As the state has opened up and many businesses have re-opened their doors, we’ve received a lot of questions about when the Pride Center will re-open ours. Since shelter-in-place began, the Pride Center has proudly been offering our programs and services online, ensuring our community members needs are met. However, we know many are eager to resume services within the cozy corners of the Center itself. Our hope is to re-open our physical space by the end of the summer or very early fall.

Since the Pride Center’s physical space has been closed, our intention is to capitalize on this opportunity to redesign the layout to be more accessible for both community members and staff when we re-open. Some of the changes we intend to make are to the layouts of the office spaces and the main rooms. Below are a few changes we're working on to better serve the needs and safety of our community members:

Adding a meeting space to the main room. The conference room adjacent to the kitchen will still be available but this additional space will be accessible for folks who cannot use stairs.
The Pride Center has acquired Owl Technology, which will allow for hybrid meeting options. Any group who wishes to host in person meetings will also be able to have members join in remotely with use of this technology. It has a built-in speaker, mic, and 360-degree camera to help remote callers feel present and fully integrated into the group meeting.
We are researching other organizations’ protocols and guidelines around COVID PPE. The Pride Center team recognizes that our community identifies across a wide variety of spectrums which includes age, health, and abilities. Our top priority is for our community to feel safe when they walk in our doors with consideration of vaccine status.

Thank you for your patience as we figure out this delicate dance. The Pride Center was designed to be a safe space for LGBTQ community members in San Mateo County. We are honored to still represent that space. Moving forward, we will continue to do that both virtually and physically. As we all start to figure out what this new way in the world means, the Pride Center is here to redefine and add new meaning to what “safe space” means.

In community and with pride,
San Mateo County Pride Center Team