Help support the programs and services of the Pride Center! Make a secure donation with

For other local resources, visit:
 

Want to optimize your view of our website? Download Internet Explorer 6.0 now!

In preparing for another year of serving the area’s LGBT communities, the Pride Center has developed a comprehensive Strategic Plan focusing on four main areas of attention that will best utilize the Center’s resources.

In accordance with guidelines associated with our funding from the New York State Department of Health and other sources, the Pride Center has mapped out the direction it will take in 2005. The four areas of focus are Community Relations, Program Development, Fundraising and Management of Pride Center Operations.

Among the objectives of our Community Relations initiatives, the Pride Center will look to continue collaborations with other organizations in the LGBT communities. In the past, we’ve established meaningful and important relationships with groups such as Gay and Lesbian Youth Services, Spectrum Transgender Group, Buffalo United Artists, Buffalo NY Lesbians, PFLAG and other organizations and businesses.

We will also look to improve communications, including the upcoming unveiling of a redesign of our popular website, www.. Updates and improvements will include more interactive features, updated referral listings and event announcements.

In an effort to broaden our role in the community, the Pride Center will also recruit local leaders to serve as advisors to Pride Center Director Jim Ver Steeg for purposes of event planning and needs assessment in the community.

The Pride Center will also conduct a formal needs assessment as part of our Program Development to determine the issues most relevant to our communities.

Volunteers have already played a tremendously important role in the success of the Pride Center, and we will expand those resources with the addition of internship opportunities. We will provide local college and university students with the opportunity to gain experience working in the LGBT communities. Additionally, our mental health programming will utilize a peer mentoring program, to give volunteers the opportunity to learn from one another while working with groups.

We will continue our public education initiatives through outreach at local bars, but we will also add educational opportunities for local businesses and companies on non-discrimination and equal partner benefits.

Educating the overall population to LGBT issues and increasing the visibility of the LGBT communities in Western New York will also be a focus, as the Pride Center will organize two public forums on LGBT issues.

Existing programming will continue, include the Coming Out Discussion and Support Groups, and new additions will include workshops on gender identity and issues facing the transgender/transsexual population, our crystal methamphetamine harm reduction campaign, other substance abuse education initiatives, and programming promoting a healthy mind and body.

Our Fundraising efforts will continue to be focused on Pride at the Pier, the big summer bash hosted by the Pride Center. This year’s event will be held on August 21, and tickets will be $15 presale and $20 at the door. Additional fundraising plans include the Pride Center Awards Reception (see information on cover), an annual mail appeal, and keeping online donations possible via PayPal.

Finally, Ver Steeg and the Pride Center Board of Directors are responsible for overseeing the effective management of Pride Center operations, which includes everything from developing our strategic plan to managing the fiscal operations of grant budgets to overseeing facility use by outside groups.

If you have questions or would like more information on the Pride Center’s strategic plan for 2005, contact 716-852-PRIDE (7743) or info.

Last updated: 04/01/05