April 3, 2023
Dear Community,
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Spring invites new growth, energy, and new dreams. During these recent and ongoing storms, both political/legislative and environmental, this change is most welcomed. At the Pride Center, we're excited to announce two big changes of our own which will positively impact the center and the community.
First, we are honored to be one of the recipients of San Mateo County's surplus Measure K funding. These additional funds will enable us to invest in capital improvements to the center itself as well as invest in operational support. We extend our deepest gratitude to the Board of Supervisors for their continued advocacy and support for the LGBTQ+ community.
The second announcement is our return to the physical Pride Center itself! This moment was met with great anticipation and excitement with almost 200 people attending our Grand Reopening event on Friday, March 24. More information about what you can expect moving forward with our newly designed hybrid model follows. Scroll down to read all about the hard work we've been up to.
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Welcome back to the Pride Center!
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There are not enough words to express the joy, gratitude and pride that we felt at the event and as we prepare to reopen the center.
Thank you to the members of our Community Advisory Board (CAB) for supporting with creating promotional materials, setting up the space and their ongoing hard work to make meaningful community spaces.
Thank you to our partners at Peninsula Family Service, Outlet & StarVista for their continued support. Your partnership and collaboration is a treasure and we’re so grateful to work with you.
Thank you to our own DJ Alex Golding for spinning tunes that provided a joyful soundtrack for us to dance and celebrate.
Thank you to Supervisor Dave Pine, Dr. Jei Africa and Mayor Amo Lee for sharing their passionate and moving words about visibility and building community in San Mateo County.
Our LGBTQ+ community is facing some scary stuff right now- overall anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, some of which is specifically targeting our Trans* siblings, bills that are targeting our reproductive rights and bodies & a slew of other thinly veiled laws that work to keep us silenced and erased.
In spite of all of this, we thank you, community, for showing up loudly, boldly and proudly to celebrate yourselves and each other in community. Thank you for showing up as yourselves everyday as your authentic selves. We are as prismatic and dynamic as the universe and we will continue to work with you to create the world where we can all thrive.
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Important Information about the Pride Center's Onsite Operation Hours
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Beginning Tuesday, April 4, our new onsite operating hours will be:
- Tuesday - Thursday, 11 am - 7 pm, except Tuesdays between 1 pm - 3 pm when we will be closed for our team meetings.
Our programs and services will remain virtual all 5 days/week 11 am - 7 pm or as scheduled with your clinician.
Our hope is to transition to 5 days/week in the months to come.
More information will come soon but we can’t wait to welcome you back through our open doors!
Questions? Please contact Info@sanmateopride.org.
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Trainings at the Pride Center (in chronological order)
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| Rainbow Kids
Kids receive constant messages about what it means to be “a girl” or “a boy.” How can we help them feel safe and confident in their bodies, families and classrooms? We hope you can join us for Rainbow Kids, a training co-hosted by the Community Equity Collaborative and the Pride Center, presented by the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.
Rainbow Kids is a webinar designed for parents, caregivers and educators to "unbox" the beautiful spectrum of gender and to work toward a more expansive and welcoming world for all children. This webinar offers practical strategies and tools to engage and support young children as they explore who they are and who is in their world.
Join us on 4/19, 6/21 or 9/7 for a webinar about creating a more expansive, welcoming world.
Please use the button below to register to attend this training.
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| Resource Roadmap:
A Provider's Guide to Supporting Trans* and Gender Diverse Clients
Wednesday, 4/26 from 1-3 PM PST on Zoom
As states across the nation are passing laws to restrict the rights of our Trans* community would you like to learn how to support trans folks better? Do you know about the gender-affirming resources here in San Mateo County? Are you interested in improving your skills in working with Trans*, Gender Diverse, and Non-Binary individuals? We invite you to attend our Resource Roadmap Service Provider's training! Together, we will review best practices and strategies to help you and your clients navigate different resources across San Mateo County (including housing, physical/mental health, employment, legal, and more).
There will be time for discussion and questions. This training was designed with health and social service workers in mind to help build your capacity to better serve Trans*, Gender Diverse, and Non-Binary people in San Mateo County.
This workshop is FREE, open to the public, hosted in english and closed captioning is available. We hope to see you there!
When: Wednesday, April 26th
Time: 1:00-3:00pm PST
Where: Virtual on Zoom
Register: https://tinyurl.com/tgnb-roadmap-2023
If you haven't already, be sure to check out our Resource Roadmap brochure collection! Free digital and print copies are available: https://sanmateopride.org/resource-roadmap.
For more information please email alex.golding@sanmateopride.org.
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Exploring Our Roots: Unpacking Bias in Order to Grow
Two dates in May: Wed, 5/3 & Thu, 5/25
Back by popular demand!
This training that can be interpreted as a pre-SOGIE (LGBTQ+ 101) or implicit bias training.
