Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center, Inc.

The last few years have challenged the way people access services, interact with each other, and engage with their communities. We are plugged in digitally at a higher speed and scale, and yet isolation and threats to our community have never been more acute.
The fact is, even with virtual options, we know that the community centers movement is growing and thriving. There are 300 LGBTQ+ community centers in the country and that number continues to climb. A staggering one in five LGBTQ+ people regularly use services at their local community center. A source of healing, joy and communal power, LGBT Centers are more vital and valuable than ever. We believe in the enduring power of this treasured space, and the role it will play in years to come.
As we look to our future, we know that success will be measured by how agile we are in responding to the changing needs and demographics of our community. The Campaign for The Center will support four key areas of critical investment:
1. Launching a comprehensive LGBTQ+ Behavioral Health Clinic that offers long-term solutions, one of the few holistic clinics designed to treat LGBTQ+ people
2. Amplifying our Youth and Families to ensure a brighter future for our whole community
3. Combating isolation by investing in Arts & Culture offerings, events that mobilize communities to act, and bring celebration and play back to The Center

What are our strategies for making this happen?

The Center is a one-of-a-kind organizationthe true home of the LGBT community in New York City. We foster a welcoming environment in which everyone is celebrated for who they are, and where visitors can connect and engage with community.

Our multi-service Center achieves our goals through strategic, quality programs and services in areas such as HIV and AIDS prevention and support; substance use treatment; mental health counseling; family support and planning; youth leadership; economic empowerment; case management; and much more. These programs are designed to address the health disparities and information/support gaps that many LGBT individuals face.

We also provide engagement opportunities for the broad LGBT community through volunteerism, and cultural programming that includes a focus on visual arts and theater, housing the iconic Keith Haring mural Once Upon a Time" in our building and our Second Tuesday book discussion series. Finally, The Center participates in and spearheads activities that position us as leaders, so that we may share our community expertise and shape public opinion and policy.

What are our organization's capabilities for doing this?

The Center has a physical presence in New York City's historic West Village, also known as the home and heart of NYC's LGBT community. We interact with more than 6,000 visitors who walk through our door weekly, and serve as a meeting and gathering space for over 400 groups each year.

In addition to our strong community connection, The Center is supported by an engaged and active Board of Directors which oversees the agency's operations. Together with the Board of Directors, dedicated staff members guide The Center's long-term vision and planning, focusing on the continued financial stability of the organization. All of this has supported the consistent delivery of services to NYC's LGBT community for over 30 years.

What have and haven't we accomplished so far?

The Center has developed unique, groundbreaking and highly successful adult substance use recovery and wellness programs, helping to reduce the impact of health disparities within the LGBT community. We are also at the forefront of youth leadership programming, providing the tools and platform necessary to equip and encourage every LGBT young person to be healthy and successful. In addition, through our LGBT Foster Care Project (a collaborative project with the New York City Administration for Children's Services), The Center partners with New York City foster care agencies and ACS to increase the number of homes for all youth, with a special emphasis on LGBTQ youth.

While each of our programs have seen successes, our work will not be complete until LGBT people no longer face health disparities, LGBT youth have every opportunity to be successful leaders in their own lives, and LGBT families face no obstacles based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Our organization, services and programming all evolve in response to the needs of our community. So too does our facility, which is currently undergoing an extraordinary revitalization. The updated event and meeting spaces, ground-floor access to the computer center and a new café will preserve our founders' vision of The Center as a welcoming, functional and vibrant home.