Along with a property manager, our apartment building has an Advantage Services Coordinator, who offers social service resources to our residents. Although not trans, he is a member of the LGBTQ Community and a powerful ally.
Today I met with him to discuss a number of things for our area. He is in the process of setting up a meeting with one of the Outreach representatives.
The Transformation Project is based in Sioux Falls (on the other side of the state, near the Minnesota border), but we are looking to expand their services to all of South Dakota.
There is much work to be done, but we are hopeful that we can team up with them, include the
Black Hills Center for Equality, and I would like to include our local Veterans Administration LGBTQ Care Coordinators. That would give us a firm base to represent local military, civilian, and veteran LGBTQ resources and outreach programs.
For now, this plan is in its infancy. I will post here as progress is made. It is a difficult battle in one of the reddest states in the country. But our LGBTQ community deserves just as much representation as in any other state, so I am hopeful that we can become a stronghold in Western South Dakota and perhaps Eastern Wyoming and Nebraska.
