We Are the City Spotlight: SF LGBT Center
By the SF LGBT Center Team
Opened in 2002, the mission of the SF LGBT Center is to connect our diverse community to opportunities, resources, and each other to achieve our vision of a stronger, healthier, and more equitable world for LGBT people and our allies. Our four priorities are to foster greater opportunities for people to thrive, organize for our future, celebrate our history and culture, and build resources to create a legacy for future generations.
Over the last two years, the Center served thousands of LGBTQ+ community members who experienced unprecedented life situations due to the pandemic. As a community center, we worked to support the most vulnerable community members during a major inflection point in our world. In response to COVID-19, we listened, adapted quickly, and met the moment:
- Financial Services and Employment Services teams transitioned workshops, programs such as Job Club, and one-on-one client meetings remotely.
- Community Programs created a hybrid (virtual and in-person) Information & Referral Services structure so folks had access to resources they needed to survive. The team also continued to provide free computer access through our Cyber Center.
- Youth Services shifted all mental health clients remotely. The Drop-In Services team pivoted to a hybrid model, effectively ensuring that young people living on the streets or in unstable housing had access to food, hygiene supplies, shelter, and mental health services.
- Our Facilities team successfully altered the Center building processes to accommodate social distancing guidelines for our clients and tenants.
LGBTQ+ youth and individuals continue to come to San Francisco seeking refuge and community as discrimination and homelessness continue to plague the country — and now more than ever, we want to continue to bolster our presence as a local sanctuary for our community. And we’ll continue to do so through our vast network of partnerships and person-centered programs.
In the face of crisis, we need to remember the privilege of being truly seen and heard is not a reality for everyone, especially marginalized LGBTQ+ youth. We need to listen, hold space, and believe in the next generation of LGBTQ+ voices every step of the way.
This year the SF LGBT Center will celebrate its 20th anniversary of service! Congratulations! What do you believe has contributed the most to the organization’s success, and what do you predict for the SF LGBT Center’s future?
For 20 years, the SF LGBT Center has served as a haven for the full spectrum of San Francisco’s LGBTQ community. It’s a bright purple beacon where LGBTQ people can dream of a better future and actively build pathways toward it. Against the backdrop of rising discrimination and barriers toward community advancement, our steady strategic leadership has kept us on the course towards achieving our vision of a stronger, healthier, and more equitable world for LGBTQ people and our allies.
When folks walk through the Center’s doors, our job is to give them access to essential resources and for them to leave feeling seen and celebrated as their whole selves. And while we cannot predict what the next 20 years will bring, our goal is to strengthen our investment in robust and meaningful programming that will help to combat the growing economic crisis for our most impacted community members — trans, gender non-conforming, Black, Indigenous, people of color, amplify historically excluded LGBTQ+ artists, and focus on what matters to LGBTQ+ folks — building lasting community and fostering connection for decades to come.
