For eight years, the North County LGBTQ Resource center has been working out of a small space off Mission Avenue in Oceanside.
Now, the “little center that could” is moving to a bigger space at 1919 Apple St. in Oceanside.
Initially, the center plans to move into the space as tenants in September, and finalize a purchase by the end of the year.
The price tag for the property is $4.5 million, and the center needs to come up with $800,000 for a down payment. So the center is turning to the community for help.
"This is a community center, not just an LGBT center ... so we’ll be here for everybody, not just the LGBT community," said Max Disposti, the founder and executive director of the center. "This is the building to host, with a lot of love and care, and make it look a little more colorful. ... It's going to be the building that provides services to everyone."
The site has provided services before. It housed the Bread of Life soup kitchen and pantry before that was taken over and dissolved by the San Diego Rescue Mission.
Disposti said buying a space was not only a testament to the center’s growth and impact in the region, “but an investment for our future generations where LGBTQI families and individuals will have a place where to safely gather, thrive and lead into the future. A place for all our communities to also organize, advocate and experience the intersectionality of our work.”
The center has launched a major gift campaign, with a goal of $1.3 million to be raised by the end of the year. It would not only cover the down payment, but also repairs and renovations to the 18,000-square-foot property, which is nearly empty.
Three tenants are leasing spaces on the plaza, and their leases will continue even after the North County LGBTQ Resource Center moves in and closes escrow.
"We're really excited. It is a transformational step for us and for the services that we provide at the center," Disposti said. "It's a space that has a lot of promises because we are literally walking distance from the train station that brings people from Escondido to our center. For us that was the most important thing."
The demand for services has grown and, with that growth, the need for a bigger space.
"People come here for any kind of reason. From people stopping by because they want to have access to our library, resources, or sometimes because they have just been surviving sexual assault attacks ... trafficking ... any kind of trauma that people might experience out in the streets," Disposti said.
The center has 27 staff members, and space for them — and the clients being served — is tight.
"We provide behavioral health just right here in the room. We have telehealth and in-person behavioral health," Disposti said. "It's free mental health services, and we serve about 86 people per week at the moment."
That same space is shared with youth services.
"We do a lot of services working with schools. Lately, there's been a lot of conversations around book banning. Our youth are organized together to create prom events and experiences where they can feel safe," he said. "We also go through the schools in North San Diego County to make sure that our kiddos are safe and supported."
Disposti said a lot of the work and education also happened outside of the center.
"Now, government agencies, nonprofit institutions and for-profit corporations are reaching out to us because they want to do better. They want to make sure their employees, their family, are treated with dignity and respect," Disposti said.
And bigger projects have come out of the small space, including unicorn homes and villages for homeless LGBTQ youth, North County’s first annual Pride event, Pride by the Beach, and food distributions for all community members, along with supportive advocacy on the front lines for a range of issues throughout the North County.
So, though the small space has worked, staff is excited for what's to come in a bigger space.
But Disposti knows that not everyone may be supportive of the expansion. "I invite them to ask the questions. All our books are open," he said. "We know where the money goes. We are supported by county, state, federal, and the city of Oceanside. So we invite people to be even critical about the resources we provide because we're here to improve them. So you know where your $20 or $200,000 went to, because this is your space, too."
