The team at the LGBTQ+ Center is proud to have continued serving the Southern Nevada community throughout the COVID-19 crisis. The greatest honor over the recent months was the opportunity for Center staff to walk proudly with the black community in support of Black Lives Matter and urgent reforms to address systemic racism and violence toward people of color. There is no part of the LGBTQ+ community more marginalized and victimized than trans people of color (TPOC). The Center participated in community education, engaged in vigils and marches, and communicated its commitment to act in the fight for justice, equality, and protections for the black and TPOC community.
In a letter to the community, CEO John Waldron expressed The Center’s commitment:
“The Center will remain a place of safety, welcoming, and empowerment for everyone who is marginalized and victim to those who hate us for our sexual orientation, gender identity, or the color of one’s skin. We proudly stand with the Black Lives Matter movement in our outrage, our support, and our demand that the institutions of our country that allow for privilege, supremacy. racism, homophobia, transphobia, and violence toward anyone simply for who they are, be confronted openly and honestly so that real change can begin.”
The Center is proud to be working with community leaders in support of the recently formed Black Queer Men’s group in Las Vegas. Vince Collins, Director of Operations at The Center, worked with a team of leaders in the black community to form the group whose mission is to “Empower Black Queer Men (GayBiTransQ) through education, advocacy, health and wellness promotion, and social support.” The Center also launched a new initiative under the direction of Dr. Ray MacFarlane, the Stonewall Las Vegas TPOC Spotlight Project, in partnership with other community leaders. The initiative helps inform others about historical and current TPOC activists while raising funds in support of local TPOC activists who do the work of advocacy without being justly compensated. The Center is also proud to be the home of the Fabulous Life Skills program, being led by local community activist, Jazmena Jameson.
Community partners of The Center continue to do essential work in Southern Nevada in collaboration with Center staff and volunteers. Some of the most important work The Center will do in the coming years includes education and activism in partnership with the Intersex community. The Center’s Liaison to the Intersex Community, Jesf Benedict, is a champion of intersex rights and the urgency in educating the community about the common practice and unnecessary surgical procedures perpetrated against intersex children. The intersex community are routinely subjected to violence and discrimination and there is great urgency in helping members of our intersex community to find support, safety, and advocacy for their legal rights. The Center will be expanding services and advocacy, in partnership with Jesf, to stand proudly with the intersex community.
The Center’s Wellness Clinic is open after closing for a time to ensure the safety of the staff, volunteers, and the organization’s patrons. Full STI testing is available at the clinic Monday through Thursday 1-6PM. The Huntridge Family Clinic, led by Rob Phoenix, ARPN, have partnered with The Center’s clinic team to provide medical services to clients needing testing and prescriptions. As the community continues to navigate the uncertainty of the COVID-19 crisis, The Center’s clinic will remain available as safely as possible, and the team is looking forward to expanding services and hours in the near future. The Center team is also excited to announce soon a campaign to launch in the fall that will culminate in the great honor of naming the clinic The Arlene Cooper Wellness Center.
The Center was one of the first nonprofits to join the community-wide initiative, Delivering with Dignity (DwD). DwD is a program that provides nutritional meals for individuals who are most susceptible to the COVID-19 virus and who have an inability to secure nutritional meals while isolating at home. The Center’s café partners, The Jolt, have been preparing ready-to-eat meals for hundreds of clients with a thousand meals on average delivered from The Center’s kitchen. All meals are delivered by volunteer drivers who practice appropriate social distancing. The Center is grateful for being afforded the opportunity to participate in DwD, which is a program initially sponsored by the United Way, Elaine P. Wynn & Family Foundation, Elizabeth Blau & Associates, Moonridge Foundation, and COPIA. Center partners, The Charity Gurus, were instrumental in helping manage the program providing support for nonprofits across the valley.
Throughout the COVID-19 crises, The Center remained available to help individuals in the downtown area who are home-insecure, and others in need of essential services. While the Center’s facilities were not open to the public, staff remained on site, and provided essential items to the public including clothing, hygiene kits, food, harm reduction kits, and connections to services and resources for those in crisis.
The Center Advocacy Network (CAN) is a Center program that provides immediate services to individuals in crisis. As the need for CAN services increased from the very start of the pandemic, The Center created a 24-hour crisis hotline that is managed by a wide network of certified volunteers. The hotline will remain available as long as the need continues with many people in the community facing great challenges.
The Charity Gurus have been instrumental as partners with The Center is moving all services and programs online to the newly created Online Center. The Online Center can be found at The Center’s website where the community can access nearly all of the programs normally held in-person at The Center’s facilities. The Center staff have been deploying regular, and newly created programs, using Zoom and other video platforms. Great care has been taken to ensure the privacy of all participants while creating a safe and affirming environment to stay connected with the LGBTQ+ community.
For more information visit thecenterlv.org