Yesterday was a humbling day for me.

The News Tribune put a terrific story about the new facility for Oasis and the Rainbow Center on the front of the South Sound section.

I joined my dear friends Laurie Jinkins and Laura Wulf at House of Tattoo on 6th Ave, getting wedding rings etched on their ring fingers a week before their wedding at Union Station. This time last year, we were all working frantically to be the first state in the country to pass marriage equality by a vote of the people… and we did it!

At noon, I was nominated by the Chamber for the Art Popham Award for helping build community spirit… which was a thrill, and totally unexpected.

And yesterday afternoon, the Broadway Center was honored by Pride Foundation with the Emerald Award for our work advancing equality for the LGBTQ community, and we joined Mayor Strickland in raising the Rainbow flag over City Hall for the third consecutive year.

But those of you who know me know that awards, while wonderful, are not what motivates me. I’m all about results. And we still have work to do– lots of it– to make sure that homeless youth find shelter, that vulnerable seniors find support, and that the LGBTQ community continues to move forward.

So today, while the Out in the Park festival surrounds me at the theaters, I am proud… but more important, I am also committed to the work ahead. If you haven’t had a chance to donate to the campaign yet, please do… we still have $25,000 to raise before we move in at the end of July.

Hi Friends! Tonight, I will be spending the evening “dialing for dollars” for the Creating Community Campaign with some of the area’s top elected officials and do-gooders. We are less than $50,000 from our first goal– with a couple of weeks to raise it to stay ahead of our construction payment schedule.

This is an amazing time for equality (DOMA, Prop 8)… but marriage equality is far from the only issue facing LGBTQ people here in Tacoma. Did you know that up to 40% of homeless youth in Pierce County are gay or lesbian? Do you know that every day, vulnerable seniors have to go back in the closet to access care at local nursing homes?

PLEASE ANSWER THE CALLS. This project will be literally life-saving for youth in crisis and isolated seniors. It will be community strengthening for Pierce County– creating a visible, accessible one-stop shop for LGBTQ and Allies who need services (housing, education, addictions, mental health, HIV) and for those of us who are blessed not to face those struggles and want to pay it forward.

The new space for Oasis and the Rainbow Center is coming along spectacularly well– the walls are up and painted, light is streaming through, and now the old-growth fir floors are being sanded in preparation for staining and sealing. Now, we’ve got one more construction payment before we can change our focus to furnishing the spaces and ramping up our services. PLEASE HELP TODAY.

I’ve fallen to second place in the individual fundraising on this online service, and I’m far from my $5,000 goal. That’s not where I’d like to be as co-chair of this campaign. I’d appreciate your support in helping put me over the top over the course of the next week or so.

I appreciate all of you for your support of me, and all the work we are doing together as a community.

Friends,

On Tuesday night, after I hit “send” on e-mails asking you to support the Creating Community Campaign for Oasis and the Rainbow Center, the Bellevue-based “See Your Impact” system experienced technical failures. For a while, the site was down. Once it came back up, it was insisting that folks make an additional contribution to support “See Your Impact” when no such contribution is required.

Several people let me know about these issues, and I am very grateful! To be clear, all you should have to do is zero out the default suggested amount for See Your Impact, save your edits, and then continue to checkout with 100% of your donation benefiting Oasis and the Rainbow Center.

This afternoon I spoke with the company’s CEO, Dijvijay Chauhan. The problems have been fixed– and Dijvijay felt so bad about your possible inconvenience that See Your Impact made a nice contribution to the campaign.

I am passionate about Oasis and the Rainbow Center because I know these two agencies save lives. Their new location on Pacific Avenue is a national model of collaboration and efficiency. Please take a moment to join us in supporting the cause– and please let me know if you experience any problems moving forward.

Many thanks!