Building a Center
In my last column for the Center Piece, I wrote that we need to look ahead with the determination “to build a Center worthy of our strengths and responsive to our needs.” On a bitterly cold February afternoon as we cut the ribbon and celebrated the Center’s Grand Opening, we crossed a threshold that moved us closer to accomplishing just that.
If you were among the 500 people present, you felt the energy, the pride, and the promise that day; indeed, some say that it was reflected in the many articles that appeared about the Center in publications throughout the Hudson Valley.
Energy. There has been an extraordinary outpouring of effort and talent over these last 18 months from a growing number of committed volunteers. It seems that each week, as our numbers grow and new programs are established, that energy is revitalized.
The recent establishment of a new PFLAG chapter provided the Center with yet another perspective with regard to our mission.
Pride. The establishment of regular hours on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays gave us another opportunity to extend a warm welcome to supporters, neighbors, and new friends. All decked out for Spring with a new art exhibit, we invited folks to drop in, sip some coffee, chat, take advantage of our Wi-Fi setup, or just hang out and read the paper. While that was taking place downstairs, our PRIDE Committee was working feverishly to assure a bigger, more exciting Third Annual New Paltz Pride March and Festival, and Special Events folks were next door planning the After Pride Party at Truman’s.
Promise. We have promises to keep, among the most critical of which is our commitment to education. Our most effective vehicle is our annual conference, Come Out/Find Out, which will take place this year on September 15. Conference organizers are calling for papers, seminar topics, and speakers in an effort to make this year’s conference another major Center experience. We work to keep our special promise to LGBTQ Youth and renew that commitment at each regularly scheduled CIRCLES meeting. A new group called CenterFamily provides LGBTQ parents and their children an opportunity to share their experiences in a space that celebrates their families.
Of course, none of this happens magically. Whatever happens here does so as a result of the energy, pride, and promise that members and volunteers put into creating and sustaining the Center. The Grand Opening was the easy part. Building a Center “worthy of our strengths and responsive to our needs,” that’s an abiding challenge. Δ
- Ginny Apuzzo