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Out Boulder County Awarded $2,000 Award to Create LGBTQ+ Storytelling Website
BOULDER, Colo.— The social determinants of health (SDOH) are the daily life factors that directly impact one’s health, wellbeing, and longevity. For the LGBTQ+ community — particularly members who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color — there are myriad SDOH factors that adversely impact access to employment, housing, public accommodations and health care that have an overall negative effect on this population. Out Boulder County is an LGBTQ+ community center that advocates on behalf of Colorado’s LGBTQ+ population and in December, 2021, it was awarded $2,000 by the Colorado Equity Compass (CEC) to continue its advocacy efforts. Now, Out Boulder County is slated to use those funds to create its own storytelling platform. “We will create a multimedia website that can host various mediums of stories by documented and undocumented Latino/Latina LGBTQ+ people including blog posts, interviews, photo projects, and videos,” say Out Boulder County representatives. “The $2,000 award would be used to compensate the participants for their work and time telling their stories and to buy equipment to support high-quality story collection.”
These products can be found below:
“On average, members of the LGBTQ+ community tend to have less access to resources that directly impact longevity and wellbeing,” said CEC Project Lead Dr. Rachele Espiritu. “Out Boulder County’s stories will help frame the importance of social determinants of health (SDOH) in determining long-term health and wellbeing for the LGBTQ+ community.”
About Out Boulder County Opening its doors in 2004, Out Boulder County got its start as a community center because of overwhelming local support for Boulder Pride. Since gaining a physical location, the center has created an active community of over 150 volunteers and offers a wide array of programming. Alongside its many services, the center asserts through its programming and vision that living in a society with systemic homophobia, transphobia, and racism does not promote strong public health in LGBTQ+ populations or society overall. About the Colorado Equity Compass Across Colorado, communities are facing inequities that impact their health and wellbeing. Different factors, including systemic racism, a lack of affordable housing, and environmental concerns, contribute to these inequities. As a project of The Colorado Trust, CEC helps communities — and the organizations that serve them — better understand these issues and advocate for change using data and stories. This work consolidates diverse resources, connects peers, and both aligns and empowers communities and institutions via the Equity Data Navigator. The model showcases inequities and the social determinants of health (SDOH) across communities. CEC also serves as a hub for community storytelling and information-sharing.
For more information and to view the Equity Data Navigator, visit coequitycompass.org. For media inquiries, contact CEC at hello@coequitycompass.org.