As New York City rejoiced the passage of the Marriage Equality Act, the Center, along with nearly 300 supporters and community members, took to the streets to march in one of most vibrant and energetic Pride parades the city has ever seen. The marchers were a diverse group of people representing many of the Center’s life-changing programs, including the Gender Identity Project, the Immigration Social Action Group, the Youth Enrichment Service (YES) Program, and individuals and families who support the Center and our mission.

Photo by Jason Letkiewicz

Along the parade route marchers danced and waved pom-pons to music from the Center’s float , handed out safe sex kits and greeted enthusiastic crowds from midtown down to the Village. 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.

Photo by Rob Zukowski

According to Cultural Programs Officer Yojani Hernandez, who helped staff the march, “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.” The Center would like to thank Anthony Shimek, Volunteer Coordinator, who organized and executed the Center’s presence in the parade, and all who supported the Center and came out to march on such a momentous occasion. We are already looking forward to next year’s Pride, but in the meantime we hope to see you at the Center!

September also marked the third anniversary of the opening of Center CARE Recovery, the only LGBT-specific, licensed outpatient substance abuse treatment program in New York. Since its opening in 2007, Center CARE Recovery has offered treatment services to over 800 LGBT-identified persons in recovery and over 12,000 units of service. October began with our fifth and largest Center CARE Recovery Graduation celebration.

Center staff have recently been engaged in defining and sharing with each other the six-words that best represents their vision of the Center. Through this process, our staff collaboratively selected Significant, Home, Progressive, Leader, Necessary and Fabulous. Those six-words also have a potent connection to LGBT recovery.

Substance use and abuse are a significant and sad part of our LGBT-story. Lesbians and gay men are at two to three times greater risk for alcohol and drug abuse than the general population and the continuing crystal meth crisis reinforces our need to remain vigilant about the ever-changing needs of our communities.

The Center has been home to the LGBT recovery movement from the day it first opened 27-years ago in 1983. 12-Step recovery groups were the first user groups to call the Center home and still meet here on a daily and weekly basis.

The Center was thinking progressively about LGBT recovery and the needs of our communities when it sought funding for and opened Project Connect (now Center CARE Wellness), the first NYS-funded LGBT substance abuse prevention program in 1987 and in 2007, when we opened Center CARE Recovery – the first New York State, OASAS-licensed substance abuse treatment program. And finally, the Center was thinking progressively when we opened Foundations for LGBT Recovery (FFR) to offer recovery support services in 2009.

The Center has been a leader in developing substance abuse prevention, treatment and recovery support interventions for LGBT-people. In addition, the recovery process itself is one where the LGBT people in recovery must take leadership over these interventions and make change in their own lives, in the lives of those around them and in our culture

The Center, Center CARE Recovery and Foundations for LGBT Recovery are necessary because they are part of a slender network of resources to enable LGBT people who use and abuse substances to save their lives. CCR and FFR participants have taken the steps to realize how necessary they are to themselves and our communities and have worked to save their own lives

Anyone joining Center CARE Recovery for its Graduation Ceremony last week or participating in the LGBT contingent at the NY Recovery Rally felt fabulous just by witnessing what the LGBT people in recovery are achieving. We feel stronger, healthier and more whole as we become part of each other’s process of healing and that is always fabulous.

Everyone who has shared their process of recovery with the Center in some way is now part of the Center’s 27-year history of LGBT recovery.

MORE INFORMATION

The Center has offered substance abuse prevention, treatment and recovery support services for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities for over 23-years through programs offered by Community Services and its antecedents. Additional details can be found at the following – Center CARE Wellness,; Center CARE Recovery ; and Foundations for LGBT Recovery.