Richard Hale de Ortiz, executive director of the Hudson Valley LGBTQ+ Community Center in Kingston, New York, June 25, 2024. (Tania Bariclow/Daily Freeman)
KINGSTON, N.Y. — The Hudson Valley LGBTQ+ Community Center was founded in Kingston’s historic Stockade District in 2005, six years before same-sex marriage was legalized in New York State.
The center was founded by a small group led by longtime Hudson Valley resident Virginia “Ginny” Apuzzo, who felt the region was lacking a space dedicated to protecting and nurturing the identities of the LGBTQ+ community.
Since 2005, the Kingston Center has grown to be a hub for the Mid-Hudson Valley’s growing LGBTQ+ community, providing a safe space for programs, events and community engagement. The Center is state funded and serves a four-county region including Ulster, Dutchess, Orange and Sullivan counties.
The center’s current executive director, Richard Hale de Ortiz, will take up the position in 2023. “My work at the community center goes back a really long way,” he said. “I grew up in New Paltz, went to college in the city, and during my second week at college in Manhattan, I visited what was then called the Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center.”
Hale de Ortiz said she became committed to growing and engaging with a community that at the time was a very stigmatized and difficult identity to have. “It was amazing to find a place that was so supportive and welcoming,” she said. “The AIDS crisis was really at the forefront at the time, so having a place of support was really important.”
Hale de Ortiz developed an “orientation” program to introduce newcomers to the city and those who have recently come out to the local LGBTQ+ community. After his time in the city, he worked at an LGBTQ+-focused community center in the Northeast before returning to his hometown in the Hudson Valley.
Now, Hale de Ortiz and his team at the Hudson Valley LGBTQ+ Community Center work to build connections between the diverse identities within the LGBTQ+ community. “We offer a variety of programs at the community center,” he says. “For example, we have several support groups that meet every week. These are support and discussion groups that anyone can join.”
“We also have some special programs here at the community center,” he added. “We have activities aimed at bringing people together and creating a sense of community and connection.”
Programs offered at the 300 Wall St. facility include “Mankind,” a men’s support group for all ages that meets every Thursday from 3-7 p.m.; “The Rainbow Lounge,” a space for LGBTQ+ adults 50 and older that meets Thursdays from 3-4:30 p.m.; and “Trans-Formations,” a counselor-led support group for people who are transitioning or considering transitioning that meets Mondays from 6-7:30 p.m.
The center also houses a Wellbeing Institute, which offers health-focused programs as well as counseling to those in need. Currently, the center has partnered with Hudson Valley Community Services to offer free STD, HIV and Hepatitis C testing at the Wellbeing Institute on the third Thursday of each month from 2-5 p.m.
“We also have a helpline that anyone can call if they have questions, are looking for resources or would like to speak to someone about an issue they need help resolving,” Hale-De-Ortiz said. The center’s phone number is (845) 331-5300.
Hale de Ortiz emphasized the importance of providing resources to LGBTQ+ people in the region. “On the one hand, you could say that it’s a lot easier today for young people to be LGBTQ+ or to explore or understand their identity than it was 20 or 30 years ago,” she said. “In some ways that’s true, but the reality is that it’s also a very difficult time in this country where LGBTQ+ people are generally threatened and targeted.”
“It’s important for individuals to have a place where they can come for support,” he added.
Hale De Ortiz said it’s important to recognize the diverse perspectives that exist not only in Ulster County but in the Hudson Valley region in general. “We can think of ourselves as living in a very liberal area, but the reality is that’s not the reality for all young people,” he said. “Connecting young people with each other, with young people who are struggling or not struggling, just trying to explore and understand who you are and trying to find connections, I think that’s really important.”
For Haile de Ortiz, the idea of connection is especially important. “If you look at the population at large, young people, especially post-pandemic, are experiencing very high levels of loneliness or isolation,” she says. “Places like community centers can be a powerful answer to that.”
While cultural acceptance and awareness of LGBTQ+ identities is growing, especially in the Mid-Hudson Valley, Hale-De-Ortiz said there’s still work to be done. “We need to make sure that people who can’t get to places like community centers have access to the support and services they need,” she said. “Part of our strategic plan is to be more proactive in reaching out to the community with the services and support that we offer.”
LGBTQ+ centers have done this by revitalizing their training programs and offering support groups and programs virtually as well as in person, with many services now accessible online through software like Zoom in hopes of connecting with community members from cities like Kingston and Poughkeepsie to rural areas.
“Everyone is welcome here,” Hale de Ortiz said.
For more information about programs and services offered at the Hudson Valley LGBTQ+ Community Center, visit lgbtqcenter.org
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