My first Post in May.

Wow. May already. Deep breath.
Well folks, the Community Center at 415 S. Bailey in Palmer (suite B, which is downstairs under the church) is a going concern. I emphasize "concern", because we literally don't have a penny in the bank account since we paid the last phone bill.
The good news is that we've installed a fine new piece of equipment here in the office! What may you ask, would that be? ....(wait for it).....A CALENDAR! Yes! although only invented about 2,500 years ago we have managed to lay hands on a nice big plastic coated calendar to write down important things like Volunteer Shifts, and .... um. dates. important dates.

Chris and I attended a training session recently with Sage from Identity, Inc. I found that to be extremely eye-opening. I'm going to give a quick summary of points she gave us that will help keep our center functioning and afloat and best of all, Effective.

1. To meet our expenses we will need money. It's expected that the members of the Board of Directors lead the way in financial contributions. That means Cash or Kind. It's usual at meetings to pass the hat. Donation cans for Coffee and Tea, and sales of LBGT stickers, flags, etc are a fine idea. Best of all, is the "adopt a day" concept. You donate the expenses of staying open one day, and we put up a nice sign thanking you, and include on it a dedication (perhaps a person, perhaps a cause, or maybe even just yourself; "Look at Me! I'm helping us out!" . Whatever you want to say in a short paragraph on your dedication sign. To that I'd like to add we are still collecting items for our yard-sale (indefinite date, depends on when we actually have enough fine items to sell). Another idea I'd like to have seriously considered is the possiblility of hosting a picnic or food event with a cover charge.

2. It's essential to define our purpose. There are so many needs in the LBGTIA community of the Valley, but our one itty bitty center can't do it all. All of us have issues that grab our attention and that do desperately need attention. Physical Abuse, Plight of the Youth, Creation of a Queer safe valley community and the list goes on and on. But the reality is that this center has one real purpose, one baseline purpose; Providing access and awareness of resources; books, websites, personal contacts, helplines, etc. And creating a social setting that is safe for all of us to get together and BE a community. Other issues have to be handled, but will best be served by organizations dedicated to those ends. Again, we certainly support that work, but we can't do all those other things, and be a Community Center too.
The Center does provide a great place for other organizations to meet. With luck in a year we'll have support groups, PFLAG, etc. using our space for meetings, addressing the issues we can't directly.

Well, that's it for today.

-Bri!