As you all have probably heard by now, about 6 months ago it came to the attention of Q Center leaders that critical services provided through the Sexual & Gender Minority Youth Resource Center (SMYRC) were in jeopardy of vanishing unless a partner organization could be found who was willing to both maintain and grow resources for LGBTQ youth. Q Center stepped up to the plate and on February 1st, we joined forces to ensure these programs and services continue to have a home by merging with SMYRC.

Q Center's Public Relations & Innovations Manager Logan Lynn has been spending some one-on-one time chatting with the newest members of our Q family in the days since and will be rolling out those conversations over the coming weeks.

To start things off, please welcome Bree Abbey, Program Coordinator to Q Center's staff roster!

Logan Lynn: Hi Bree! Thanks for taking a few minutes out of your now even busier schedule to share some of your thoughts on SMYRC and Q Center and this new adventure we are all on together! To begin, tell me how long you've been involved at SMYRC.

Bree Abbey: I have been working with SMYRC for 3 and a half years. I was originally hired as a Youth Risk Reduction Specialist with our now defunct Breathe Free program, Oregon’s LGBTQ Anti-Tobacco Coalition. With that program I worked for both SMYRC and the state of Oregon addressing health disparities (particularly shockingly disparate tobacco use) in the queer and trans community. In this position I advocated for both healthier policies in youth-serving organizations and for LGBTQ-competent/friendly policies regarding health at the state level. When that program lost funding I transitioned into being a lead facilitator for our cultural competency training program, Bridge 13, under the supervision of SMYRC staff member Mehera Scheu. Six months into that position Mehera had just finished graduate school and became a mental health counselor here at SMYRC, so I was selected to replace her as the Bridge 13 Program Coordinator in January 2010.

Logan: Cool. I am really looking forward to the Bridge 13 training you have in the works for Q Center staff, board & volunteers as well. What a great resource to the community that is! So...What brought you to SMYRC initially?

Bree: SMYRC’s reputation in the community definitely preceded it. When I was completing my undergraduate degree in New England I remember hearing fellow students who had visited Portland speak of this vibrant, progressive queer youth organization that had a really successful and unique youth empowerment model. I was Googling SMYRC and fantasizing about working there when I was still technically youth-aged myself. Years later when I was selected for an interview and offered a position with their Breathe Free program almost on the spot, I felt like I was living a dream. Having worked with youth previously in settings where they were often mandated to receive services, I had a lot of experiences with youth clients who were understandably disengaged or resistant to working with me. Coming to SMYRC was like coming home in that all of the youth accessing our services are highly motivated to be here and very engaged.

Logan: That's great. I can totally relate to that feeling of "coming home" and felt something similar when I made the decision to come on board as staff at Q in 2010. Needless to say, there have been some really big changes around both of our organizational "homes" lately. Has this been as strange at times for you as it has been for me? Blending families seems to always come with some growing pains, so I'm guessing you have felt this too.

Bree: Yes. I think both SMYRC and Q Center (as separate entities prior to the merger) were both very invested in the culture and vibe of their organizations and have concrete ideas about what it means to maintain those cultures. I imagine both sides felt pressure to concede to doing business in a way that was not totally comfortable or status quo when making big decisions about how to proceed with the merger and, while the process did not always feel pretty or empowering, we are now at the time and place where we can start working together as a unified whole and really create a big, powerful splash in Portland’s entire LGBTQ community.

Logan: Yes! A tidal wave of programs and services for the communities we love! Aside from said powerful splash, what are your hopes, dreams & ideas about potential positive outcomes of SMYRC & Q Center merging?

Bree: I have a range of hopes and dreams regarding the Q Center and SMYRC merger. In terms of concrete, short-term goals, I hope that SMYRC being under the Q Center umbrella will allow us to fundraise and provide outreach in a way that we have not had the organizational capacity to do previously. I think the merger will allow us to strengthen our existing volunteer program in a way that will benefit both SMYRC staff and youth as well as improve the experience of folks who choose to volunteer with us.

I believe that new connections that will arise from this merger will allow us to expand the scope of community partners educated through our Bridge 13 LGBTQ Cultural Competency training, so that we can disseminate information about creating safer spaces for queer and trans youth in both traditional settings (schools and universities, youth-serving non-profits, after-school programs) and less traditional venues (medical facilities, faith based communities, grocery stores, theaters, etc.) I also imagine that this merger will expose SMYRC youth to even more supportive, positive LGBTQ adult role models, found by GLSEN to be one of the largest protective factors for at-risk youth.

