Thank you for inviting us to be here today.
To expand on Rachel's description of OUTSaskatoon, I'm proud to share that with a staff of 12, our services include a daytime and evening drop-in centre, free counselling, more than 10 evening and daytime support groups, two educators who provide diversity training to schools and businesses across the province, and more than 35 community events per year.
As well, we operate a weekly sexual health testing clinic and a monthly PrEP clinic in partnership with an organization called Saskatoon Sexual Health. In 2017, we opened Pride Home, a long-term group home for LGBTQ2 youth aged 16 to 21.
Before Rachel continues, I want to share one story about the value of community centres in improving the health and well-being of LGBTQ2 people.
When my gay daughter JQ first came out, she was only 12 years old. As she was struggling—and I mean struggling—to become herself and looking for a sense of community, we discovered this wonderful organization called OUTSaskatoon. In particular, my daughter loved attending Rainbow Coffee every week, a queer youth support group that provides leadership workshops, sexual health education, and arts and cultural activities for teens aged 15 to 19. As JQ explains now, seven years later, her experience at OUTSaskatoon helped make her the confident, healthy, socially engaged person that she is today. Not only that, but now JQ is part of our mentorship program for Pride Home and is passing along the support she received to a new generation of youth.