The Center news: Jolt! Cafe opens in the Center

The Center is excited to announce the opening of our new café, The Jolt! Tiff any Stiles, owner of The Jolt, had a soft launch of the café March 15, and is working with Center staff to hold an offi cial grand opening event, soon. In the meantime, The Jolt is now open and has a great selection of espressos, brews and blends, along with delicious food items, including a selection of Toastie Sammies (paninis served hot and fresh). Look for vegan-friendly options including vegan pasties, the Barbecue Jackfruit Sammie, pure matcha beverages and freshly roasted coff ee. We hope you will stop by and visit The Jolt and be watching for extended hours to off er coff ee and breakfast items for morning commuters.

Clinic welcomes Matt Fuqua
The Wellness Clinic is excited to welcome our newest team member, Matt Fuqua. Matt has been a longtime volunteer at The Center and joins the team with experience and a whole lot of enthusiasm.

You may have seen Matt in the community as an assistant manager at Fun Hog Ranch. He is a kind individual who brings compassion to his role serving the community. When stopping by The Center, please say hello to Matt and wish him well in his new position.

As a reminder, the Wellness Clinic is open to everyone in Southern Nevada to receive free HIV testing and counseling.

The goal of the clinic is to empower members of the community with awareness and greater capacity to take control of their lives. We offer confidential services including rapid testing with results provided in 20 minutes. The clinic is open Monday through Thursday, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 to 5:30 p.m.

The Wellness Clinic also offers a new vending machine as part of the Trac-B harm reduction initiative. The machines provide needle exchange options for individuals registered as part of the Trac-B program. The goal is harm reduction in helping intravenous drug users reduce transmission of diseases, such as hepatitis and HIV. The vending machines also provide pregnancy kits. We certainly hope local drug users seek long-term help with their addiction. But for those who do continue using, the harm reduction program helps reduce transmission of communicable diseases and benefi ts the entire community.

Congratulations to Cindy Hall and the Women’s Fest 2019! Congratulations to Cindi Hall and her team with Women’s Fest 2019! Women’s Fest is an annual event that celebrates women throughout Southern Nevada and provides an empowering environment for women in the LGBTQ family and our allies. The Center is proud to have been the home of Women’s Fest, and we look forward to future events that help us celebrate the countless women making a difference in our community. Thank you to everyone who participated, and especially to the selfless volunteers, who helped organize a remarkable experience.

Papa John’s Pizza diversity deal for Center
There is a great opportunity in the month of April for everyone in the community to help support The Center. Papa John’s Pizza contacted The Center, and has offered to give us 20 percent of all sales in the month of April throughout Southern Nevada.

The team at Papa John’s is making a sincere gesture to show support for the LGBTQ community as they enhance their commitment to diversity and inclusion across the organization.

Locally, members of our LGBTQ family serve in management positions with Papa John’s, and hope to build a bridge of support and affirmation with our community.

Please support The Center by ordering your Papa John’s pizzas using the promotion code: TheCenterLV throughout the month of April. It is essential that you use the promotional code for The Center to receive the proceeds.

Advocacy training for victims of violence
A sincere thank you to the newest class beginning the Center Advocacy Network (CAN) training at The Center. The Center Advocacy Network is a state-certification and nationally recognized advocate and mandated reporter training program for volunteers working with victims of interpersonal violence.

Upon completion of training, the certified victim advocates are prepared to help clients with protection orders, referrals to social services and other support services for victims and survivors. Victim advocates are specially trained to offer nonjudgmental, confidential support, while empowering victims to make decisions, take action and work through a crisis. The Center is always looking for new volunteers to participate in future CAN training. If interested, contact Holly Reese at hreese@thecenterlv.org, or Vanessa Gotti at vgotti@thecenterlv. org. To contact The Center, call 702-733-9800 or email us at info@thecenterlv.org.