24-Hour Anti-Violence Bilingual Crisis Line
iTEAM
iTEAM (Treatment Empowerment for Adolescents on the Move) is designed to provide culturally responsive services to youth ages 15 to 23, who identify with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, and straight ally (LGBTQA) communities. iTEAM is a collaboration of CODAC Behavioral Health Services, Open Inn, Our Family Services, Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation (SAAF), the University of Arizona, and Wingspan at the Eon “Lounge” Youth Center. As the main project site, Eon’s drop-in center offers a safe and substance-free “one-stop shop” for LGBTQA youth to access the comprehensive services available to them through the iTEAM project.
Being Part of the iTEAM project…
- Can help you secure stable housing.
- Provides youth with a safe space.
- Provides academic and employment support.
- Positive social activities and events.
- Allows you to see a licensed therapist at no charge.
- Gives you information to make healthy choices in all areas of your life.
- Connects you into a service and referral system with great local agencies.
- Gives you access to free HIV testing and counseling.
- Allows you to participate in an anonymous, confidential study designed to examine changes after six months. You will receive incentives for your participation in the study.
For more information regarding iTEAM, please contact Youth Outreach Specialist Zami Tinashe Hyemingway at zhyemingway@wingspan.org.
Meet the iTEAM Staff
Khara Ellasante
Program Coordinator
Khara, iTEAM Program Coordinator, has been a member of the Wingspan team since February 2008. Having served the Eon Youth Program in multiple capacities during this time, Khara’s current responsibilities include the coordination of the comprehensive network of care for LGBTQQIA youth provided by the federally funded iTEAM project, a collaboration of six agencies. In her hometown of Memphis,Tennessee, Khara attended the University of Memphis, graduating in 2005 with English and Sociology majors and Spanish and Biology minors. She is currently completing a M.A. degree at the University of Arizona. Khara is a poet, artist, blues devotee, and the Official Favorite Person of her two dogs, Flower and Bean.
Zami Tinashe Hyemingway
Youth Programs Coordinator
zhyemingway@wingspan.org
Zami is an employee of Wingspan and is the Youth Programs Coordinator for the Eon Youth Lounge and iTEAM project. Through iTEAM Zami conducts workshops, presentations and speaker panels designed specifically to meet your needs for your classroom, organization or for your place of employment. Born and raised in Southern California, as his mother’s youngest daughter, Zami is a University of Arizona Alumni, graduating in spring 2009 with a Bachelors of Art in Africana Studies and a minor in Pre-Law. While at the UA, Zami was involved in the Associated Students of the University of Arizona’s (ASUA) Pride Alliance as an executive board member, as well as holding the position of Director for two years. Zami sees his work as an opportunity to share and develop his passion for educating people about intersecting oppressions within communities of color and the LGBTQ community, and how issues of race, gender, religion and sexuality are all intertwined and thus require people to consider identity and social injustices in multi-layered and nuanced ways.
Jai Smith
Sexual Health Educator
Jai Smith is a recent graduate from the University of Arizona receiving his degree in Sociology with a minor in Social Justice and Gender Concepts. He was the director for the student run organization ASUA Pride Alliance for two years and worked with the feminist organization the Women’s Resource Center for a year. He grew up in Tucson and was an Eon youth and heavily involved in his high school Gay Straight Alliance. Jai is excited to be working in Eon now as the iTEAM/ALLY Health Education Specialist and the opportunity to give back to the community that helped him when he was younger. He’s super friendly, so come by and say hi!
Joe Nutini
CODAC iTEAM Therapist
Joe is employed by CODAC as EON’s therapist. Born and raised in Chicago, Joe moved with his family to Tucson in 2001. He immediately enrolled in the UofA where he received a BA in Women’s Studies. After working at SAAF for a year as a health educator he began pursing his MSW at ASU. He has since worked in the mental health field with families and youth in a variety of settings. In 2010 he went to healing arts school in Tempe where he studied hypnotherapy, reiki and spiritual studies. Joe has been involved with EON for 10 years as a participant, volunteer, intern and now employee. He recently wrote a book on spirituality, sexuality and gender which he hopes to see published in the next year.
Chandy Leverance
iTEAM Case Manager
Chandy is an employee of Open Inn, a transitional living program located here in Tucson, Arizona. Through iTEAM Chandy provides support services to youth through outreach, assessment and case management as well as providing access to transitional living programs, life skills training and behavioral health services.
For more information on Open Inn, please visit their website at www.openinn.org.
Kathy Herzog
iTEAM Case Manager
Kathy is an employee of Our Family Services, a transitional living program located here in Tucson, Arizona. Through iTEAM Kathy provides basic needs assesments and case management as well as provides access to transitional living programs, life skills training and behavioral health services.
For more information on Our Family Services, please visit their website at www.ourfamilyservices.org.
Aureana L. Lowe
Southwest Institute for Research on Women (SIROW) Research Technician
Aureana L. is from Mesa, AZ and will be graduated from the University of Arizona with her Bachelors of Science degree in Interdisciplinary Studies in May 2011. Her concentrations are in Gender & Women’s Studies, Health & Human Services, and Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences. She has been working for SIROW since January of 2011. Aureana conducts interviews with iTeam participants when they first enroll in the program and again at six months for evaluation purposes. All of the evaluations done with Erin are confidential and private, and all participants who agrees to an evaluation receives an incentive.
