Message from the CEO

After coming out to her church as lesbian and finding herself alone without
resources and support, Rosa Diaz founded the Abide LGBT Life Group in
June 2014. By December 2014 those attending the life group discussed the
need for more resources and organized the first LGBT Network Event in which
nine local Imperial Valley agencies participated voluntarily but few from the
LGBT community. Therefore, on January 29, 2015 Ms. Diaz sent out another
invitation to members of the LGBT community to discuss the need for an
LGBT center in the Imperial Valley. During this meeting approximately 20
people attended and as a result a Board of Directors was immediately formed.
Since this meeting, board members of the newly named Imperial Valley LGBT
Resource Center met on a weekly basis until the Articles of Incorporation
were completed and filed in April 2015. The next goal was to finish the
Bylaws. By October 2015 all the required documents were submitted, and the
Imperial Valley LGBT Resource Center celebrated its grand opening. Since
then more services to meet the needs of a growing community have been
added. Today the Imperial Valley LGBT Resource Center offers an array of
services, such as substance abuse education and prevention, transgender
support services, domestic violence classes, LGBT competency training,
youth activities, support for loved ones of LGBTQ+, mental illness support
groups, HIV counseling and testing, and much more. In a short five years the
Imperial Valley LGBT Resource Center has become the cornerstone for the
LGBTQ community of Imperial County. It serves more than 500 people
annually. The center is a proud member of CenterLink, a national association
for LGBT centers and has been recognized by the office of Assembly member
Eduardo Garcia, Congressman Juan Vargas, Senator Ben Hueso, Imperial County

Board of Supervisors and the City of El Centro