By Greg Hernandez A non-binary intermediate school student, feeling frustrated and misunderstood by their parents, decided to run away from their South Los Angeles home last year. After doing some research online, the 13 year old got on a bus and headed to Center South, the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s location on the northeast corner of W. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and 2nd Avenue. They came to the right place. “We were able to do a family reconnection that same day,” recalled Center South Senior Program Manager David Flores. “At the end of the day, the child just wanted to be heard and…
Author: Greg Hernandez
By Greg Hernandez AIDS LifeCycle is back with a vengeance with more than $4 million raised so far for the 2022 ride benefitting the HIV/AIDS-related services of the Los Angeles LGBT Center and of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. The COVID-19 pandemic had forced the 2020 and 2021 in-person rides to be cancelled but the world’s largest single event HIV/AIDS fundraiser is set to make its return this year June 5–11. While fundraising is off to a blistering start, there are still plenty of volunteers — known as Roadies — needed to work behind the scenes of the 545-mile bike…
By Greg Hernandez The staff of the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s bustling pharmacy has been stretched especially thin in recent weeks with the unprecedented spike in COVID-19 cases in Southern California fueled by the Omicron variant. On National Pharmacist Day (January 12), an occasion that recognizes and honors all pharmacists across the nation, Director of Pharmacy Services Nicole Thibeau wants to make clear that the pharmacy’s approximately 60 employees remain focused on the health and well-being of customers. “They are driven by the mission of the Center and by helping the really vulnerable patients—that’s what’s getting them through right now,”…
Being a part of the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Resistance Squad has changed my life and given me a way to express myself through tangible, real-life action. I’ve made friendships that enrich my life in ways words can’t express and gained a far deeper understanding of how policy reform and compassionate legislation can change the game and pave the way for true equality. I’ve learned even more about systemic injustices and how necessary it is that we never stop fighting. Ever. Volunteering is a privilege and it’s one I am eternally grateful for. Working together, mentoring other volunteers, watching and…
Being a part of the Los Angeles LGBT Center is something special and my colleagues are like family to me. We have been here for each other throughout this entire COVID-19 pandemic and continue to support one another daily. What I love the most about my job in Culinary Arts is having the opportunity to be of service every day and to make sure that the meals we create and serve are healthy, delicious, and nutritious for our youth and seniors. I’ve always said, pandemic or not, no person or family should ever have to go hungry. The culinary staff…
After working for two solid days at the Los Angeles LGBT Center transforming a community room for youth clients into a bright and welcoming space, John J. Arguelles was feeling more tired than anything else. That changed when a youth said to him: “That looks great! Is it going to stay like that?” Argulles, Loyalty Manager for the IKEA store in Carson, was suddenly struck by a wave of emotion. “I said ‘Yeah, this is donated, this is for you,’” he recalled. “It hit me because they were so grateful that something was being done to make the space feel…
By Greg Hernandez His family brought him illegally into the United States from Mexico at the age of three only to kick him out of the house last summer after he came out as transgender. The undocumented youth, now 20, turned to the Los Angeles LGBT Center to help him find a way to legally remain in the only country he’s ever known and to attend college. He is among the more than 180 LGBTQ asylum and immigration clients from over 50 countries currently receiving direct legal services from the Center’s Immigration Law Project. The stakes can be life and…
By Greg Hernandez Guests at this week’s Over the Rainbow-themed holiday party were encouraged to wear rainbow colors or something related to The Wizard of Oz. Larry Rubenstein, 78, saw this as a perfect opportunity to further brighten up his already festive holiday outfit by hanging a string of bright, blinking lights around his neck. “I start with the blinking lights and I add everything to it,” Rubenstein joked as he sat at a table with friends. Rubenstein was among the approximately 200 Los Angeles LGBT Center seniors to attend the lively and colorful afternoon party held for them in…
In my work, I love being able to touch everything that is a part of me. I had previously worked with the Latino community and with first-generation youth in schools. The one thing I had never had a chance to do until coming to the Center was work with the LGBTQIA+ community. The most rewarding thing that I do is work with young people who have left their previous life behind and shown up at our door seeking housing and support. There really is no typical day. I do individual therapy sessions, I might hold a group therapy session, or…
By Greg Hernandez It took a few minutes for Senior Recruitment Coordinator Albert Ontiveras to get the more than 175 guests at Tuesday’s AIDS/LifeCycle Holiday party to settle down and listen to remarks from the evening’s speakers. Then Ontiveras almost immediately got the crowd all revved up again. “We have crossed the $3 million mark – make some noise!” he said. “As a community we have the opportunity to reach higher than we ever have! Surely we have a record-breaking year ahead of us.” The festive party for those participating in the 2022 edition of AIDS/LifeCycle included live jazz, cocktails…