Our Mission: Honoring individuals’ gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation, we work to increase the health and wellness of Arizonans by eliminating health disparities and injustice.
Our History
The LGBTQ Consortium was founded in May of 2009 out of a recognized need for a collaborative effort to identify and reduce substance abuse disparities within the LGBT community of Maricopa County, Arizona. The Consortium, in partnership with One Voice Community Center – Phoenix’s LGBTQ community center – sought and was awarded funding from the RBHA to conduct a needs assessment surrounding these issues. For one year, the Consortium worked on secondary data analysis, asset mapping, and primary data collection in the form of focus groups, key informant interviews and a community survey with over 1,000 participants. Following the Strategic Prevention Framework, as provided by the RBHA, The Consortium identified alcohol abuse among adults as the primary concern within the LGBTQ community in Maricopa County. After receiving accolades from the RBHA for our work, the Consortium was again funded to continue this effort and implement environmental strategies to create positive change.
Co-currently, the Consortium has continued to reach out to the LGBTQ and behavioral health communities of Maricopa County and other parts of the state to engage in dialogue centered around these issues. Building our capacity to 60+ organizations and individuals, the Consortium values heavily active participation from our communities to ensure equal representation from all walks of life and perspectives.
In addition the alcohol prevention project (Safe Out) that has been funded by the RBHA, for the 2010 – 2015 fiscal years, the Consortium identified additional goals, objectives and activities to further our mission. These goals include developing and sustaining the emotional, physical and social health of our community via our current strategic plan.