Affirmations Community Center is committed to helping the SOGIE expansive (LGBTQ+) community connect with services that exemplify safety and belonging. This survey was developed by Affirmations Community Center to meet the following purposes:
- To help your organization examine its commitment to creating spaces of belonging for LGBTQ+ individuals, including its efforts toward supporting racial equity. Belonging and safety are defined through all aspects of lived experience and well-being. As such, this assessment can help you identify positive actions that support your efforts, as well as those that may need more attention and/or effort.
- To increase transparency as we help connect LGBTQ+ community members with the services your organization offers by developing a Community Resource Guide that shares your information on our website as comprehensively as possible.
What's in it for me?
Since the inception of our organization, Affirmations Community Center has been dedicated to connecting the local community with vital resources that treat them with dignity. Over the years, this mission has evolved from operating a helpline to now offering an online resource guide.
While we have had versions of this guide in the past, our goal is to create an entire webpage devoted to online resources across a variety of areas that are affirming and accessible to all people, especially our LGBTQ+ community.
Each year, thousands of people engage with Affirmations Community Center through our various programs, such as our monthly pop-up food pantry, vaccine and HIV testing clinics, youth drop-in center, and support groups. Many seek us out specifically because they are looking for resources where they know they will be treated fairly and equitably as LGBTQ+ individuals.
If you offer resources for the queer community or want to increase your visibility within the LGBTQ+ community, listing your services here would be a great step.
What's expected of me?
On a basic level, we will be asking for:
- Up-to-date information about your services, including relevant contact information.
- Your commitment to serving the LGBTQ+ community, and that you align your policies and practices with the most current standards of care for our community within your respective fields.
So, what does that mean, why does this matter, and what is this going to look like?
Our goal is to have a list of resources on our website where members of the LGBTQ+ community know they can access your services without fear of being treated in a discriminatory manner. To help ensure this, we will provide a space for our community members to offer feedback on your services.
This aims to both protect our community from further harm and give your service the opportunity to learn and grow.
If we receive negative feedback regarding discrimination or other experiences indicating a lack of inclusion or bias, we will communicate directly with you. From there, we hope to initiate a dialogue about this feedback, with the potential to offer supplemental training and/or support if needed.
If you cannot support this open dialogue at this time or it is not what you are looking for, then this resource guide is most likely not a good fit for your services to be listed.
How do I fill this out?
There are several sections throughout this survey, each designated for different types of groups and organizations. Please only fill out the sections that are relevant to your organization. Here are the four service areas, each with its own section:
- Social Service/Non-Profits
- Healthcare/Mental Health
- Business/For-Profit Service
- Social Group/Organization
If you cover multiple service areas, we ask that you fill out all relevant pages. For example, if you are a non-profit that also offers mental health services, we would ask you to fill out both the Social Service/Non-Profits section and the Healthcare/Mental Health section.
Lastly, if there is a required question that you don't have the information to answer, you may simply write N/A.
Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey and for your commitment to enhancing the accessibility of vital resources in our local community!