Milwaukee LGBT Community Center executive director calls move a homecoming as PrideFest kicks off

MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee LGBT Community Center is celebrating Pride Fest’s 30th anniversary this weekend from a new home — and its executive director says the move feels like a homecoming.

The center relocated to its current space in February, situated near the intersection of First Street and Pittsburgh Avenue, across from the Bobblehead Museum and Collectivo coffee shop.

WATCH: MKE’s LGBT Community Center executive director calls move a homecoming

Milwaukee LGBT Community Center executive director calls move a homecoming as PrideFest kicks off

“We have been here since February. We are loving it. It’s been a welcome home for us. When the center first opened up back in 1998, we were actually on South 1st Street, and so it’s been a homecoming for us,” Executive Director Ritchie T. Martin, Jr. said.

The center provides a range of services to Milwaukee’s LGBTQ+ community, including behavioral health services, a food pantry, a gender-affirming clothing boutique, and Project Here — its oldest program — which serves young people between the ages of 13 and 24.

Martin, Jr. said the community’s support has been critical, especially as the center has faced federal funding losses over the past year.

Milwaukee LGBT Community Center

“The community has grown. The center has grown. We’ve gone through our ups and downs like any other nonprofit across the country, but the community’s really showing up for us, especially over the last year as we face federal funding loss. It has been really, really unique the way the community shows up,” Martin, Jr. said.

Martin, Jr. emphasized that every form of support makes a difference.

“Volunteering, you know, there’s actually no little bit that can help. Every little bit that a person can do, whether it’s volunteering, whether it’s clothing donations, whether it’s giving monetary donations, every little bit helps in these times,” Martin, Jr. said.

Milwaukee LGBT Community Center

He said the need for centers like this one remains as important as ever.

“Very much so important. We show up each and every day living through our mission, providing services to a marginalized vulnerable community, and the people need these services. We’ve seen the growth in the services that are needed and so it’s important that we continue to show up, the community shows up, and we’re all here for each other,” Martin, Jr. said.

PrideFest’s 30th anniversary celebration continues this weekend in Milwaukee.

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