LGBT community and friends celebrate reopening of Merced center
The Merced LGBT Community Center is officially back and running.
After temporarily shutting down earlier this year due to a staffing shortage, the community center reopened its doors with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Saturday.
The reopening event included live musical performances and a silent auction.
A newly formed group, the Merced LGBTQ Alliance, made up of local community members, is in charge of the center’s daily operations. The group held a “soft opening” in early September and formed a team of volunteers.
The center, according to the alliance’s board members, is meant to be a safe space for Merced’s LGBTQ community and friends.
Tony Moreno, co-vice president at the alliance, said the center will provide a directory of resources including doctors and support groups.
“It’s a space to feel open and not looked down upon,” Moreno previously told the Sun-Star.
The reopening was also possible because of funding secured from the California Endowment and the California Rural Legal Foundation.
Beck Stroud, youth adviser with the Merced LGBTQ Alliance, has said the goal is to create a transparent and sustainable program, one that can keep running even if some board members move away.
Stroud, a Merced native, decided to become involved after hearing the center was closing earlier this year.
Having a center such as this is a big deal and much needed in a city where she once felt out of place, she said.
The center is at 1744 G St. and will be open Tuesday to Saturday from 3 to 7 p.m., according to its website.
This story was originally published October 4, 2015 at 5:14 PM with the headline "LGBT community and friends celebrate reopening of Merced center."