EP 37: THE NEXT TEN YEARS AT THE CENTER

ABOUT THE CENTER:

 A Decade of Building CommunityOver the past ten years, the Borderland Rainbow Center has grown from an idea for an LGBTQ+ community space into an organization providing an increasingly broad range of services throughout the El Paso region and the Desert Southwest. Today, The Center serves El Paso, Las Cruces and Ciudad Juárez, while many of its programs also benefit the community at large.
  At its home at 2714 Wyoming Avenue, The Center offers weekly peer support groups, LGBTQ+-affirming therapy, HIV services, education and professional training, youth and family programming, and its Intergenerational Rainbow Link, which connects youth, adults and seniors with affirming services, resources and care.
  One of its most visible community services is its food pantry, which distributes food to El Paso County residents regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. The Center also provides specialized HIV services, including counseling, support groups, sexual-health education, referrals for testing and connections to PrEP, PEP and LGBTQ+-affirming medical care.
  Mental health has become another important part of The Center's work. Its therapy program provides LGBTQIA+-affirming, trauma-informed and culturally responsive counseling designed with the experiences of LGBTQ+ people and Borderland communities in mind.
  But perhaps The Center's most important role over the past decade has been creating something less easily measured: a place to connect. Through support groups, programs, cultural activities, education and community events, the Borderland Rainbow Center has created spaces where LGBTQ+ people of different ages and backgrounds can meet, find resources and know that they belong.
Ten years after that work began, The Center is looking toward what comes next—and how a permanent home could allow it to do even more.