This summer, The San Diego LGBT Community Center’s Hillcrest Youth Center will celebrate its fourth anniversary of service to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth.

It is certainly important for us to commemorate this occasion. More then 4,500 youth from all over San Diego County have been served by the Hillcrest Youth Center since we first opened our doors in 2000, becoming the only drop-in facility for LGBTQ youth in the county of San Diego.

The Hillcrest Youth Center offers cyber/computer access, health education, basic financial education, youth leadership training, case management, HIV prevention education, life skills training workshops, discussion groups, counseling services and amazing social activities. The range of services and programs is impressive, but perhaps the most important function of the Hillcrest Youth Center is that it provides a safe, affirming space for LGBTQ youth to be proud of who they are and the freedom to discover who they might become.

The Hillcrest Youth Center is open Tuesdays-Thursdays from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m.; on Fridays from 5:00 to 10:00 p.m.; and Sundays from 4:00 to 10:00 p.m. For more information about the services and programs available at the Hillcrest Youth Center, call (619) 497-2920.

Anniversaries are meant to be festive affairs, and this one is no exception. But we don’t celebrate the first four years of the Hillcrest Youth Center without also knowing that we still have a great deal of work to do to protect and serve our LGBTQ youth here in San Diego.

With that knowledge, it’s clear we must do more.

For the past two years, a dedicated band of volunteers and collaborators have worked and researched and committed their time and energy and expertise to the development of a youth housing project that will provide permanent, affordable housing to LGBT youth. If any of us had any doubts about the need, those doubts were quickly – and harshly – removed during the needs assessment process: it took just four months to locate 400 homeless LGBT youth, from 14 to 24 years old, in San Diego.

These youth know how to find other resources, but don’t utilize them out of fear – or because of previous experiences with harassment or discrimination in non-LGBT friendly or sensitive environments. Their stories of maltreatment in places where they hoped to find help are heartbreaking. Twenty percent of these youth are HIV-positive, but have never told anyone of their status and have yet to see a doctor for specialized HIV care. Forty percent have been in the foster care system and not found help. We have to find ways to get them off the streets – to help them stop selling drugs and/or their bodies and start giving them hope and opportunities for education and jobs.

This is not a project we’ve undertaken lightly. Establishing affordable housing in San Diego is a long and complicated process. We have attempted to locate the project several times, each time priced out of the market by skyrocketing prices or developers. But the experts assure us that is also part of the long housing process. Tenacity is something we have plenty of.

You’ll hear more about this project in the coming months, but be assured that The Center is committed to staying the course on this effort. We will continue our work, consulting with housing experts, youth housing specialists, affordable housing finance experts and others. These youth belong to us, to our community, and no one else is going to provide these opportunities for them. We are committed to making sure the next generation of LGBT people is fully supported, and provided with every opportunity to become successful and contributing members of our community.

In addition to our work with youth, The Center has two major events coming up soon that will need your support and participation so mark your calendars!

This year, AIDS Walk San Diego will take place on Sun., Sept. 26, and teams are forming now. Volunteers are needed to make this important community event happen. For more information, call (619) 291-WALK.

The Center’s biggest event of the year – our annual Gala – will take place on Sat., Oct. 30, at the Marriott Hotel & Marina. Buy your tickets now by calling (619) 692-2077 ext. 246. Visit this article at www.gaylesbiantimes.com for more information about AIDS Walk San Diego or to buy your Gala tickets online.