Who We Are & What We Do

Mission Statement: Building a vibrant LGBTQ community through collaborative programs promoting Advocacy, Education and Wellness.

Vision Statement: Building LGBT community, together.

The Inland Northwest Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Center (“The Center”) is a 501(c)3 community center providing services to Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho.  The Center first opened in 1997 as “The Rainbow Regional Community Center,” we changed our name in 2007 and spent the next several years reorganizing the structure and mission of the organization.  In May 2010, we moved back into a physical location, immediately went to work and just as quickly grew out of our new space.  We moved into a larger office in December 2010 and celebrated with a “Winter Festival” on December 16, 2010. Currently we are looking to expand our existing space as the need has arose for more as we continue to offer various programs and hosting groups as well as our highly successful and ever expanding counselling program with 4 dedicated and certified counselors offering low cost counselling to the community, a gap not being met otherwise.    

For the past several years we have watched as the climate, with regard to LGBT rights and issues, has changed our region and the United States.  Those changes have brought awareness and questions which in turn has created a larger demand for our services.  In response to that demand, we have spent the last year developing and expanding the services we offer.   The following programs/services are now available: 

1. “Friendly Workplace” – the purpose of this program is to increase awareness and educate the general public about gay issues, laws and legislation that affect us.  This workshop is an in depth conversation about the gay community and upon completion of the 3 hour course the company/organization will be listed by the LGBT Center as a friendly workplace.   

1. “Cultural Competency Training” – is a program designed specifically for medical professionals.  This program is an extension of the Friendly Workplace program and includes information how to open the doors with their LGBTQ patients to promote open and honest communication, a necessary component to receive and provide top quality care.  It addresses specific medical concerns and promotes cultural understanding.  The development of this program was funded by a grant from the Susan G. Komen Foundation.   We have had an incredible response from the medical community and will be hosting our first training on March 21, 2011 at the Red Lion Hotel at the Park.  Following this initial training we will be compiling a package to become an accredited organization, thus being able to provide the medical community with continuing education credits for taking part in this course. 

1. “Ins & Outs” News Magazine – with the loss of our local “gay newspaper” a void in getting information to the community about events and matters of importance has been a problem.  This committee was established as a result of the Community Summit in May 2010.  Access to this publication is available online at www.insandouts.org and in hard copy at local establishments throughout the Inland Northwest.  This project has no formal funding and is completely a volunteer effort.  We have five issues planned for this coming year.

1. Education/Advocacy/Wellness – to round out our programming we now offer a large variety of workshops.  These workshops include: “How to” classes, information on important legal topics, meditation/general health education classes, a series on domestic violence, information on important financial issues, safer sex practices, support groups and more.  There are 2-3 workshops offered each week and support groups monthly.  

1. Additionally, The Center hosts Community Summits twice a year.  These Summits are open to the public brings community organizations and leaders together in a round table discussion.  These Summits have been well attended and have created communication, educational opportunities, collaboration opportunities, and unified our vision for a more accepting and welcoming Inland Northwest. 

2. Organized and hosted several Community Summits bringing statewide organizations to the table for an open and honest discussion about the needs of the LGBTQA Community, as well as to build relationships and coordinate efforts.

3. Developed and offered Cultural Competency Training for medical professionals and Safe Workplace Training for businesses and organizations.

4. Established a community calendar and published the first issue of a community newspaper,          Ins & Outs.

5. Sponsored several community fundraisers including concerts, shows, picnics, speed dating, Winter Festival, and Monte Carlo Night.

6. Coordinated efforts with other agencies to organize a counterprotest in response to visit from Westboro Baptist Church.

7. Introduced new sponcership and volunteer programs and training to involve the community in ownership of the Center.

8. Created an on-going series of programs offered several time per week that include “fun” projects and events, as well as important health, legal, financial workshops, and personal support groups.

9. Contracted with a therapist ( now a total of 4 ) to provide private and confidential low-cost individual, couples, and group therapy sessions.

10. Created a lending library of over 1000 LGBT-themed books available for loan.

11. Become the meeting place for individuals as well as several community groups including Coming Out group,Longterm Illness Support Group, Healthy Living Group, Rainbow Sobriety Group, BiSocial Group, Transgender Group, Anti-Violence Project of Spokane, LGBT Book Group.

We are more vibrant and alive then we have been since inception in 1997 and strive to be an all inclusive environment for anyone that seeks us out.  But we still have more work to do.  There is a large segment of the community that does not know that we exist, our lack of visibility is of real concern to us and we are addressing this in two ways

• In collaboration with OutSpokane we have been granted funding from the Community Building Fund to build and maintain a parade float.  This float is an LGBT Community Float .  It will be featured in every major parade in the Inland Northwest for the next two years.

• In collaboration with OutSpokane and the Alliance at Spokane Falls Community College we will be working on a series of Public Service Announcements – our goal for the release of these public service announcements is Fall 2011.

Obviously, with increased visibility we risk backlash from segments that do not “approve” of our mission.  But we cannot back down.  Our youth and community members need to know that they are not alone and there are people available to help them.  The ground work has been done but we need your help to continue moving forward.  Less then a year ago we had ten active volunteers and a vision.  Today we have nearly thirty active volunteers and three interns working to improve life in the Inland Northwest. As we continue our vision and mission we hope to offer more services and continue to collaborate with local and national organizations as we work to strengthen ties towards equality. We are for the community and operated by the community. As such we are always looking for input and involvement to reach our goals.