AUGUSTA -- Add Verb Productions of Portland, Maine is soliciting homosexual youth as young as twelve years old for their Gay, Lesbian, BiSexual, Transgendered, Questioning, and Allied (GLBTQ & A) Youth Writing Project according to flyers currently being distributed locally.

The pre-teen homosexual youth project is being led by Add Verb Productions Program Assistant Tess Van Horn, who works for the Portland-based non-profit agency as an Americorps VISTA volunteer.  Van Horn attended the recent Portland (ME) Dyke March, and solicited homosexual youth for the project.

The flyers request that homosexual and transgendered children contact Add Verb Productions for a "summer writing project" and asks if those interested want to "change things for the better for GLBTQ (Gay, Lesbian, BiSexual, Transgendered, and Questioning) youth?"  The flyers then instruct interested kids to contact Add Verb Productions at their Portland phone number, (207) 772-1167, or email address, vista@addverbproductions.com.

The Americorps program is subsidized by the United States Government and pays volunteers like Van Horn a monetary stipend or repays federal student loans for the volunteer.  In addition, the volunteer receives taxpayer-funded compensation including a housing allowance and other paid program and volunteer-related expenses.

The Executive Director of Add Verb Productions is Cathy Plourde, and the Managing Director is Brandi Mathis.  According to the Add Verb Productions website, Mathis has worked for the San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Film Festival and has a Master's Degree in Religious Studies from Naropa University.  Naropa University's mission statement states, "...the University is simultaneously Buddhist-inspired, ecumenical and nonsectarian."

Add Verb Productions's contact information is 315 Spring Street, Portland, ME 04102 and P.O. Box 3853, Portland, ME 04104-3853, (207) 772-1167 and (207) 653-4554, Fax (207) 772-1166, Cathy.plourde@att.net, info@addverbproductions.com, and vista@addverbproductions.com.  They can be seen online at their website and myspace webpage.