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Mother And Son Duo Fundraise In Hopes Of Opening SCV LGBTQ Center

A Santa Clarita teen and his mother, Finley and Dawn Walker, are raising funds for an LGBTQ Center in Santa Clarita.

Finley Walker, a gay and transgender resident in Santa Clarita, thought that the Santa Clarita Valley was lacking in LGBTQ resources while going through his own transition, when he and his family would have to travel down to the city of Los Angeles for resources.

“Not everyone has easy transportation, especially right now,” he said. “You don’t want to go to L.A. for groceries or a check-up. It’s a matter of accessibility. There are high schoolers who are not out to their families, the SCV center would bring in like-minded people, giving a safe space and sense of community.”

Officials say that a Santa Clarita LGBTQ Center would provide health and wellness, both physical and mental, support groups and a youth space, a place for the younger to be able to be comfortable, based on a Community Needs Assessment Survey that the Walker family published.

“These three things are the things we want to start with,” Finely added. “Other things rated high too. We want to put a big focus on these things as the first three.”

The initial goal is $10,000 to start, which would help acquire the space and funding for staff, counselors and resources needed down the line. The $10,000 would also help establish the Santa Clarita LGBTQ Center as a non-profit organization.

The Santa Clarita LGBTQ Center aims to include people of all age groups, which requires more legal involvement than organizations focused on adults. A larger goal of $100,000 would fund a physical location for the Center.

“We have a goal of establishing a physical location within two years to serve the underprivileged and ignored LGBTQ population of Santa Clarita,” reads the GoFundMe description. “We seek to have resources for trans and gay youth, services for LGBTQ seniors, activities for people of all ages, and more.”

The Walkers met with Santa Clarita Mayor Cameron Smyth to present statistics from the Assessment Survey.

“He was very supportive,” Finley’s mother Dawn said. “He was welcoming and spent a lot of time with us and asked questions. We presented him with the notable statistics of that needs/assessments survey, this is how many people and what kind of people want a Center in Santa Clarita.”

Out of the 500 responses to the survey, 45 percent of the Santa Clarita residents identified mainly between bisexual, pansexual, gay, lesbian and questioning. The age range of the responses was almost evenly spread from 16 to 65 years or older, as well.

As of Monday, they had fundraised over $4,600 of their initial starting goal of $10,000. The Walkers are selling “Gay As Hell” cloth face masks to help the fundraiser.”

To donate to the GoFundMe, click here. To find out more about the SCV LGBTQ Center, visit their website.

Ed. Note: Jade Aubuchon contributed to this story.


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Mother And Son Duo Fundraise In Hopes Of Opening SCV LGBTQ Center

One comment

  1. Thanks for this well-written article about an obvious need here in the SCV. Congratulations and best wishes to the Walker Family for this challenging and thoughtful endeavor.

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About David Melnarik

David Melnarik was born and raised in Santa Clarita, graduating from Hart Senior High School in 2014. David is currently a Video and News intern at KHTS with plans to complete his Associates Degree of Arts in filmmaking at College of the Canyons in Spring 2019.