UP UP and Away: Building a Community Center for Supporting the LGBTQ Community

Creating Change National Conference
January 2011

The UP Center of Champaign County is a new community center for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, questioning, and ally community in the Midwest. Within seven months of being incorporated as a nonprofit, The Center had developed twelve educational, support, and social programs, hosted the community’s first organized Pride Festival, and connected to over 20 local resources in order to serve the LGBT community needs better. This workshop provides attendees with the challenges we faced and shares some the successes we had in developing our center in order to help others wanting to develop similar initiatives. Come learn and share ideas for incorporating and structuring a community center, utilizing the Internet and social networking tools to promote your organization, and strategies for raising money.