About

The Safe Place Community Center is a dream of mine, years in the making.

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My own personal experience growing up gay in Oklahoma, to put it mildly, was extremely difficult. Being relentlessly bullied at school, growing up in a church where I was constantly told gay people were eternally damned, and having homophobic parents & family, it was hard for me to ever find a place where I felt safe or comfortable to be my true self. The thing that motivates me the most to create the Safe Place, is that as hard as my childhood was, so many young queer & trans Oklahomans have it far, far worse than I did.

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The vision for this community center is to build a safe haven, a place for queer & trans Oklahomans to gather and know that they are accepted and wanted, no matter their sexuality or gender identity. A community center to help provide housing to queer or trans Oklahomans experiencing homelessness, or abuse in their home environment. Outreach programs to Oklahoma Schools, putting The Safe Place’s information in the office of every school guidance counselor so they may give our information to any students they think are at risk of homelessness or abuse because of their queer or trans identity. We also want The Safe Place to have trained therapist-lead programs for Oklahoma parents to come and be properly informed and educated on how to handle their queer or trans child’s identity in a healthy, nurturing way. Of course, we have many other dreams and goals for The Safe Place. However, it all starts with raising money.

We want to change the way LGBTQ+ children and young adults are treated in the state of Oklahoma. We want to provide a place where kids who don’t feel accepted anywhere else, can come and know they will be surrounded by other people like them. A place to feel loved, accepted, and safe.

This is a huge undertaking, but we can do it. The Safe Place has already assembled a board of directors and hired a non-profit specialty law firm to form this entity. We have already received our 501c3 approval from the IRS, so all donations are tax-deductible.

Thank you so much for donating, sharing this with family or friends, or for even just taking the time to read this.

 

With all my gratitude,
Christian Council

Founder, The Safe Place OKC