COMMUNITY
Borough Pride Centers Improvise During COVID-19
Brooklyn, Staten Island LGBTQ venues scramble to serve community despite limitations
BY MATT TRACY
On the fi rst day of March,
the team at the Pride
Center of Staten Island
was all smiles
as they confronted the borough’s
St. Patrick’s Day Parade — which
has consistently banned LGBTQ
groups from participating — with a
refreshing dose of Rainbow colors
in a hostile environment.
A few weeks earlier on the other
side of the Verrazano Bridge, the
Brooklyn Community Pride Center
signaled the dawn of a new era
when staff there sealed the deal on
a much-anticipated, forthcoming
state-of-the-art headquarters in
Crown Heights.
Both of those moments now
seem like distant memories.
In the blink of an eye, another
era emerged. When the coronavirus
pandemic engulfed the city
and region later in March, both
community centers had to fi nd the
means of serving their local queer
communities one way or another.
“We actually had to turn on a
dime and transform a lot of our programs
to virtual platforms,” Staten
Island Pride Center executive director
Carol Bullock explained in
an April 22 interview.
Like countless other organizations,
both Pride centers shifted
much of their operations online
while also committing to maintaining
efforts to provide muchneeded
services, such as making
food available to those in need. In
the midst of a health crisis that has
morphed into an economic crisis,
both centers have stepped up their
food distribution programs, and
Bullock said that in other ways as
well the pandemic has expanded
the scope of work she and her team
carry out in the community.
“I reached out to a few seniors
myself and one said, ‘I don’t have
cat food,’” Bullock said, referring
to her organization’s work in delivering
food to Staten Island elders.
“All of a sudden we’re fi nding cat
food, and then someone needs a
cell phone charger. If anything, it’s
us opening up to say, ‘We don’t just
Brooklyn Community Pride Center CEO Floyd Rumohr said his team is continuing to respond to communities
on the ground, saying, “if we were healthcare providers, we’re in the emergency room now
stopping the bleeding.”
do this. We’ll be helping any way
we can.”
Some of the virtual programs
offered by the Brooklyn Community
Pride Center include support
groups, physical activity-related
classes, social events, and a virtual
resource hub providing help seven
days a week. Among the programs
that have gone virtual at the Pride
Center of Staten Island are youth
and senior initiatives, as well as
mental health services.
Both organizations have noticed
an uptick in those seeking out
their programs since the pandemic
blanketed the region. While most
non-profi t organizations have reported
an increase in demand for
services during the crisis, another
reason for the boost in attendance
is because it is simply easier to attend
an event virtually than having
to physically travel there.
“For some people it is also more
comfortable to join virtually,” said
Jako Douglas-Borren, who serves
as Brooklyn Community Pride
Center’s director of programs.
“They also might be hesitant to go
to an LGBT Center.”
The center in Staten Island has
seen 15 new clients for its mental
health program during the crisis,
including some healthcare workers
who were in need of an outlet
after working on the frontlines of
MATT TRACY
the battles against COVID-19.
“We’re also seeing more youth
who we’ve never seen before,” Bullock
said. “The programs have attracted
individuals because we’re
talking about how to handle yourself
both physically and mentally
during this time.”
The Brooklyn team, which has
welcomed more than 300 different
people to its virtual programs as
of late, sent out a survey to determine
the most signifi cant issues
facing its members. Douglas-Borren
pointed out that respondents
cited social isolation and food insecurity
as two top problems, and
sometimes those issues coincide
with homelessness. In one case, a
woman who frequently visits the
organization and lives in a shelter
said she is only allowed to leave the
shelter twice per day for 13 minutes.
“She mentioned that is not
enough time because there are
lines in front of the supermarket,”
Douglas-Borren explained. “By the
time she is in line, she is not able
to get suffi cient food.”
He continued, “Food is limited.
People who are homebound or not
able to go outside or don’t have
money to spend also have limited
food.”
Some queer youth clients have
been fortunate in fi nding friends
to stay with during the crisis, but
others, Douglas-Borren said, have
drifted out of touch with the center.
He wonders what has happened to
them.
“What about those who come
to the center regularly, but we are
now not able to get in touch with
them? Where are they? Where did
they reside? They were already
spending the night in subways or
at Port Authority,” Douglas-Borren
said. “The health risks for them
have been even greater now during
COVID-19.”
Social isolation, meanwhile, was
already a major problem among
queer seniors, said Brooklyn Community
Pride Center CEO Floyd
Rumohr, who described the issue
as an “epidemic before coronavirus.”
“It’s particularly hitting our
community of elders,” Rumohr told
Gay City News.
According to Douglas-Borren,
some members have experienced
re-traumatization, including those
who are seniors and also transgender
individuals who have endured
hardships in the past.
“Elderly people who have gone
through a period where they were
not able to be open about their sexualty
and had to hide it now have
to hide it in their homes because of
COVID-19,” Douglas-Borren said.
While both centers continue to
adjust to what appears to be — for
some foreseeable future, at least —
the new normal, the coronavirus
pandemic has proven that stability
has not yet settled in because
the crisis is still unfolding. More
than 145,000 cases and counting
have been confi rmed in New York
City alone, with more than 11,000
deaths — without counting another
4,000-plus “presumed” deaths
— meaning it will be diffi cult to
assess where exactly things stand
until the dust settles.
“We’re still in it; we’re still responding
as fast as we can to
communities on the ground,” Rumohr
said. “Analogously, if we were
healthcare providers, we’re in the
➤ BOROUGH CENTERS, continued on p.9
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