It’s human nature to make assumptions about people, identities, and communities. At a glance, we categorize people and place them into boxes frequently unknowingly. Many of our beliefs are often passed on through generations and go unnamed. We move through the world with ongoing assumptions and belief systems unknowingly until space is provided to help bring awareness to our own implicit biases. Thus, the Pride Center is proud to announce a new FREE training, Exploring Our Roots: Unpacking Bias in Order to Grow.
Supported by the Kaiser Permanente, each training will create a carefully guided training allowing work to begin to unpack our own internalized myths we hold, ask ourselves where they come from, and examine the roots of their inheritance. By providing interactive activities, discussion time, and videos, the Pride Center will hold space for healing dialogue to help us all shift our assumptions and biases toward truth. All trainings will be capped at a 50-person maximum to foster a safe and grounding experience for all.
NOTICE: PLEASE REGISTER AS AN INDIVIDUAL, RATHER THAN AN ORGANIZATION IN ORDER TO RECEIVE ZOOM LINK
For any questions regarding trainings/registration, please contact Azisa Todd at azisa.todd@sanmateopride.org.
Register using the button below:
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| PRIDE PROM 2023
When: Friday April 14, 2023 from 6:30-10 p.m.
Where: College of San Mateo, College Center (1700 W Hillsdale Blvd, San Mateo, CA 94402) Building 10, 2nd Floor;
Free Parking - Lot G and Lot M or any other Lot that is for students. Click this link to access campus map.
Cost: No cost to students
Dress: Just be You! (See link below for information about Princess Project.)
Current San Mateo County high school students (9th-12th graders) may attend.
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| Celebrate the 1st Annual Pride Prom, an inclusive, safe, welcoming, night to remember for 9th-12th grade students who attend high school in San Mateo County. This FREE event will celebrate and uplift LGBTQ young people and advocate for the sustained and continued efforts in our County to build places where youth are seen and supported in environments free from hate and discrimination.
For more information about this special event, click the link below:
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Stay tuned for more information to come! For any questions or concerns regarding the event, please contact Adriana Arriaga at adriana@supportparks.org and Azisa Todd at azisa.todd@sanmateopride.org. For more information about the various parks San Mateo County has to offer, visit: https://supportparks.org.
About San Pedro Valley Park: A 1,052-acre area embracing the middle and south forks of San Pedro Creek, which are Steelhead spawning grounds, this park is nestled amongst the Santa Cruz Mountain range and the foothills of Pacifica. The park offers group picnic areas, family picnic sites with barbecue pits, a self-guiding nature trail, hiking trails, a visitor center, and views of a seasonal water fall. Take a self-guided tour. For more information about San Pedro Valley Parks and its history, visit: https://www.smcgov.org/parks/san-pedro-valley-park.
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SAN MATEO COUNTY PRIDE 2023!
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Date: Saturday June 10 from 11am - 5pm
Location: San Mateo Central Park San Mateo, California
San Mateo County's 11th Annual Pride Celebration is a space to champion inclusion and wellness for LGBTQIA+ folks and allies in our county.
This year's Pride Celebration (in-person) will be on Saturday, June 10th at San Mateo Central Park from 11am-5pm. We will have live entertainment, live DJ, resource and vendor booths, family friendly activities and more. FREE ENTRY and Sober Event. Come celebrate our community's effort to build a connected, supportive, and well San Mateo County for all!
Interested in supporting and planning SMC Pride 2023? Please email Dana (they/them) at theractivist@gmail.com for the details.
For more information about the celebration and ways that you can get involved, please click the button below
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Come Volunteer with the Pride Center!
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Would you like to volunteer with the Pride Center? We never underestimate the value of donated time, and neither should you! There are numerous ways to support the Center in a volunteer capacity including some brand-new opportunities once we reopen. Are you interested and available to give back? If so, please consider some of the possibilities listed below.
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Virtual and onsite volunteer roles with the Pride Center include, but are not limited to:
- Supporting with community events
- Assisting with development goals
- Youth or Older Adult specific programming
- Become a peer group facilitator
- Social media support
- Join or Community Advisory Board
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| We are currently seeking a volunteer co-facilitator for our monthly gay men's Peer support Group! If you have a passion for creating and holding space for other community members to come together, build friendships and find social and emotional support, we would love to work with you!
For more information about this role, please click the button below.
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| Do you want to welcome people into our safe space? Are you ready to provide an affirming experience for our community? With proper training, we are seeking Front Desk volunteers to support our administrative needs when we reopen in 2023!
Half-day opening and closing shifts will be arranged each day.
For more information about this role, please click the button below.
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| | If you’re interested in learning more about these or any other opportunities, reach out to Frankie Sapp (he/him), Program Director, who can help you figure out the best match for a mutually rewarding experience. Email him at francisco.sapp@sanmateopride.org. You can also fill out this simple intake form to get the process started.
Thank you for investing in the Pride Center’s essential programs and services. We can’t do our work without you.
For more information about our volunteer program, click the button below.
