ALLENTOWN, PA — Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center has received a significant in-kind donation from City Center to support three of the Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center’s programs, the CyberCenter, the Emergency Services Pantry, and PowerON Allentown. The donation came in the form of equipment from the former hotel City Center owns at 9th and Hamilton streets in Allentown.
Included in the donation were furniture and television monitors and for The CyberCenter at Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center, which enhance opportunity for instructional programs for the community, such as resume clinics or computer classes. The CyberCenter at Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center hosts computer-based programs, such as health care enrollment events and medical marijuana enrollment assistance, for the LGBT community.
Also donated were cases of travel-sized toiletries for the Emergency Services Pantry, providing homeless and housing-insecure LGBT youth with essential travel-sized toiletry products. Approximately 40% of homeless youth are LGBT-identified, and many of the youth served at Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center struggle with housing insecurity at some level.
The largest donation was to PowerOn Allentown, a collaborative program of Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center and LGBT Technology Partnership in which used technology can be refurbished or sold to provide LGBT youth in the Lehigh Valley with new technology such as laptops, cell phones, or tablets at no cost to youth. Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center’s youth program participants then earn technology through leadership opportunities. City Center’s donation of more than 600 pieces of technology from the former hotel will translate into more than 100 pieces of new technology for LGBT youth.
“City Center is pleased to support Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center’s efforts to deliver important programs for the LGBT community in downtown Allentown. We are especially pleased that our support of the PowerOn program not only supports LGBT youth but supports the environment by preventing old technology from ending up in a landfill.” said City Center Marketing Manager Jill Brader.
“Technology and toiletries can be life-lines for LGBT youth in our community, and thanks to the generous support from City Center, we are thrilled to be able to enhance our ability to provide services to LGBT youth throughout the Lehigh Valley. City Center’s further support for our Cyber Center enhances our ability to add instructional programs, such as resume clinics, to the supportive services offered at our center. We are grateful to City Center for their commitment to our community.” said Adrian Shanker, Executive Director, Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center.
About Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center:
Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center provides arts, health, and youth programs to strengthen and support the LGBT community across the Greater Lehigh Valley.
About City Center:
City Center Allentown is a major mixed-use development that is helping transform downtown Allentown, Pennsylvania, into one of America’s most vibrant urban communities and a regional center of excellence for business, culture and metropolitan living. With Allentown’s new arena, PPL Center, at its core, City Center includes more than 1.4 million square feet among four Class A office towers, the Renaissance Allentown Hotel, STRATA Flats, upscale retail and restaurant space and a coworking space called Velocity. City Center’s total investment in downtown Allentown is $400 million, with an additional $500 million in development of office, residential, retail and green space underway. In 2017, the Downtown Allentown Revitalization District was honored with a Global Award of Excellence by the Urban Land Institute (ULI).
Information Provided By:
Adrian Shanker
Executive Director
Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center
