When an individual can fit over a year’s worth of accomplishments into less than half of that time, that is the textbook definition of remarkable. ALSO Youth is so proud of the remarkable Mickey J. Stone, who led the successful implementation of a year’s worth of initiatives under five full months.
Mickey was hired in June 2021 while our Centers were still primarily operating virtually with very limited open hours. The Board asked him to focus on getting both Centers, our original Sarasota drop-in Center and our newly established Bradenton Center, fully reopened with a robust slate of programs and services. We honestly believed this would take at least six months to phase in.
Mickey quickly hired an energetic and creative team and together they had both Centers fully reopened by September. It is one thing to reopen, it’s entirely another challenge to start up fresh and exciting programming after nearly 18 months of Zoom. Mickey led the team to implement a full schedule of new programming including, Wellness Wednesdays, Talent Night, College & Career Prep, Youth Leadership Council, Peer Group Support and more.
For a new executive director to hire staff, reopen two Centers and implement five days per week of programming in just a couple of months would be an incredible achievement. What makes Mickey’s year so remarkable is that he didn’t rest on those achievements.
He quickly set out to apply for a multitude of grants to fund new programming. These new programs are a direct response to requests from the community to support our LGBTQ youth in different and critically important ways.
Mickey’s grant writing proposals were very successful and led to ALSO Youth creating new services for youth ages 10 to 12. There is a growing need for services and programs to support these pre-adolescents as they deal with gender identity and/or sexual orientation challenges. The new program, ALSO, Jr., was envisioned and brought to life by his unwavering efforts.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a terrible strain on all of us. For LGBTQ youth, the isolation from their community and for some the challenges of their home environment has resulted in the need for more sustained mental health treatment and support. Mickey quickly identified these needs and the availability of grant funds targeted for providing mental health support.
Through his quick action and organization, he secured funding to allow ALSO Youth to provide a LGBTQ-affirming therapist for individual therapy session for our youth at no cost. This will be an ongoing program and fills an important need for our LGBTQ youth.
It is an honor to write about Mickey as one of the 2021 Remarkable People. His efforts to reopen and expand the ALSO Youth programs and services to LGBTQ youth this year were nothing short of amazing.
To view the full list of Watermark’s Remarkable People of 2021, click here.
