Mahoning Valley Pride Center opening marred by vandalism

Info from Mahoning Valley Pride Center

On December 6, the Mahoning Valley Pride Coalition held the grand opening of the Stonewall Community Center at 1523 Poland Avenue, Youngstown, OH, 44502. Afterwards the center's holiday party took place. The following account is from the Mahoning Valley Pride Center blog:

"Plenty of people showed up and brought so much delicious food.

"Laura got up and explained her wish for everyone to participate in Operation Holiday Cheer. Laura worked hard to provide every one at the party with cards and addresses of local soldiers who are serving overseas. Laura delivered two touching speeches about the importance of letting the soldiers know that they are in our thoughts and prayers. Everyone was listening carefully to Laura's instructions on how to send a card and holiday cheer to our troops. Laura stressed that we are all her extended family. After her speech we got back to eating listening to music and talking.

"About 5 minutes till 10:00PM there was a loud smash and the sound of glass shattering stopped the laughter and music.

"After a few seconds everyone ran outside to see two men wearing hooded sweatshirts walking far down the street proud of the fact that they just shattered our window and knocked down our 'Pride Center Event' sign. The men were too far away to identify and they disappeared.

"The police officer asked if we even wanted to make a police report. He said they would probably never find out who did it."

Photos from the party can be viewed online at http://mvpridecenter.blogspot.com/

The Stonewall Community Center will be operated by the Mahoning Valley Pride Coalition and will be home to several equality-minded organizations in the Mahoning Valley. These organizations include: Mahoning Valley Pride Coalition (formerly known as the Mahoning Valley Pride Center), Stonewall Democrats, PFLAG (Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) Youngstown, and All Families Matter.

In addition to providing meeting space for member-organizations, the Stonewall Community Center will offer drop in hours on non-holiday Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Drop in hours will begin on Saturday, January 3, 2009. Volunteers will staff the Stonewall Community Center to provide information to visitors about the Center and about member organizations.

Visit at their Facebook page.