LGBTQ+ Cen­ter

Wel­come!

The Ken­neth Young Cen­ter is proud to offer inclu­sive and affirm­ing LGBTQ+ resources, men­tal health and sub­stance use treat­ment and recov­ery, and sup­port to the LGBTQ+ com­mu­ni­ty in the North­west suburbs. 

We offer youth and young adult pro­gram­ming, advo­ca­cy oppor­tu­ni­ties, pro­fes­sion­al train­ing, and com­mu­ni­ty events through­out the year. 

At the LGBTQ+ Cen­ter, LGBTQ+ indi­vid­u­als can find oppor­tu­ni­ties for social gath­er­ings, net­work­ing, job and career sup­port by being involved with pro­gram­ming nights, com­mu­ni­ty events, vol­un­teer­ing, or being a part of our Youth Advi­so­ry Coun­cil (YAC) or North Sub­ur­ban Pride Net­work for queer pro­fes­sion­als and allies.

High School Com­mu­ni­ty Night

Every oth­er Thurs­day of the Month 5pm-7pm

Com­mu­ni­ty Night for LGBTQ+ teens in the North­west sub­urbs. As a queer teen, you can expect your inter­ests and opin­ions to be wel­comed, as all of our Com­mu­ni­ty Nights cen­ter around the needs of our attend­ing com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers! Each ses­sion is an oppor­tu­ni­ty to learn, have fun, and build com­mu­ni­ty with those around you in a safe space. 

Com­mu­ni­ty Night is held biweek­ly on Thurs­day evenings. For more infor­ma­tion, please email lgbtqcenter@​kennethyoung.​org.

Young Adult Night

Every oth­er Fri­day of the Month from 6pm-8pm 

Young Adult Com­mu­ni­ty Night invites all LGBTQ+ young adults ages 18 – 24 based in the North­west sub­urbs. When you attend Com­mu­ni­ty Night, you can expect a group of wel­com­ing queer peo­ple ded­i­cat­ed to build­ing com­mu­ni­ty and learn­ing togeth­er. Each time we gath­er, there is a unique activ­i­ty inspired by the needs and inter­ests of our attend­ing com­mu­ni­ty members. 

Com­mu­ni­ty Night is held biweek­ly on Fri­day evenings. For more infor­ma­tion, please email lgbtqcenter@​kennethyoung.​org.

Youth Advi­so­ry — Rain­bow Room

First and Third Tues­day of the Month 4:30pm‑5:30pm

Open to LGBTQ+ high school stu­dents and their allies in the north­ern sub­urbs inter­est­ed in advo­ca­cy, lead­er­ship, build­ing sup­ports for LGBTQ+ youth, and com­mu­ni­ty orga­niz­ing. To be a part of the Rain­bow Room YAC, email lgbtqcenter@​kennethyoung.​org.

Vis­it the Youth Advi­so­ry Coun­cil page to learn more about the Youth advi­so­ry coun­cil and youth lead­er­ship at Ken­neth Young Center. 

Adult Advi­so­ry — North Sub­ur­ban Pride Net­work (NSPN)

Are you an adult who lives or works in the north­west sub­urbs? The NSPN is a net­work of inclu­sive and affirm­ing pro­fes­sion­als who share needs and solu­tions to sup­port LGBTQ+ youth. 

We wel­come involve­ment from many sec­tors of the com­mu­ni­ty includ­ing youth, par­ents, com­mu­ni­ty sup­port sur­vices, faith-based orga­ni­za­tions, gov­ern­ment, law enforce­ment, schools, health­care pro­fes­sion­als, local busi­ness­es, media and more. 

This is a net­work­ing oppor­tu­ni­ty to get to know oth­er LGBTQ+ pro­fes­sion­als and allys.

To ensure youth pro­gram­ming is youth-led, this group col­lab­o­rates with the Youth Advi­so­ry Counsel.

The NSPN meets quar­ter­ly. Meet­ings are vir­tu­al and are usu­al­ly from 3:00p‑4:00p. Reg­is­tra­tion is Required.

To learn more about NSPN or reg­is­ter to attend, email lgbtqcenter@​kennethyoung.​org.

Com­mu­ni­ty Health

LGBTQ+ SMART Recovery

LGBTQ+ Sex­u­al Health

• Free Rapid HIV Testing
• Free Con­dom and Lube Distribution

• Nalox­one
• Drug Test Strips

To learn more about these ser­vices, sched­ule an appoint­ment, or access sup­plies, please vis­it the harm reduc­tion page.

Q Clos­et

The Q Clos­et aims to pro­vide a shop­ping expe­ri­ence that is acces­si­ble, affirm­ing, and accom­mo­dat­ing for all LGBTQ+ people! 

All items in the Q Clos­et are free of charge to LGBTQ+ vis­i­tors as well as orga­nized by queer folks with queer folks in mind. The Q Clos­et shop­ping expe­ri­ence is lim­it­ed to two vis­i­tors at a time to accom­mo­date space and pri­va­cy needs. Q Cen­ter staff will rearrange the shop­ping expe­ri­ence for any vis­i­tor who requires acces­si­bil­i­ty accom­mo­da­tions as well as pro­vide a pri­vate space to change/​try on cloth­ing at all times. 

Train­ings & Consultation

Work with our facil­i­ta­tors to cre­ate inter­ac­tive work­shops that fit your pro­fes­sion­al devel­op­ment needs relat­ed to gen­der, sex­u­al­i­ty, sex­u­al health edu­ca­tion, and relat­ed topics.

Our team can also pro­vide con­sul­ta­tions to ensure your work­place is LGBTQ+ affirm­ing for staff and clients, LGBTQ+ affirm­ing school prac­tices, inclu­sive cur­ricu­lum, and more. 

To learn more, or sched­ule a train­ing, email us at lgbtqcenter@​kennethyoung.​org

We also offer a vari­ety of youth empow­er­ment and pub­lic health train­ing for indi­vid­u­als and orga­ni­za­tions. Vis­it our pro­fes­sion­al train­ing page to learn more about the train­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties available. 

Get involved

There are sev­er­al oppor­tu­ni­ties through­out the year to make con­nec­tions and com­mu­ni­ty with the LGBTQ+ cen­ter. Our pro­gram­ming thrives because of peo­ple like you. 

Vis­it our Vol­un­teer page, Donate page, or reach out to us at volunteer@​kennethyoung.​org to brain­storm some incred­i­ble ideas. 

Con­tact Us

650 E. Algo­nquin Rd, Suite 104
Schaum­burg, IL 60173

847.496.5939

lgbtqcenter@​kennethyoung.​org