transgender persons explore, and will also touch upon the distinction between sexual orientation and gender identity.

Jen Emmerich moved to Sedona from Michigan in September of 2016 and has begun her psychology practice in West Sedona. In Michigan, she taught at Western Michigan University (WMU) in the Gender and Women’s Studies Department and in the School of Social Work. Jen was a contract clinician with the WMU counseling clinic, while also running her full-time private psychology practice.

Jen is married and also the mother of a 25-year old son. She enjoys hiking, hot yoga, dance classes and is also a dog enthusiast.

You won’t want to miss this very educational and informative meeting and gain some knowledge and insight about the transgender community. All are invited and welcome to attend.