By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

building hope

Pride society wants LGBTQ+ resource centre for Red Deer

Aug 15, 2019 | 4:27 PM

Those on the frontlines of Red Deer’s LGBTQ+ community want to spark a discussion about the creation of a local resource centre.

Shannon Humphrey, Chair of the Central Alberta Pride Society, says most local organizations that support LGBTQ+ people do not have a physical address, primarily because they’re largely run by volunteers.

This, she says, is hampering peoples’ ability to find existing resources.

“The need for a resource centre is just to have a safe place for people to go in the community where they know they can go hang out, be themselves, get information, and look for those community organizations,” she says. “This is a really good opportunity for a lot of our organizations to create something really cool.”

Humphrey says organizations like the Trans and Non-binary Aid Society (TANAS), and Haven, which runs an LGBTQ+ group home, are examples of who might be partners in a future resource centre.

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In a letter from Central Alberta Pride Week organizers to local dignitaries, it’s noted that despite being one of Alberta’s largest centres, Red Deer does not have a LGBTQ+ resource centre like other communities do.

In Calgary, there is Outlink while Edmonton has The Pride Centre.

The letter also notes that LGBTQ+ youth face the highest suicide rates in the country, and that seniors often feel the need to return to the “closet” due to a lack of appropriate programs and services, things which can lead to social exclusion, homelessness, poverty and mental health issues.

Humphrey says while there have been no official talks for funding assistance, they are hopeful to take advantage of the Stonewall Community Fund. It was established in 1993 by former city councillor Paul Harris, his partner Terry, and the then Gay and Lesbian Association of Central Alberta.

Harris tells rdnewsNOW the original intent of the fund was to see through the opening of a resource centre.

“It would be helpful. People need a home, and I don’t mean a place to live, but a place to feel comfortable, address their own issues and get some mentoring and support,” says Harris.

“We’ve always thought about it as a social gathering space as well where we can have a coffee shop, some offices, and even a space to have a dance.”

The fund is currently worth just over $10,000 and can be contributed to through the Red Deer and District Community Foundation. It is named for the Stonewall Riots which happened over a week in late June and early July of 1969, 50 years ago.