Members of the board of the Collin County Gay and Lesbian Alliance recently toured the facilities of the Samaritan Inn, a homeless shelter located in Collin County, after which shelter officials decided to update the shelter’s employee policies to include anti-discrimination protections for LGBT people.
The alliance, in partnership with The Resource Center of Dallas, will also provide diversity training for Samaritan Inn staff members beginning in August, according to Morris Garcia, alliance president.
Garcia said Samaritan Inn Executive Director Lynne Sipiora invited the alliance board members to tour the facility after the alliance donated $600, raised through the alliance’s first Pride Ride and Walk, held April 14 in Plano. He said more than 20 people participated in the event despite bad weather.
The alliance’s Community Service Committee, chaired by board member Mike Agan, has also dedicated its 2007-08 monthly canned goods collections to the shelter.
“CCGLA is committed to making Collin County a better place to live through partnerships and programs where everyone is of value,” Garcia said.
Sipiora said the Samaritan Inn shelter provides a temporary home to men, women and children, and is at capacity almost every day.
“We support and empower people so that they may regain their independence within the community,” Sipiora said. “The suburban poor are now equal in number to their urban counterparts, but in the suburbs there are fewer resources and they are harder to access. “
For more information about the Collin County Gay and Lesbian Alliance, call 214-521-5342 ext. 1715, or visit www.ccgla.org. For more information about the Samaritan Inn shelter, go online to www.thesamaritaninn.org.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition July 13, 2007