![Photo collage of BronxWorks staff celebrating Pride Month at events with colorful clothing](https://bronxworks.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/0628-pride.jpg)
Throughout the month of June, BronxWorks programs celebrated Pride Month and showed support for the LGBTQ+ community. BronxWorks is a large organization with very diverse staff and participants, and Pride Month is an important time to come together and stand with those in the community, learn from their experiences, and support their efforts for acceptance of LGBTQ+ rights and identities.
Pride Month was celebrated across the agency through a variety of programming and borough-wide events. Members of the BronxWorks LGBTQ+ Committee, BronxWorks Positive Living Program, and other BronxWorks staff attended Da Bronx Pride Festival, hosted by Destination Tomorrow. Positive Living hosted a table at the event to provide information about the program and offered free and confidential on-site HIV and Hepatitis testing. Positive Living also provided free HIV testing at Walgreens on National HIV Testing Day once again this year.
Jobs Plus held a LGBTQ+ Career and College Fair to help queer job seekers obtain the skills and network needed to boost their career. CAFE staff were also present to support attendees with the search for higher education opportunities that align with their career goals. Jobs Plus aims to have members of the LGBTQ+ community represented in all careers, and in all levels of leadership across all industries.
At Cooper Gardens Supportive Housing, residents celebrated Pride Month with an event for children and families that offered activities centered around LGBTQ+ visibility and knowledge. Staff and participants also painted different pride flags and other designs with lots of colors.
Jamilla Staine Pyne, Tenant Services Coordinator at Cooper Gardens, said the celebration and visibility of LGBTQ+ identities is critical in a supportive housing environment where people from “all walks of life” are living together. “LGBTQ+ communities have higher than average rates of housing instability, substance abuse, and domestic violence, all of which are issues that can come up in this environment when we meet with clients,” said Jamilla. “We want to be irrevocably clear that BronxWorks is here to help. People in the LGBTQ+ community have a safe place at BronxWorks.”