Full Spectrum Community Outreach Center

(234) 254-8924

Types

Non Profit

Type

About Full Spectrum Community Outreach Center

BCC Full Spectrum Community Outreach Center was created in 2016 when Tim Bortner and Marnie Cram noticed a missing piece in the support of the LGBT community locally. Full Spectrum Community Outreach Center was created with the focus of providing mental health services, support groups, community involvement, and eventually housing for the LGBTQIA+ community to ensure their health and standing in the surrounding area. It was formed and molded in coffee shops, in living rooms, and by speaking with those who wanted involved. As the demand for this kind of organization grew, a space was rented soon after launching within St. John's Episcopal Church on Wick Ave in Downtown Youngstown to house support groups, meetings, and events. Our relationships with area businesses and organizations became a priority and we began attending more and more outside events in the community to raise awareness of the LGBTQIA+ population. Because of this, we quickly outgrew our rental space and secured a center/office within a commercial plaza, where we are currently located, in May 2018. We have since launched Warren, Ohio's first Pride festival, Pride in the Valley in 2019 which continued today. We are currently working on opening the area's first LGBTQIA+ shelter. In 2019 we launched a Housing Project that would allow for the first LGBTQIA+ shelter of its kind within the area. The goal is to have this shelter opened in Spring of 2023.