Many changes are at the forefront of Uptown Media Company and the Gay & Lesbian Times, but one thing remains the same and that is the strength, longevity and continuing support we are giving the community we are so dedicated to serving.

In the past few weeks not only have Uptown Publications and the Gay & Lesbian Times recently moved from its University Heights location to a new office space in Mission Valley, but we have also reached our $2 million mark in giving back to San Diego’s GLBT and GLBT-friendly organizations.

During the past 23 years of operations, our gifts have included annual grants of $50,000 to The San Diego LGBT Community Center, $10,000 to AIDS Walk San Diego since its inception, $10,000 annually to the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, $10,000 annually to Mama’s Kitchen, $10,000 annually to America’s Finest City Softball League, $10,000 annually to Diversionary Theatre, $10,000 annually to FilmOut San Diego and $5,000 annually to the Gay Men’s Chorus. The Imperial Court de San Diego, Dyke March and various Youth Projects are only a few of the organizations and causes we have continually supported. We look forward to reaching $4 million more.

As we looked over the archives upon our move, we were reminded of the organizations that are the backbone of the community we report on week in and week out. We were also reminded of one important person who helped to single handedly build one of the most important organizations in this community: Cheryl Houk of Stepping Stone. The roots of Stepping Stone were literally planted with Cheryl Houk who back in the day literally spent hours shoring up the foundation of the buildings (if you could even call them buildings at the time) that housed its residents, as they were sliding down the cliff side.

This June Stepping Stone is Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of Stepping Stone’s new model Residential Facility aptly named “Cheryl’s Stone.”

To commemorate this milestone, the organization will present a number of special events that will both serve as a launch pad for future programming and service provision to the GLBT recovery community, as well as honor and preserve the contributions the community has made to Stepping Stone.

In honor of this event and in honor of Cheryl Houk being brought back to serve the community, The Gay & Lesbian Times is offering to make a $20,000 matching media grant. We are offering other media organizations, including SD Pix, FlawLes, Rage Monthly, Lavender Lens, to individually match this media grant. The premise behind this idea is that if all of the local GLBT publications would individually give $20,000 in exposure to Stepping Stone, in return, together we would raise more than $100,000 in media exposure for the organization, which has helped rebuild the lives of so many GLBT individuals in the recovery community. What a great way for San Diego’s GLBT media to come together and collectively fight the plague of GLBT addiction currently devastating our community.

We look forward to our other media partners stepping up to join together to fight the scourge of addiction. We also invite the community to stop by our new location, which boasts a modern new look and improved layout for the infrastructure of the new media company. The new space promises to not only offer upgraded surroundings, but also a new and fresh start for San Diego’s premiere GLBT news source, with our daily GLBT news site GLTNewsNow.com, our state of the art Web site www.gaylesbiantimes.com, with the fully digital version www.gaylesbiantimes.com/digitalversion of the nation’s largest GLBT weekly newsmagazine. Come and stop by our new offices today located at 3443 Camino Del Rio South, Ste. 300, San Diego, CA 92108.