WE NEED YOUR HELP TO PLANT MULTIPLE LGBTQIA+ COMMUNITY CENTERS IN GREATER AUSTIN

We have the nation’s third-largest LGBTQIA+ population (5.9%) – only San Francisco and Portland have more LGBTQIA+ people per capita. Multiple LGBTQIA+ community centers around the Austin area will make sure that every LGBTQIA+ resident has convenient access to services, resources, guidance, and a chosen family.

QWELL works to ENGAGE every LGBTQIA+ resident, CONNECT each with resources they can use to improve their wellbeing, and SUPPORT local organizations rather than duplicate their work.

• If we can engage every LGBTQIA+ and Ally resident, we build a larger base of donors and volunteers to support the growth of all local LGBTQIA+ organizations.
• If we can connect each LGBTQIA+ resident with the affirming resources they need, we improve LGBTQIA+ health, wealth, and happiness.
• If we support local organizations, we increase access to care and strengthen relationships among all of us working for LGBTQIA+ wellbeing, equality, and liberation, forming a cohesive movement instead of siloed efforts.

Since December 2015, hundreds of local LGBTQIA+ community members have participated in a process to develop this QWELL strategy.

Through community engagement and formal research since 2015, Greater Austin’s LGBTQIA+ community has come up with a solution:

Develop multiple community-building centers so every LGBTQIA+ resident has convenient access to safe, sober spaces to find resources and grow their chosen family.

QWELL has spent years collecting data to answer these initial questions: 

1. Where are there concentrations of LGBTQIA+ residents, so that we can locate permanent community-building centers nearby? (freeprideflag.com)
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2. How do LGBTQIA+ residents’ demographics and needs vary from neighborhood to neighborhood? (qwellbeing.org)
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3. Can we identify enough committed donors and volunteers to sustain multiple LGBTQIA+ community-building centers? (DONATE)
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4. Are there gaps in programming and resource availability, how can those gaps most effectively be filled, and by whom?

Each center will be focused on meeting our LGBTQIA+ residents’ needs for community relationships, life navigation support, and fun, friendly, sober spaces to socialize.

The plan is for each center to be built in a new, mixed-use development that also includes affordable housing, restaurant, retail, office, and event space so that we have a positive impact on the surrounding neighborhoods.

Our plan will improve life for everyone in Greater Austin by increasing housing density, walkability, affordability, and neighborhood character.

The QWELL strategy:

• Requires no money from the City of Austin;
• Creates many jobs; and,
• Generates income QWELL can reinvest to improve LGBTQIA+ quality of life.

Other charities that offer key services for youth, mental health, and sexual health have expressed interest in co-locating with QWELL’s Austin Outpost centers.