La Fuente Hollywood Treatment Center is hosting Dancing4dollars Dance-a-Thon in support of the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s youth programs and services on July 28. The fundraiser aims to engage local community, raise awareness regarding addiction treatment, celebrate sober life and raise money for a worthy community organization.
The La Fuente Alumni and friends have pledged to raise $10,000 or more that will be directly donated to The Los Angeles LGBT Center Youth programs and services. Participants will each raise $500 and spend the entire night Dancing4Dollars.
Early last month, Dancing4dollars committee members were invited to do a walkthrough of the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Youth Center on Highland and take a hard hat tour of the new Anita May Rosenstein Campus, which is under construction across the street from The Center’s The Village. Manny Rodriguez, the founder and CEO of LA Fuente Treatment Center invited me to join the tour, which was led by Los Angeles LGBT Center Chief Development Officer, Bill McDormott.
I’m fairly versed on LA LGBT Center services. I’ve written several articles about events, fundraisers and human interest stories throughout the years in relation to The Center’s various programs, including its LGBT youth center. I attended the ground breaking ceremony of the Anita May Resenstein Campus in March of last year, but I had never been inside the Youth Center on Highland. Getting an inside peek and learning about the daily breakdown of all the services The Center provides to young LGBTs who are homeless, suffering from addiction, hungry, scared and alone, was mind-blowing.
The LA LGBT Center has eight physical sites across Los Angeles with 660 employees that work for the center. It sees 45,000 people through 24 different programs that stem from family planning all the way to senior housing for low income seniors. The Anita May Resenstien center is the largest capital campaign that’s ever been done in the LGBT world. The 120 million dollar building will become the new home of the youth and senior programs when it is completed in 2019 on the 50th anniversary of the Los Angeles LGBT Center.
The Center currently runs two LGBT youth programs:
The Youth LifeWorks Program, which services the youth who are still in the home and are at risk of bullying and just need to socialize. It is youth development and mentoring program offering one-on-one, peer, and group mentoring opportunities for LGBTQ youth ages 24 or younger. LifeWorks holds a conference once a year called Models of Pride. Last year it hosted 1600 LGBT high school kids that came together from all over the country and saw 40 colleges and 40 business participate to provide information and recruitment opportunities.
The other LGBT Youth Program is The Center’s Homeless Youth Program. It is the largest and most expensive homeless youth program in the country. The program offers addiction recovery services, Clothing, counseling and social services, computer center, emergency overnight beds, employment assistance, food, GED program, HIV and STD testing and showers. The Homeless Program operates on four different levels: There is the drop-in center, the 30-day, up to 9-day emergency housing, there is an 18-month program and then there are apartments that the Center subsidizes so that youth could have affordable housing.
The dancing4dollars Dance-a-thon really opened my eyes to what The Center is and what the Center does. Learning about the day-to-day operation and getting an intimate look inside the Youth Center on Highland and seeing the progress being made of the Anita May Resenstein Center inspired me to not only become an online media sponsor of the event, but to also join the Dancing4Dollars Dance-a-Thon committee. I decided to dance my ass off to help raise $500 or more on my own for this worthy cause where it’s a win-win all around; you dance to some great music and pay it forward to something bigger than yourself.
The Dancing4dollars Dance-a-Thon will be held at La Fuente Hollywood Treatment Center located at 5718 Fountain Ave., LA CA 90028 on Saturday July 28, 2018. Doors open at 6:30pm and the dance will run from 7pm-10pm. DJs include Eddie X, Gary IRIZA and Quinn Callicott. The theme for this year’s event is skirts.
You can donate to my RallyUp fundraising page at https://go.rallyup.com/me/c58308
Or you can pledge to the group as a whole at https://go.rallyup.com/committee/Center. Those who pledge $25 or more will get complimentary admission, convenient parking at Helen Bernstein High School across the street, as well as food and beverages.
Or better yet, do what I did, and join the Dancing4Dollars Dance-a-Thon team to help raise your own money for this good cause by becoming a member with your own fundraising page. Simply contact Edwin Sanchez: [email protected] or Arthur Khayat: [email protected]
La Fuente Hollywood Treatment Center is an intimate, specialized, and community-driven program. It is one of the nation’s leading LGBT drug rehab and treatment programs. La Fuente has vast experience applying effective treatment interventions that are specific to the issues of LGBT individuals.
To learn more about LA Fuente Hollywood Treatment Center, visit lafuentehollywood.com