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For the latest updates follow us on social media:
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PENINSULA FAMILY SERVICE UPDATES
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If you would like information about how to become a volunteer peer counselor or have general questions about Older Adult Programming, please contact Eddie Perez (he/him) at eperez@pfso.org or 650 403-4300 x 4383.
Please stay tuned for updates from Peninsula Family Service!
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HIV & Brain Health,
Wednesday, 5/10, 4:00 - 5:00 PM, PST.
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| | Over the past 30 years, advancements in HIV-related research and treatments have allowed people to live well and age with HIV. Even though tremendous achievements in HIV have been made since the 1980s, HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorders occur in as many as 50% of HIV-infected individuals, and even in patients receiving cART.
Learn from Dr. Joanna Hellmuth about how HIV may impact brain health, and take away some risk reduction strategies to prevent cognitive decline. We'll provide tangible tips to support our HIV-positive community's resilience!
Please register in advance here.
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| Update (2/28/23)– The Get App-y Group is currently on hiatus. This group will no longer take place in its current virtual format and will resume onsite at the Pride Center. Please stay tuned for more information!
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| We currently co-host these two weekly groups with Outlet. For more information about our Outlet, their programs and peer support groups, please use this link: www.acs-teens.org/what-we-do/outlet/.
If you or someone you know is interested in attending Youth group or their other peer support groups, please complete the Outlet intake form accessible through this link: linktr.ee/outletprogram.
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The Pride Center and Stanford LGBTQ+ Health Program co-host Trans Talks, a free, monthly workshop series that centers the health and wellness of our Transgender and Gender Diverse community members. Every month, a different professional from Stanford's LGBTQ+ Health Program will share information and lead a discussion.
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Trans Talks: Navigating school systems as a Gender Independent, Non-Binary or Trans* Youth
Join us Thursday, April 6 from 6:30-7:30 PM PST.
Every student has the right to feel safe and accepted at school. Gender independent, nonbinary, and trans youth deserve an affirming learning environment in which they can thrive. Through collaborative, intentional, and ongoing efforts, we can create schools where we recognize and honor every student's authentic gender.
Content warning- Discussions of misgendering, lack of family and/or community acceptance
This workshop takes place in english and closed captioning is available. Registration is required: https://tinyurl.com/transtalk4-06
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If you are interested in seeing recordings of previous Trans Talks, please use this link: tinyurl.com/transtalks-recordings.
Please note: all recordings utilize closed captioning.
If you have questions, need support or would like to suggest a topic please contact
Sawye (she/her) at raygani@stanford.edu
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Please reach out to Alex (he/him) for information and support about receiving this resource outside of the scheduled workshop date/time.
Upcoming dates for this workshop are: 4/26, 5/31 & 6/28
This is a free workshop, registration is required! Please click button below to RSVP.
Please reach out to Alex (he/him) at
Alex.Golding@sanmatepride.org or 650-465-6795 for support.
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Just a reminder: we offer some financial aide for the legal process and free gender affirming supplies. For more information about this, please see this link: bit.ly/ngc-aid-request
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For more information about our monthly peer support groups for community members 18+, please click this link.
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The book club is a partnership with the San Mateo County Public Library System, Peninsula Family Service and San Mateo County Pride Center. It’s open to all members of the community, including allies and friends.The book club is a partnership with the San Mateo County Public Library System and San Mateo County Pride Center. It’s open to all members of the community, including allies and friends. Community members who are invited to attend even if they haven't read the book. Come participate in the discussion!
Registration is required: tinyurl.com/smcpc-bookclub
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Wednesday, April 5
from 4:30-6:00 PM PST on Zoom
"Swimming in the Dark" by Tomasz Jedrowsk
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| Wednesday, May 3
from 4:30-6:00 PM PST on Zoom
"The Nightwatchman (a novel)" by Louise Erdrich
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- If you have questions, concerns or need support regarding Youth programming, please contact outletprogram@acs-teens.org. For a list of Outlet's peer support groups, please see this link.
- If you have questions, concerns or need support regarding Older Adult programming, please contact Eddie (he/him) at EPerez@pfso.org.
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As We Continue to Navigate Around COVID-19
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Are you interested in being an ongoing supporter of the San Mateo County Pride Center? Consider becoming a monthly donor!
Monthly contributions can be made starting as little as $5 and up to whatever you can comfortably afford. If you are able to donate on an ongoing basis, even $5 adds up to a total of $60 per year! Every dollar helps support our beloved LGBTQ+ community by providing essential programs and services such peer support groups and name and gender change support.
If you are interested in becoming a monthly donor, please click this link.
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| | Stay safe and take care! See you soon!
In community,
Marilyn Fernando (she/her)
Marketing and Community Engagement Lead
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Do you enjoy/benefit from our programs and services? Are you able to/Would you like to support our essential work? We welcome and appreciate donations of any amount, big or small.
It all matters. Yes, we really mean that.
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The San Mateo County Pride Center is a program of StarVista in collaboration with Outlet of Adolescent Counseling Services, and Peninsula Family Service.
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