Annual Report CollarCityPride,Inc. 2024
Prepared by Meagon Nolasco, MSW (CCP Board President)
Em Spalti (CCP Board Member)
Brennan White
MissionStatement
Collar City Pride is an organization led by LGBTQIA2+ folks providing care, community, and training around substance-use services specific to the queer community. At Collar City Pride, we foster a vibrant and inclusive Rensselaer County that celebrates diversity, promotes acceptance, and empowers LGBTQIA2+ folks.
Through advocacy, education, and training, we strive to create a safe and supportive environment where we can live authentically and thrive. In the long term, we aspire to open Rensselaer County's first inpatient substance use treatment center geared specifically towards transgender, gender non-conforming, and non-binary individuals.
We are committed to offering LGBTQ+ affirming, peer-based harm reduction services, a yearly pride festival in Troy, and organizing events that promote connection and celebration within our community.
Photo of community members at Collar City Pride’s first Naloxone training at Cafe Euphoria in April of 2024
VisionAndValues
CCP envisions a world where LGBTQIA2+ folks have accessible, affirming, and appropriate substance use care.
Through our advocacy efforts, educational initiatives, and collaborative partnerships, we strive to build a world where LGBTQ+ individuals and those impacted by addiction can thrive in affirming environments, access quality care and support services, and contribute to a more inclusive and equitable society.
Vision Values
ExecutiveSummary
Collar City Pride is committed to raising awareness and providing actionable support to the LGBTQIA+ community in Rensselaer County. In our first year of operation, we’ve made significant strides toward achieving our mission, impacting the local LGBTQ+ community through various events and training programs.
This year, we successfully hosted the Troy Pride festival, emphasizing local involvement over corporate sponsorship. Through strong partnerships with community organizations, we also offered naloxone training several times in the community this year. These efforts were supported by the dedication of our volunteers and partners and the generosity of our donors.
Key highlights from the year include:
Hosting six public naloxone trainings, equipping over 65 community members with the skills to administer life-saving medicine.
Bringing CCP’s Troy Pride festival to Downtown Troy, featuring 55 local vendors, and performers, and attracting over 500 attendees.
Achieving official 501(c)3 nonprofit status.
Looking ahead, we are excited to continue building on this momentum. Our goals for the upcoming year include expanding our reach into rural areas of Rensselaer County, launching case management services at Cafe Euphoria in Troy, moving CCP’s Troy Pride festival to the fall based on community feedback, providing naloxone training to new partners, and further incorporating community feedback into our programs and services.
We are deeply grateful for the unwavering support of our donors, volunteers, and partners. Together, we will continue to work toward creating an inclusive and affirming environment for LGBTQIA+ individuals in Rensselaer County.
2024BytheNumbers
Collar City Pride hosted 14 communitybuilding events, in sober and non-sober spaces, specifically for LGBTQIA+ folks
Collar City Pride has trained over 65 community members to administer naloxone
The number of all local, mostly LGBTQIA+ owned, operated, and led vendors at Troy Pride
LGBTQIA+FolksandSubstanceUse
Collar City Pride was born from a visible need in the Capital Region community for LGBTQIA+-affirming substance use services, especially for the transgender, gender non-conforming, non-binary (TGNCNB) community, who are traditionally left out of binary-led spaces such as inpatient substance use treatment centers. TGNCNB folks should not have to choose between autonomy or sobriety, and services should never be withheld based on an individual's sobriety.
Research tells us that transgender adults are more likely to use tobacco and other substances, though not alcohol. This may be related to coping with emotional distress, trauma, or the minority stress caused by stigma, prejudice, and discrimination.
In the 2021 National Survey on Youth and Young Adult Mental Health by the Trevor Project:
56% of LGBTQ youth used alcohol in the past year, with 47% of those under 21.
11% of LGBTQ youth used prescription drugs not prescribed to them, regardless of age.
LGBTQ youth who faced physical harm due to their identity had higher chances of regular alcohol (1.34x), marijuana (1.62x), and prescription drug misuse (1.98x).
Regular prescription drug misuse was linked to a nearly threefold increase in suicide attempts in the past year for both youth under 21 (2.98x) and those 21 or older (2.83x).
For LGBTQ youth under 21, regular alcohol use was associated with a 50% higher chance of attempting suicide (1.62x), and alcohol use in those over 21 was also linked to higher suicide risk (1.31x).
Trevor Project. (2021). Data from the 2021 National Survey on Youth and Young Adult Mental Health. Retrieved from https://www.thetrevorproject.org/
Budge, S. L., Adelson, J. L., & Howard, K. A. S. (2021). Substance use in the transgender population: A meta-analysis. Transgender Health, 6(2), 118-127. https://doi.org/10.1089/trgh.2020.0052
2025Goals
Launch Rainbow Bridging Case Management Services
February 2025
Cafe Euphoria
Provide 8 Community Naloxone Trainings
Train 100 community members to administer naloxone
Expand sober events and spaces for LGBTQIA+ community
