The William Way LGBT Community Center will continue to focus on growth and community outreach through new programs, officials said at the annual meeting last week.
The annual meeting was held last Saturday to discuss new initiatives and commitment to the LGBT community.
Program director Celena Morrison gave a presentation on TransWork, a new trans economic-empowerment and employment program, in partnership with Independence Business Alliance.
“We are supporting entrepreneurship. We all know there is a great need for that,” Morrison said.
TransWork will address the diverse needs of all facets of the trans community. The program director also talked about focusing on the women’s program, intimate-partner violence, tobacco education and outreach.
“In 2018, the center will be prioritizing our women’s program. The center recognizes that wellness is a dynamic process of change and growth. I have a really community-driven style of programming. I welcome feedback, good or bad. Bring your voices to the table,” Morrison said.
Executive Director Chris Bartlett gave a development report and discussed a recommitment to women.
“We talked about centering around women and the importance of this. I want to see an increase in events for women, an increase in women on boards. We are really committed to that over the next year,” Bartlett said.
He also talked about the center’s desire to create and expand senior services.
“We are committed to making sure they have the best services and programs,” said Bartlett.
The executive director talked about the growth of the center, the team efforts that go into creating and running programs and constant dedication to outreach and fundraising.
The center has also increased outreach through social media with a new Instagram account and growth in Twitter followers.
“I’ve just been blown away by how much is happening in the center,” Bartlett said. “It’s really exciting all the things that are happening this year. We continue to do community-building work. We made a commitment to people of color and trans organizations because there was so much discussion on race and gender issues. We are going to continue on that commitment.”
Leadership also presented information on upgrades in budgeting and accounting tools. Additionally, the center is rebuilding the archives with new archivist John Andreis.
“We were able to make a great transformation. This allows us to see which programs are raising enough money. This is a completely new budgeting process and impacted our ability to make good decisions,” said Bartlett.
The center also changed the start of its fiscal year to July and will remain in the eight-month financial budget until July.
Grant income for the center is up by $19,000 in the first quarter and individual donations are up by $2,000. The 2017 fiscal-year budget revenue was $1,027,099 and actual revenue was $1,023,643.
Before wrapping up the annual meeting, William Way membership unanimously elected four board members for two-year terms. They included Chad Bundrock and Anh Dang, who were re-elected from their previous term. Additionally, two new board members were elected: Linda Johnson and Kelly Burkhardt.