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Join our Free To Be! Circle

Free To Be!

LGBTQ+ Youth Support Circle

Open enrollment – free & open to all high school youth in Jackson County

This Circle is on-break, for now: we are still accepting registrations!

If you would like to join, please complete a Registration Form: we will reach out and let you know when the new start date, schedule, & location has been confirmed. 

Ages: incoming 8th Grade to 12th Grade
Schedule & Location: TBD

Youth will need to have transportation to and from this Circle.  Please, let us know if you need support with transportation – we may be able to provide bus passes and schedules.

Meet our Free To Be! Mentors

Our Free To Be! LGBTQ+ Youth Support Circle is facilitated by 2 RVM staff Lead Mentors, Emilio & Lilith, who are supported by our Program Director, Kat.

Learn more about them below, or meet the whole RVM Team here!

All RVM staff and volunteers are carefully background checked and vetted, then thoroughly trained in concepts and skills important to building resilience and empowering youth.  Trainings including strengths-based communication, trauma-informed care, adolescent development, avoiding bias, youth mental health, suicide intervention, and de-escalation.  All staff undergo on-going training, and background checks are conducted every 2 years.

Emilio McCutcheon

Lead Mentor

Asking questions and learning on the way is Emilio’s philosophy in life. While he is observant and curious, Emilio McCutcheon has a passion for human mental well-being; he aspires to be the shoulder for people to lean on during times of strife, and he is also open to talking about anything and everything. He is excited to be working with youth from many different backgrounds, and hopes to be a positive role model for them along the way.
Outside of Rogue Valley Mentoring, Emilio loves to travel, and explore the beauty of the west coast. He is always up for a long run and a day trip to a new place. He is studying for his Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology; he someday hopes to get his doctoral degree, and continue to help at-risk youth in his work.

Lilith Allred

Lead Mentor

Lilith grew up in the small university town of Missoula, Montana, where she became involved with social justice and queer liberation as a youth leader with Empower MT, serving schools and workplaces with diversity training and community art projects. She moved to Southern Oregon in 2018, with their parents and two brothers. Lilith carried on with her passion for building community interning with Unite Oregon and Rogue Climate, until graduating as valedictorian at Central Medford High School. Since then, she has been learning about grassroots organizing, inclusive and trauma-informed youth support, as well as writing and singing original music locally in Ashland.
In her free time, she is a member of the Sustainability Collective, a creative space for bringing healing arts and inspiring conversation to all through music, art, dance, storytelling, and brainstorming ways to bring our community together to restore ecological balance.

Kat DeCayette

Program Director

I see my journey as an amazing tapestry woven with adventures, memories and meaningful relationships. My daughter, Krista, and my cat, Maji, are central to and inspire the beautiful and ever-changing fabric of my life.
I’m passionate about making a difference in the world and helping others make a difference in their lives. Teaching, listening, sharing, these are my cornerstones. One of the most rewarding steps on my life path has been as an educator. I taught High School English, where I both empowered and became empowered by my students through the singular gift of education—the willingness to listen, to share and to learn.
Working as Program Director for Rogue Valley Mentoring is natural to my journey. We all have the ability to leave a meaningful footprint—a small gift of ourselves that shapes the world in which we live.
It comes down to choice. The choice to care about the legacy we leave and our imprint on the lives around us. As Program Director for Rogue Valley Mentoring, I am afforded the opportunity to work with incredible individuals who care about the youth in our communities, to share knowledge and ways of being that facilitate empowerment and aid in choosing a mindful legacy—that footprint on a path toward meaning and making a difference.

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