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The Center would like to congratulate New Yorkers United for Marriage and all who helped achieve Marriage Equality, giving the city a Pride celebration unlike any before! In this edition of Front and Center you'll hear about the Center's Pride activities, including our successful kickoff to Pride Week with Garden Party 28 and marching at the Manhattan Pride Parade. You will also learn how the Center's Recovery Program helped a woman maintain her sobriety, keep her apartment, and treat her cancer. Please enjoy reading these stories and more, and thank you for your support.

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Center Celebrates Manhattan Pride

On Sunday, June 26, hundreds of community members marched with the Center in the Manhattan Pride Parade. Approximately 300 of the marchers were youth from the Youth Enrichment Services (YES) Program, and dozens of members of the Center's Gender Identity Project and Immigration Social Action Group marched as well, reflecting the Center's far reaching impact in the community. According to Cultural Programs Officer Yojani Hernandez, "It was great to see young people in that moment be proud of who they are, part of the legacy that was left by those who marched before us." On the parade route from midtown to the Village marchers danced with pom-pons, handed out safe-sex kits and greeted enthusiastic crowds along the way. Center Recovery Program participants held a sign which read: "Sober is Better." And our dynamic group of marchers was rounded out by LGBT families with strollers at the end of the Center's contingent. With the passage of the Marriage Equality Act, Pride had an especially vibrant energy. The Center thanks everyone who came out to march and celebrate, helping make Pride a great success!


Photo by Jason Letkiewicz, Downtown Loft Studio

Thanks to Anthony Shimek, Volunteer Coordinator and Yojani Hernandez, Cultural Programs Officer

Center CARE Recovery Program Helps Client Maintain Sobriety and Find Cancer Treatment

"Laura" came to the Center's Recovery Program in October 2010 seeking housing, mental health, and Medicaid services. After 15 years of recovery, she was close to losing her sobriety after being laid off from her job at Julliard, losing her health coverage, and being diagnosed with breast cancer. The $1200 she received monthly in unemployment benefits was not enough to cover her monthly bills, and she was close to being evicted from her apartment.

Counselors at the Center helped her through her obstacles one at a time. First they helped secure a court order to keep her apartment until she was able to find a roommate to share the cost of her rent. Then they referred her to a soup kitchen, helped her apply for food stamps and opened a Medicaid case for her. They went on to connect her with free mental health services until her Medicaid was active. The Center's Lesbian Cancer Initiative also helped her navigate this difficult situation by referring her to additional community support services. Thanks to the Center, she was able to obtain her Medicaid, which paid for her breast cancer surgery and radiation treatment; and though her housing problem persists, she remains strong, positive and sober. "Although I have been through a lot, I am holding up and holding on to hope," she said. She is also very thankful for the Center's assistance, saying, "You were instrumental at helping me at a time when I had no help and no hope."

Thanks to Miguel Castillo, CASAC-T, Center CARE Recovery Counselor and Cristina Moldow, LMSW, Lesbian Cancer Initiative Coordinator


Center Families Program Provides Services to Couple Seeking to Adopt

When David was offered a job in New York, he and his partner Kareem decided to move and accept the job because it meant they could adopt. In their home country of France, it is illegal for gay people to adopt, but throughout their 12-year relationship there was nothing they wanted more. A few months after they arrived, they began asking their New York friends for adoption resources and were directed to the services the Center offers through our Center Families Program.

David and Kareem joined the Center Families Wannabe Moms and Dads group, which gave them unbiased information about different ways of becoming parents and helped them decide on adoption. They were also able to meet with different adoption agencies, exchange ideas with other potential parents, and attend a family play day where they met parents who shared their experiences.

David and Kareem are now closer than ever to becoming parents. A few weeks ago, they registered with their preferred adoption agency and have started taking classes in the Model Approach to Partnerships in Parenting at the Center. According to David, they are finally beginning to realize their dream. "Both Kareem and I have never been so excited, and the more we move forward with the process, the more we know we are doing the right thing," he said.

Thanks to Shanequa Anderson, LMSW, MPA, CASAC, Center Families Coordinator


Center Responds to Community/Client Needs; Creates a Space for Young Adults in Recovery

Recovery support group sessions at the Center are designed to help make clients' journeys to sobriety smoother and less lonely, but some younger people found that they were not quite the right fit. "I felt dismissed because I am young, and the older members in the group would smile and tell me that as time went by I would change my mind," said a client in his 20's. "That may be true, but it doesn't change what I think and feel now."

This feedback prompted Center staff to recognize the need for young members of the program to have a space where they could find support with peers experiencing similar situations and discuss issues that are important to them. The newly formed "Young Adults in Recovery" and "Young People in Recovery" groups now serve as safe spaces for younger people working towards sobriety.

"It's great," said a group member. "Being twenty years old and living with your parents is a different experience than living on your own at age forty, and in the youth group I am able to talk about my challenges with others my age who are going through the same experiences at home. It makes me feel less alone."

Thanks to Gonzalo Cedeno, LMSW, Center CARE Recovery Counselor


Center Hosts Women of Color Game Night; Delivers Vital Health Information

On June 10, the Center hosted its second Women of Color Game Night, a series that provides a fun atmosphere for people to socialize and participate in a variety of games, and infuses important health and wellness information. Participants enjoyed a number of different games and a selection of catered food. They also heard from guest speaker Michelle Lopez, who shared her moving story about contracting and living with HIV for the last 21 years. Lopez' speech inspired the audience to talk about the risks of HIV infection for lesbian, bisexual, and transgender identified women. Center events like this one offer a successful model to educate LBT women of color about preventative health care.

Thanks to Cheryl Boyce, MSW, Center Wellness Prevention Counselor and Migdalia Santiago, CASAC, BSW, Center Wellness Counselor


Center Kicks off Pride Week with Garden Party 28; Sells More Tickets than Ever Before

On June 20, the Center hosted Garden Party 28, the only LGBT food tasting event in the country, on Hudson River Park's Pier 54. The event featured more than 30 restaurants, talk show host Wendy Williams, honorary chair Florent Morellet and New York City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn. This year, thanks to our supporters, we raised $200,000 for the Center's programs, selling more tickets than any other year in the event's history. The Center extends a thank you to all the businesses, volunteers and individuals who helped make Garden Party 28 a success. We look forward to seeing you next year!


Photo (C) Martha Gorfein