APRILS. 2007
MARTY DAVIS
22 jUStOUt
Continued from Page 21
and others gather at Q Center three times a year for
a social services roundtable. According to Healea,
the topic in Febmary was body image, and the fonim
drew 35 attendees from a variety of organizations.
“We’re focused on providing space for social serv
ice providers to come together and network,” says
Healea. For example, the Women on Wellness
Coalition Forum, which is not organized by
Q Center volunteers, makes use of the community
space, where it meets on the fourth Tuesday of the
month. Q Center has also hosted yoga and Qi
Gong classes and personal safety trainings for
sexual minorities.
“We struck gold in visioning the center as a hub
where people connect,” says Healea, who stepped
down temporarily from his position as board co-
chairman to serve as interim coordinator. “It’s true
that in Portland, we don’t need a center for survival
like in other, less welcoming cities. However, 1 think
(¿) ( all« Bingo
Bingo has been the signature success for the
social subcommittee at Q Center. The event, held
from 7 to 9 p.m. on first Mondays, draws approxi
mately 50 people looking to win exciting prizes and
have casual, high-spirited fun.
Poison Waters and her banter with rhe crowd
has been a highlight of bingo, as has its ability to
draw in people with different interests and of
varying age groups and genders.
The event is also a fund-raiser for Q Center,
bringing in $5 a head to cover operating expenses.
The prizes—often donated by Darcelle XV, Pearl
Bakery, the Portland Trail Blazers and BodyVox—
have proven to be well worth the cover charge.
“Bingo provides a social outlet for the commu
nity that isn’t a bar situation,” said Healea. “It’s
a place where people can cross different lines."
Q Center also offers its space to community
groups nearly every night of the week, outsije of
its own programming. The center has proven to
be a social outlet for those attending Lesbian
Country Dancing, an upcoming prom for the
Sexual Minority Youth Resource Center
(SMYRC) and a new game nightfrom 7 to 9 p.m.
on first Tuesdays.
(jetting I lealthy. Staying Well
At Q Center, health and wellness programming
is all about reaching out to organizations to be part
of an information and referral program. Represent
atives from Cascade AIDS Project, Outside In, the
Multnomah County Health Department, Q-LAND
there are some specific areas a center can address.
We’ve been overwhelmed by requests for usage of
the space and information about what’s going on
and for art, family and health and wellness
programs.” In the future, Healea says he hopes to
continue building Q Center’s infrastructure and get
more people through its d<x>rs.
Finding I heir Voice«
The cornerstone event for sexual minority
elders at Q Center is Senior Life Stories, a coffee
and tea hangout held from nrxrn to 2 p.m. on third
Sundays.
This event is an offshoot of Community Voices,
a Q Center event held in December 2005 with the
Gay and Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest.
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Attendees heard from prominent community mem
bers speaking about poignant periods in their lives.
Healea describes the event as an intimate place
for older people in the community to connect.
Speakers are sometimes invited to the event,
such as a financial expert who led a seminar on
estate planning in March.
Other Q Center events have appealed to
sexual minority seniors, such as the art exhibit
Historic Images of Our Portland and various health
and wellness events.
Senior programming is probably the least
developed of all the subcommittees, according to
Healea. A challenge to developing senior program
ming for the center is reaching the seniors. The David Martinez and Mary Lee Turner staff the
center primarily relies on electronic media for its Q Center booth at Portland Pride 2005.
inexpensive and reliable qualities, but the senior
set is not often computer savvy.
years at SMYRC was that youth must be involved
“The seniors programming is sort of at an infan
in the process.
cy stage,” says Healea. The senior subcommittee
That’s why the youth subcommittee is concen
has been reaching out to sexual minority seniors by
trating its energy on a needs assessment question
contacting welcoming churches such as the
naire before moving forward with planning events.
Community for Welcoming Congregations and gay
The committee has designed an open-ended survey
and lesbian senior groups including the Elder
to poll queer people younger than 23 about simple
Resource Alliance and Senior Housing and
issues such as whether they want the use of Q Center
Retirement Enterprises.
and whether there are barriers to access.
“We’re slowing ourselves down because we don’t
Questioning Youth
want to throw youth programming out there before
Jonathan Weedman was a whiz at youth
we have all the facts,” he says. “We want to be
programming when he was approached by the
thoughtful about the process, to build for success.”
Q Center board. The program manager at SMYRC
Weedman also has an eye on ensuring that serv
and a child and family therapist seemed like the
ices between SM YRC and Q Center do not overlap.
natural person to help design youth-oriented
“Q Center wanted to focus on social aspects,
activities at the community center.
a space where youth could come and hang out in. It’s
One thing that Weedman knew from his six
not about services, it’s about connections,” he says.
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