Rainbow City

The Hudson Pride Center

By Tara Ryazansky

Photos courtesy of the Hudson Pride Center

"One of the things that we pride ourselves in is being there for our young people,” says Hudson Pride Center Executive Elizabeth Schedl. The pandemic has been hard on everyone, especially kids. Schedl says that in some cases it’s been extra difficult for youths in the LGBTQ+ community who are a major population that the center serves. Schedl says that across the country LGBTQ+ youths are experiencing higher rates of mental health issues, like depression and anxiety, due to coping with the pandemic. Schedl says that over 50 percent of the center’s clients identify as youths or young adults. “Over the past year they were really isolated, sometimes inside homes that were not affirming and accepting of their sexual orientation or their gender identity,” Schedl says. “They weren’t able to go to school or come to Hudson Pride Center in our physical space or to our events.”

Brick-and-Mortar Blues

The center’s physical space got shaken up by the pandemic as well. It had been using a space within Care Point Christ Hospital for several years. The partnership formed when the Hudson Pride Center sold its Journal Square location. Around the same time, the organization partnered on some health initiatives with the hospital and were given a space inside the hospital as a long-term temporary home.

“When the pandemic hit, we immediately knew that the hospital might have to use our space for their COVID related needs,” Schedl says. “Especially here in Hudson County. We were one of the hardest hit in New Jersey.” Luckily, just before the pandemic, the Hudson Pride Center found a new space in Journal Square. “It’s a two-storefront space that we’re building out into a mixture of offices and private client session rooms and a communal community space for people who are just interested in coming to hang out and feel like they’re connected to one another in a safe environment,” Schedl says. While the space is being built, the center found a small temporary home downtown. It will use that space until the Journal Square location is completed.

Gen Connected

But for young clients, the center found that an online presence was the most important location of all. “It became so necessary for us to connect with them in this virtual world and to really provide a lifeline to them of support and services,” Schedl says. “We had been seeing the need for our services and our programming and our support group.” The youth program is called YouthConnect. It serves LGBTQ+ youths and allies ages 13-24. The group holds Friday Night Weekly Workshops that include empowerment programs, social support, and fun. The Hudson Pride Center serves other groups as well. This includes a SAGE program for senior citizens. “We call them our seasoned community,” Schedl says. “Right now our SAGE program meets twice a week virtually. It used to be once a week in person, but due to COVID we

kicked it up to twice a week because this was also a part of our community that felt the most isolated during the pandemic. We felt the need and the importance of making sure that our seasoned community members felt that we were here for them and connected with them.”

JC Pride

“We have programs and services for everyone in the LGBTQ+ community,” Schedl says. This includes parents of LG- BTQ+ youths seeking support. “They just need to reach out to us. They can send an email or a message on social media, or give us a call, and we would be happy to go over what we do and everything we offer.” August is Hudson County Pride Month. “There’s pretty much an event each day of the month,” Schedl says. “Some days there are more than one. Jersey City really spearheads Hudson County Pride Month with the most events.” This year marks the 20th anniversary of Jersey City Pride. Schedl says that the Hudson Pride Center was founded in 1993, and has been connected with the Jersey City Pride Festival since its inception. “What grew from one event is now a monthlong celebration,” she says. “I believe that Jersey City has one of largest LGBTQ+ communities in the country. The diversity in this city, and the acceptance and love and support that we receive gives us the ability to be the leader in New Jersey for the magnitude of events that we hold.” Go to hudsonpride.org to learn more about events and volunteer opportunities.—JCM