Merced’s LGBT Center to open in early September

Merced’s LGBT center will reopen its doors in September after closing earlier this summer due to staffing issues, organizers confirmed.

A new group, the Merced LGBTQ Alliance, formed of local residents who felt a need for such a center, has stepped up to take over the 1744 G St. location. The group has set a Sept. 1 target for the reopening, board members said Monday.

On Saturday, the alliance will host a community forum, in which board members plan to take notes on the types of programs residents would like to see at the center.

“We want to hear the community’s needs and concerns,” Beck Stroud, the group’s youth adviser, said. “We want to make sure that we’re sustainable and that we’re addressing concerns.”

The community forum will take place from 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday at the United Way building, 658 W. Main St. in Merced.

Around this time last year, the center was getting ready to open for the first time, with the goal of providing support and guidance to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youths and adults. But in July, the center was forced to temporarily shut down after some of its leaders moved out of the area.

Gay Central Valley, the center’s Fresno-based parent group, reached out to the Merced community in search of a ground team to run the center.

Stroud was born and raised in Merced for 13 years. She moved to the Bay Area, where she lived for more than 15 years. There, she said, she learned about activism. She moved back to Merced in March and said she was glad to hear the city had an LGBT center, a big step forward for the city where she said she once felt out of place.

When she heard the center was closing, given her experience, she felt the need to do something to help. “When it closed down, I kept thinking about the kids and about the importance of having a safe space,” Stroud said.

Tony Moreno, co-vice president at the Merced LGBTQ Alliance, said he used to volunteer at the center before it closed. He said the center had a large directory of doctors and support groups.

“It was a nice resource for the community,” he said. “A space to feel open and not looked down upon.” His own use of the center’s resources is what encouraged him to become involved in maintaining the center, he said.

Merced’s LGBT center, he added, also serves as a meeting space for several youth groups and organizations, and as a location for community events.

The reopening was also possible because of funding secured from the California Endowment and the California Rural Legal Foundation.

Stroud said the goal is to create a transparent and sustainable program, one that can keep running even if some board members move away. Involving youth leaders who have the same desire to develop and grow the center’s presence is one way, Stroud said.

Board members also plan to give the center a cleanup and paint job. Stroud and Moreno recognize growth can’t happen without the community’s involvement. The group is now in search of volunteers and partners to help staff the center.

This story was originally published August 10, 2015 at 6:18 PM with the headline "Merced’s LGBT Center to open in early September."