If we are looking at more dreamy, ethereal, long-term goals, I hope for things like a robust, thriving all-ages queer and trans (and allied) community in Portland; open lines of communication between LGBTQ folks of different generations where individuals are fostering meaningful connections in spite of potentially very diverse life experiences; and yet still maintaining safe spaces for the sub-populations within the greater LGBTQ community (youth, elders, people of color, trans and gender non-conforming folks, etc.)

Logan: That sounds amazing. Are there any potential concerns you have regarding the SMYRC/Q Center merger?

Bree: I truly believe SMYRC has been so successful as a social and community space because of it’s dedication to genuine youth-adult partnerships and striving to operate under an authentic youth empowerment model. While it’s true that youth can learn much from their elders, it is important to remember that adults can stand to learn a lot from youth as well. I hope that adult involvement with SMYRC on Q Center’s end includes a willingness and commitment to learning about and respectfully engaging in the youth empowerment process, even if it is challenging initially.

Additionally, because we only moved to our current location two years ago, I worry about the affect of another move. The new community space is beautiful, bigger, and is in the process of being designed by youth, but SMYRC has moved locations in the past and there is always a lull in attendance in the first few months after a move. Participants go through all the normal steps of dealing with that transition - mourning the loss of an old beloved space, literally learning to navigate to the new space, and overcoming initial anxieties about attending our programs in a new building and neighborhood. We are committed to really amping up our outreach and supporting our youth in attending the new space!

Logan: I could not agree more about youth & young adults being our teachers and I stand with you in supporting them through the transition. In your opinion, how can the greater Portland community also support SMYRC youth?

Bree: Portland can support SMYRC in more ways than I can think to name. Of course one of the best ways, for those that are able to do so, is monetarily. We always have a growing wishlist of items that would enhance our space and services but that are out of our budget. Whether a community organization or individual donates $5 a month, one large lump sum, or drops off an item that we were unable to purchase ourselves, they are helping our youth services thrive.

Currently we are in great need of regular donors to provide a warm, nutritious meal for 5-10 youth during each of our open drop-in nights (Wednesday, Friday and Saturday). This could be an excellent opportunity for someone who loves to cook, has a relationship with a local grocer or restaurant, or who wants to help SMYRC out without the energy or time to commit to staffing a full drop-in shift. We need adult and youth volunteers to help us table at events – SMYRC gets lots of requests to visit community events that we just don’t have the staff time to attend.

We also simply need community members to spread the word, so folks can tell their friends, neighbors, colleagues, even the stranger sitting next to them on the bus, about SMYRC! The more people and places that advertise our programs, the more LGBTQ youth we can support in Multnomah and Washington County through drop-in hours, GSA support, and community education. On a really broad scale, Portland’s community can support both SMYRC and the Q Center by simply being an ally to our populations – normalizing LGBTQ identities, interrupting problematic language, keeping open minds and helping to shift public perceptions of who “we” are.

Logan: You are a Q Center employee now. What have your perceptions of Q Center been historically?

Bree: I have always perceived Q Center to be a well-loved community space for LGBTQ folks in Portland, with adults and families being most likely to access their services. I think of the Q as a place adults go for community involvement and support, as well as a really lovely venue for community events.

Logan: On the flipside, what do you think Q Center’s perception is of SMYRC?

Bree: I think the Q Center appreciates the work that SMYRC does and sees the value in our programming; I also think we are viewed as passionate about our services (perhaps to a fault) with some tendency toward rabble-rousing. I am concerned both SMYRC staff and youth are perceived as immature or reactive, and am really looking forward to dispelling those perceptions as we grow and bond together as one unified organization.

Logan: Thanks so much for taking some time to chat with me and for being so honest, Bree. Change is always hard (especially when everyone involved cares so much about what's at stake) and I think we are all doing a bang-up job! Anything else you’d like to add about how you feel about our beloved SMYRC program?

Bree: SMYRC is an incredible, beautiful, life-changing place. Of course I mean that for the hundreds of LGBTQ and questioning young people who walk through our doors and find affirmation, support, friendship, safety, and endless glitter – but I also mean that for the volunteers, the donors, the staff, myself. I have experienced so much acceptance, validation and personal growth in the time I have been with this organization – SMYRC truly is an irreplaceable pillar of our community!

To support Q Center's SMYRC Program, CLICK HERE.