Community helps Full Spectrum Community Outreach raise over $20,000 for LGBTQIA+ resource center

The Full Spectrum Community Outreach Center team was approved to move their services into a new, centralized location in Youngstown but needed an extra $10,000 to secure the deal.

They were just $10,000 away from purchasing the house on Earle Avenue that was perfect in their eyes to provide a safe meeting space for members of the LGBTQIA+ community.

“We just couldn’t give it up. So we went on the news and asked people to donate,” Tim Bortner, president and co-founder of Full Spectrum, said.

According to Bortner, a single anonymous donor provided the total amount needed of $10,000, and the community helped raise an additional $9,000.

“Someone reached out to us that said that they were LGBT and grew up here. The caller said they struggled and wished that there was this center when they grew up here,” Bortner said.

Bortner said the caller told him they had moved away and now owned a successful business.

“They donated $10,000, right off the bat. But at that point, we had already raised between $5- 6,000, so we cut donations off around $20,000,” said Bortner. “We stopped it because we didn’t want to keep taking money out at that point. But everything that’s leftover, and anything that we have leftover is going into the renovations, as well as the operations, because there are a lot of renovations that need to be done to bring it up to code.”

Now that they have the keys and are sorting which opens which room in their new center, the work is far from over. They’re focused on renovating and are expected to open the center by February 2024 fully.

“The community helped make this happen, so we have to make it happen,” said Bortner. “And not allow it to just fall apart, right? It’s very important that we keep it afloat, keep it going, keep it funded, we keep these resources because like I said, people paid for this place to be here.”

Grand opening set for September

Bortner said the community is invited to celebrate the grand opening with a festival on Sept. 8 and 9 at 660 Earle Ave. in Youngstown.

“We’ll have bounce houses, music, entertainment, food concessions, resources and tours of the new center, plus some drag performers and community arts,” he said.

Check Facebook and Instagram for updates on the Full Spectrum Community Outreach Center grand opening.

What resources does the center provide?

Resources include:

• Monthly peer support groups.
• Social events.
• Access to information about sexual health testing and mental health resources.

“It will be basically everything that Full Spectrum did prior to leaving our space in Struthers, plus more,” said Bortner. “We will continue all of the events that we used to do, all of the trainings and support groups; educational and social events are all coming back and automatically happening here. That’s not to say that we won’t do things in the community and outside of here, but our goal is to keep everything here and have it be a resource for the community.”

The center also has a community Closet of Change, full of donated items for LGBTQIA+ clients, like food, toiletries and cosmetics.

“We get clothing, toiletries, food and chest binders, packers, wigs and makeup and everything in between,” said Bortner. “We have clients that come here that are LGBTQIA+ and some are transgender. Some of our clients are also homeless, or just need some toiletries or need some food. It’s 100% free and we have we also have a budget in place for clients that need chest binders and packers and things like wigs and different things like that. We either send it to them where they can meet us here or wherever.”

Making history in Mahoning Valley

Along with the resource center, the funding also helps Full Spectrum create a shelter, which Bortner said will be the first LGBTQIA+ adult transitional house in the Mahoning Valley area.

“It will be the first LGBTQIA+ friendly shelter within a 40 mile radius of here,” he said. “It’s the first one of its kind, there is no other supportive place; we have had clients come to us that have been abused and neglected and put through the wringer at other shelters, and it’s sad. We always do tell people, this is not going to be the fix-all to all of that is just going to help a little bit; it’s a starting point.”

It’s in an undisclosed location for LGBTQIA+ young adults experiencing homelessness and needing a safe place to stay.

How you can still help

According to Bortner, the center is currently looking for donations for the Closet of Change and supplies for renovations.

“If anyone wants to donate any type of materials or anything like that, if a construction company would like to come in and donate their time, or give us some resources or help with discount us, we would love to have something like that,” he said. “We’re taking any type of donations and type of resources, like clothing, toiletries food, it all has to be new including the food and toiletries and makeup.”

To give any donations, you’ll need to contact Full Spectrum Community Outreach ahead of time to arrange an appointment.

Give them a call at (234) 254-8924, send an email to info@fullspectrumcommunityoutreach.org, or send them a message on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.

If you’re interested in volunteering, send an email to info@fullspectrumcommunityoutreach.org

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This story was originally published August 9, 2023 at 4:00 AM.