The Center will present a special speakers’ series, entitled “Reclaiming Our Faith,” during the month of June, which is recognized as LGBT Pride Month.

Each evening will feature two speakers representing various faith communities. The series will take place on Monday, June 5, Thursday, June 15, and Monday, June 19. All lectures will take place from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at The Center, located at 3909 Centre St.

“As people within our community continue to wrestle with issues of religion and spirituality, this seems a perfect time to focus on faith and what it means to us,” said AJ Davis, director of public policy for The Center. “This special series will provide us with the opportunity to have thoughtful and educational discussions on the diverse range of religions and faith possibilities.”

For more information about the Reclaiming Our Faith speakers’ series, contact AJ Davis at (619) 692-2077 ext. 212 or at adavis@thecentersd.org.

The Elizabeth Hospice is facilitating a free support group for gays and lesbians who are looking for a compassionate and understanding environment to share and receive support in the loss of a loved one. This is a drop-in group that meets every Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. It takes place at the administrative office of The Elizabeth Hospice, located at 150 W. Crest St. in Escondido

For further information, contact Christina Cadruvi at (760) 796-3745 or e-mail cncadruvi@elizabethhospice.org.

Since 1978, The Elizabeth Hospice has been providing compassionate medical, emotional and spiritual support to the terminally ill and their families in northern San Diego County, regardless of ethnicity, gender, age, religion, disease, insurance status or ability to pay.

County Supervisor Dianne Jacob and Supervisor Pam Slater-Price will host an Aging Summit to highlight three significant areas of concern for older adults in San Diego County. The summit will take place on Friday, June 2, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Town & County Convention Center in Mission Valley.

The summit features prominent speakers on the topics of the Older Adult Workforce, Older Adult Obesity and Older Adult Mental Health. Breakout sessions will follow the talks.

Keynote speakers include Carleen MacKay, a career management professional and expert on the changes older adults and employers will be facing as Baby Boomers consider employment beyond retirement.

Dr. Nick Yphantides, an Escondido-based physician, wrote the book My Big Fat Greek Diet after successfully losing 270 pounds. He will be presenting the workshop on Older Adult Obesity.

The workshop on Older Adult Mental Health will be presented by Dr. Jürgen Unützer. Unützer is a geriatric psychiatrist and lead researcher on a study of a depression treatment called IMPACT, which teams the older adult’s primary physician with a depression case manager.

Registration for the summit begins at 8:00 a.m. and the cost will be $25 or $5 for seniors ages 60 and older, disabled persons or students. Lunch, a light breakfast and parking are included. Reservations are required. Call (800) 501-3495 for further information.

A support group for gay men diagnosed with prostate cancer will meet weekly at the S.A.G.E. Center starting on Monday, June 5. The meetings will take place on Mondays at 6:30 p.m. The group facilitator is Terry Alexander, R.N.

According to the needs of the group, guest speakers will include a urologist, a radio-oncologist and an oncologist.

The support group is cosponsored by the American Cancer Society and S.A.G.E. of California, and is a part of the Aging as Ourselves program. The S.A.G.E. Center is located at 3138 Fifth Ave. (between Spruce and Redwood). For further information, call (619) 298-9900.

The Center and its Hillcrest Youth Center’s Digital Media Project will host its first-ever Queer Youth Digital Media Conference on Saturday, June 3, from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The event will take place at The Center, located at 3909 Centre St.

The conference is being presented in partnership with the Arco Iris Lounge/Colored Lenses Project. Participants will learn how they can create stories of their own and about youth media activism. In addition, there will be a special screening of a documentary produced by GLBT youth of color through the Arco Iris Lounge/Colored Lenses Project, with support from the San Diego Foundation for Change and San Diego LGBT Pride.

“The Youth Digital Media Project and this conference is a great chance for young people to learn how to create music, video and digital stories using the free tools available at the Hillcrest Youth Center,” said Lindsay Sullivan, manager of information technology for The Center. “The Center began its digital storytelling and media projects in 2004, and interest has continued to grow as more and more people discover how compelling it is to utilize this technology to create and share our stories.”

The event is free for youth ages 14-20. Lunch will be provided. For more information, call Morgan Sully, digital media coordinator, at (619) 497-2920 ext. 106 or e-mail msully@thecentersd.org.

Marriage Equality USA (MEUSA) and Marriage Equality New York (MENY) are hosting simultaneous walks across the Brooklyn Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge in support of marriage equality for same-sex couples on Saturday, June 3.

“On June 5, anti-equality forces in the U.S. Senate are again bringing the discriminatory federal marriage constitutional amendment for a vote,” said Davina Kotulski, MEUSA executive director. “We will gather together the diverse array of those in favor of liberty, justice and marriage equality to redouble our outreach and educational efforts. The coast-to-coast bridge walks will raise visibility and educate fair-minded Americans about the 1,400 protections that come with civil marriage and the harms that befall same-sex couples because of marriage discrimination.”

In San Francisco, Jennifer Schumaker, a lesbian mother of four and active church member from Escondido, will join the Golden Gate Bridge walk to complete the last five miles of her 500-mile Walk for Togetherness in support of GLBT inclusion.

“I have seen how sharing my personal story as a lesbian parent with the hundreds of people I have encountered on my walk is helping more Americans realize that these divisive efforts to restrict marriage only weaken our country,” Schumaker said. “We all have a responsibility to help bridge the gap between the LGBT community and our basic civil rights.”

The San Francisco event will begin at 9:00 a.m. at the west end of Crissy Field. A cake reception/press conference is scheduled for 12:00 noon at the same location. Speakers include Assemblymember Mark Leno, MEUSA executive director Davina Kotulski, San Francisco Police Commissioner Theresa Sparks, the Rev. Mark Wilson and others.

The event is free and open to the public.

For more information, visit www.firstgiving.com/meusa.

The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) San Diego Chapter held a “Power Hour” to benefit the HIV/AIDS organization Being Alive on April 13. This session was the first of the 2006 Power Hour series, which benefits nonprofit organizations seeking professional public relations support.

These pro bono brainstorming sessions have been held before to benefit such local organizations as the Parkinson’s Disease Association of San Diego, Paws’itive Teams, ANGELS Foster Care and The Aja Project. The Power Hour discussion is tailored to provide solutions specific to the featured organization and issues or challenges they may be facing.

“Being Alive was honored to be selected as the first recipient of this year’s PRSA PR Power Hour series,” said Shannon Wagner, executive director of Being Alive San Diego. “We look forward to implementing some of the innovative ideas shared that will enable us to bring greater awareness to the numerous HIV/AIDS programs and services we have to offer, and increase financial support for our community programs.”

PRSA’s Power Hour program is led by the chapter’s public service committee.

Members of the committee include: committee co-chair Padilla, John Brannelly, Bruce Rowe, Erin Gillooly, Meryl Klemow, Marlene Gerber and Gayle Falkenthal.

Being Alive San Diego was founded in 1989 by a small group of HIV-positive individuals to fill the need for support and empowerment in the HIV/AIDS-affected community in central San Diego. Its role has expanded over the years, and it now provides a variety of services to about 3,000 people annually.

For more information about the Power Hour or to nominate an organization for a future Power Hour, call John Brannelly at (619) 957-6434.