Focus on Cleveland+Akron: The LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland

Among the partners united to produce Gay Games IX in 2014 is The LGBT Community Center for Greater Cleveland.

More from the Center:

Founded in 1975, the Center is a community-based non-profit agency working toward a society free of homophobia and gender oppression by advancing the respect, human rights and dignity of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities.

The Center's core program areas are Social Justice, Social Service and Services that are Social.

Through Out For Justice, we advocate with elected officials and governing bodies to provide equal protections to LGBT people. We are a Hate Crimes Reporting Site, we provide competency training to law enforcement on a local and federal level, and we provide information and referral for legal and employment help. Through Project 180 we provide cultural competency training to schools and administrators; mental and medical health professionals, municipal bodies, non-profits, and corporations all with the goal of improving the conditions and experiences of LGBT people as students, consumers, employees and neighbors.

Through our area-wide programming we try to meet LGBT people of all ages, right where they are. Through our YOUTH Service, we provide counseling and programming for youth ages 5-24. Through our HEALTH and WEALTH programming we provide our adult community members with counseling, group support, health workshops and information, seminars on financial health, twice-weekly Senior drop-in, events and myriad group activities.

An events committee coordinates fund-raising, special events (such as our popular annual Garden Party and the TaDa! Dinner Series). Our administrative staff handles media relations and advocacy and programming staff handles the scheduling of the several meetings and events that take place at the Center each week.

Through its information line, the Center serves as a reference/help desk for the entire LGBT community, pairing callers with (216-651-LGBT) LGBT-affirming doctors, lawyers, therapists, support groups and more. It also has a merchants program and offers the community a number of resources at its facility.