Sometimes Being an Activist Is Just Being Who You Are Gay Youth and staff are all in the family at MECA, the Latino youth organization that's been enlivening the Old West End for 23 years by Clarence Burton Bagby

In a small Sixth Ward house next to St. Joseph Catholic Church, a dream was born 23 years ago. That dream was the creation of an arts education program for inner-city youth and the dreamer was Alice E. Valdez.

"We needed a fun space, a safe space, and an educational space where kids could express themselves, free from the prejudice that still haunts our society," said Valdez, now in her 23rd year as executive director of MECA, which stands for Multicultural Education and Counseling through the Arts.

MECA is located in the Dow School Building in the Old Sixth Ward Historic District, part of Houston's Old West End. In 1991, the United Way of the Texas Gulf Coast accepted MECA as a United Way agency, and so they now have a $900,000-plus annual budget, and 15 full-time and 10 part-time staff members. MECA is currently undertaking a $5 million capital campaign to renovate the building, built in 1912 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. (Houston Endowment recently issued a $250,000 challenge grant for the project.) Children and teenagers come from all over the Old West End to participate in MECA's summer and after-school programs, which include community mural projects, dance groups, piano and voice lessons, art classes, and much more. During the school year, MECA staff goes out to over two dozen area schools in the Houston and Pasadena school districts, from the Heights, to First Ward, to Meyerland, to South Houston.

And integral to MECA's grassroots community approach is a dedication to openness and diversity-across cultures, across sexual orientations, it doesn't matter. "We accept everyone-sexual identity just isn't an issue with our staff or our students," Valdez explains. "Students who need help with issues feel free to talk with our staff social worker. The whole issue of sexuality is so different in the Hispanic community from others. "We set up our students with mentors and tutors. In one instance...a former MECA student came back to discuss issues surrounding his coming out as gay," Valdez said. "The bond that had developed in the mentor program helped this student feel comfortable asking for help during this difficult period. Unbeknownst to him, his former mentor was also gay! He told him, 'Now this, I can help you with,'" Valdez said, chuckling.

That student credits MECA with helping him keep on-track and headed in a positive direction. "I don't know if I'd still be on this planet if it weren't for this program and people like Alice and Donald," the student said. He now has a committed relationship and is going to college in Austin.

When Jose NiÒo, a Freeport native, came to MECA in January after teaching mariachi in a Waco high school, he was ready to be closer to home and closer to himself. "I had not been out in Waco and wasn't out when I came here," he said. "Then I met a fellow staff member here at MECA who is a lesbian and very open about it to everyone. She empowered me to be more open about myself."

"Sometimes being an activist is just being who you are where you are," NiÒo said. He is MECA's mariachi and choral director and earned his bachelor's degree in music education from Baylor University. He majored in strings, focusing on the violin, and minored in piano. "MECA is so awesome because this program is truly about offering programs for students and their families for virtually nothing-our doors are open practically 24 hours-if you come knocking, MECA is there for you," NiÒo said.

"Recently our social service director [who is a licensed social worker] got a call from a suicidal MECA student and he stayed on the phone with the student all night, for over six hours," NiÒo said. "That kid is living today because of MECA and the wonderful supportive people here." Staff members have even offered their homes to students in cases where there are problems at home and a parent supports the temporary arrangement, according to NiÒo.

As a nearby resident in the First Ward off Houston Avenue and Valdez's executive assistant, Liz Salinas has been involved with MECA since its inception in 1977. She believes that it's implicit in MECA's function as a community organization for it to be open and accepting of all people. "Part of our purpose is to teach students to be accepting of other cultures, and out of that comes our role accepting individuals who are different," said Salinas. Putting this philosophy into action, one of Salinas's sons, Rogelio Salinas, is the survey coordinator for the Old West End Association's Local Jobs for Local People program. "We teach the importance of community and the importance of creating change in your community."

Although MECA has several annual performances for the public, a great way to get introduced to this exciting organization is through their Sunday concert series, held at 4 p.m. on the first Sunday of every month at Dow School, 1900 Kane at Silver. If you would be interested in being a mentor or tutor, or if you would like to be placed on MECA's mailing list to hear about events, call 713/802-9370. Clarence Burton Bagby is executive director of the Old West End Association and on the board of MECA. A native Houstonian, Burton is active in civic and political affairs, locally as well as nationally, serving on the executive board of the National Lesbian and Gay Task Force.