Brooklyn Community Pride Center
{{Infobox organization
| formation = {{start date and age|2008}}
| type = Community center
| status = Non-profit organization
| purpose = LGBTQ services
| location = Brooklyn, New York
| leader_title = President of the Board
| leader_name = Sonelius Kendrick-Smith
| leader_title2 = CEO
| leader_name2 = Kenrick Ross
| website = https://lgbtbrooklyn.org
}}
Brooklyn Community Pride Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit LGBTQ+ community center in Brooklyn, New York. Incorporated in 2008, it was the first LGBTQ+ center in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.{{Cite web|url=https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2020/02/12/brooklyn-community-pride-center-lqbtq-crown-heights/|title=Brooklyn Community Pride Center Signs 30-Year Lease For Expanded HQ In Crown Heights|date=February 12, 2020}}
History
Brooklyn Community Pride Center was the first LGBTQ+ center in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. As of 2020, it remains the only LGBTQ+ center there.{{Cite web|url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/realestate/brooklyn-community-pride-center-expanding-with-new-hq/vp-BBZVn5o|title=Brooklyn Community Pride Center Expanding With New HQ|website=www.msn.com}}
Erin Drinkwater served as executive director of the center from 2012 through 2014.{{Cite web|url=https://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/38/3/all-standingo-side-2015-01-16-bd_2015_3.html|title=Standing O is proud of Pride Center's Drinkwater|first=Joanna|last=DelBuono|website=Brooklyn Paper|date=15 January 2015 }} During this time, the center moved from its 600-square-foot walk-up quarters to a 1,600 square-foot facility. In 2014, Deborah Brennan joined the center's board of directors and in 2015 became president of the board.{{Cite web |date=March 8, 2016 |title=2016 Gay City News Impact Award Honorees |url=https://www.gaycitynews.com/2016-gay-city-news-impact-award-honorees/ |website=Gay City News}} She then recruited Floyd Rumohr as the center's new chief executive officer.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bkreader.com/2015/12/10/brooklyn-community-pride-center-names-floyd-rumohr-new-executive-director/|title=Brooklyn Community Pride Center Names Floyd Rumohr as New...|last=|first=|date=December 10, 2015|website=Brooklyn Reader|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200215214940/https://www.bkreader.com/2015/12/10/brooklyn-community-pride-center-names-floyd-rumohr-new-executive-director/ |archive-date=2020-02-15 |access-date=}} In January 2021, Deborah Brennan transitioned off the board and Sonelius Kendrick-Smith was elected president.{{Cite news|date=December 22, 2020|title=Around Brooklyn: Nets coach Steve Nash buys Cobble Hill townhouse: Brooklyn Pride Center welcomes new director|work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle|url=https://brooklyneagle.com/articles/2020/12/22/around-brooklyn-nets-coach-steve-nash-buys-cobble-hill-townhouse/|access-date=March 13, 2021}}
Jessica Greer Morris, served as interim executive director until August 29, 2023. She stepped in following the departure of Floyd Rumohr who served as chief executive officer of the center until September 2022. On October 2, 2023, Kenrick Ross assumed the leadership of the Center.
In 2020, the center signed a 30-year lease for a new headquarters, to be located inside a section of the Bedford Union Armory in Crown Heights. The new space is to contain Brooklyn's "first dedicated mental health LGBTQ clinic", while the old space will be retained and dedicated to youth programming and services.
Projects
- LGBTQ New Americans Project, an oral history project of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer immigrants living in New York City{{Cite web|url=https://www.immigrationequality.org/immigration-equality-and-brooklyn-community-pride-center-launch-lgbtq-new-americans-project/|title=Immigration Equality and Brooklyn Community Pride Center Launch LGBTQ New Americans Project|date=September 28, 2016|website=Immigration Equality|access-date=February 15, 2020|archive-date=February 15, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200215215111/https://www.immigrationequality.org/immigration-equality-and-brooklyn-community-pride-center-launch-lgbtq-new-americans-project/|url-status=dead}} launched in 2016 in collaboration with Immigration Equality
Programs and Services
Services and programs provided by the center include:{{Cite web|date=March 18, 2021|title=Brooklyn Community Pride Center Programs|url=https://lgbtbrooklyn.org/programs/|url-status=live|access-date=March 18, 2021|website=Brooklyn Community Pride Center|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100426035911/http://lgbtbrooklyn.org:80/programs |archive-date=2010-04-26 }}{{Cite web|date=March 18, 2021|title=GuideStar|url=https://www.guidestar.org/profile/26-2214534|url-status=live|access-date=March 18, 2021|website=GuideStar|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210218200854/https://www.guidestar.org/profile/26-2214534 |archive-date=2021-02-18 }}
- Health and wellness services for youth, the elderly, and transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals,{{Cite web|url=https://restorationplaza.org/brooklyncommunitypridecenter/|title=Welcome the Brooklyn Community Pride Center to Restoration|language=en-US|access-date=2020-02-16|archive-date=2020-02-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200216020127/https://restorationplaza.org/brooklyncommunitypridecenter/|url-status=dead}} as well as Brooklyn's first clinic devoted to LGBTQ mental health{{Cite web|url=https://www.gaycitynews.com/brooklyn-community-pride-center-announces-new-hq/|title=Brooklyn Community Pride Center Announces New HQ|last=Tracy|first=Matt|date=2020-02-12|website=Gay City News|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200213133340/https://www.gaycitynews.com/brooklyn-community-pride-center-announces-new-hq/ |archive-date=2020-02-13 |access-date=2020-02-16}}
- Homelessness and housing including a laundry facility for use by LGBTQ homeless persons
- Pride Path Workforce Development
- Social Isolation
- Immigration
- Racial Justice
References
External links
- {{Official website|https://lgbtbrooklyn.org}}