This past Saturday, the Sacramento LGBT Community Center held an open house to celebrate its new location and welcome the public. The community event featured remarks from the Center’s Chief Executive Officer David Heitstuman, and special guest remarks from Mayor Darrell Steinberg, Councilmember Steve Hansen, and Sutter Health.
The space was open from 1-5 p.m. where community members were able to take tours and see what the Center’s new space has to offer. The Center’s relocation significantly benefits it’s community members, clients, and staff by doubling its square footage for services, an elevator increases accessibility, three gender neutral restrooms, and a more spacious Q-SPOT youth drop-in center.
“The Center’s relocation was much overdue, but we are now able to provide more services to our community members with fewer barriers and accommodate most our staff under one roof,” said Chief Executive Officer, David Heitstuman. “We are forever grateful for everyone who made this move a possibility.”
The relocation of the Center reflects its growth and transition as an organization. In the past year, the Center launched a new bilingual outreach program, added additional housing beds with the opening of our Short-Term Transitional Emergency Placement (S.T.E.P.) shelter and host home programs, elevated Sacramento Pride by bringing global superstar Lizzo and making the event more accessible and inclusive by expanding to a two-day festival, and expanded HIV/STI prevention services by adding PrEP navigation. The temporary relocation provides an interim solution to urgent space needs while the Center executes a plan to purchase a permanent home for the Center and the LGBTQ+ community.
“The noble mission of the LGBT Center – and the work they do every day to bring it to life – is so vital. We are so very proud to help contribute to their efforts to build a community that is inclusive, supportive, safe and empowered”, stated Joe Gregorich, Government Affairs Director, Sutter Health.
Center staff led tours of the new space and talked about how far the Center has come, but emphasized how much work there is left to be done to achieve cultural affirmation, especially for the most marginalized LGBTQ people of color. The open house allowed for community members to experience the three areas of the organization’s work to create a region where LGBTQ people thrive including health and wellness services, advocacy, and community building programs, ask questions, and obtain more information about how to get more involved with the Center.
The Center is excited to continue to serve everyone in a more accessible and spacious location for clients and community.
Pictured: Carlos Marquez, Sacramento LGBT Community Center Board President and Joe Gregorich, Government Affairs Director, Sutter Health.