Pride Month 2019 kicked off with a celebration in Hauppauge as the LGBT Network officially cut the ribbon on its brand new facility.
Located at 125 Kennedy Drive, the 15,000-square-foot “next generation center” is the nation’s largest suburban LGBT center, according to David Kilmnick, president and CEO of the Garden City-based nonprofit LGBT Network.
“We are making history not only on Long Island, but in the nation,” he said of the 25-year-old LGBT Network, which runs “from the Midtown Tunnel to Montauk,” and is now has a presence in 115 of 127 Long Island school districts.
The Hauppauge location joins the Hamptons LGBT Center, as well as the Queens LGBT Community Center (Q-Center) in Little Neck. Additionally, 75 units of senior affordable housing and a community center are being built in Bay Shore, and an LGBT center and health clinic will soon be coming to Patchogue.
With services ranging from HIV testing to ending domestic violence to anti-bullying workshops to Pathways to Pride and so much more, the LGBT Network provides direct help to more than 5,000 people annually.
“It really shows what we can do when we plant seeds and help people who reach out and have got a vision,” said New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, whom Kilmnick credited with helping him get the group off the ground in 1993, thanks to a $15,000 contribution.
“We are with you, and we will be with you until the mission is accomplished,” said George Tsunis, the founding chairman and CEO of Chartwell Hotels and chair of NuHealth.
To learn more about the LGBT Network, visit lgbtnetwork.org.
