Pride Center of Vermont – Update 02-12-2026
We are excited to share that the Pride Center of Vermont is launching our Community Mapping Project. This will be a key piece of strategic work guiding the Center’s next chapter. The Board has engaged Madison Barney (she/her), M, of The Center for Story & Strategy to lead this work over the next several months with our community.
M brings deep experience in community-centered, story-based work in Vermont. She has worked with the Vermont Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Telling My Story and the Vermont Community Health Equity Partnership.
We were fortunate to receive interest from a strong, talented, and diverse pool of candidates, reflecting the depth of care and commitment that exists across our community and partner networks. We are deeply grateful to everyone who expressed interest in supporting this work, and we hold genuine appreciation for the range of perspectives, lived experiences, and expertise that emerged through that process.
This project is part of our commitment to rebuilding thoughtfully, transparently, and in direct relationship with 2STLGBQIA+ communities across Vermont.
What is Community Mapping?
Our Community Mapping will be a listening-first process designed to build upon the existing knowledge of what queer Vermonters need to thrive, identify what services and spaces already exist across the state to meet those needs, and evaluate where gaps, overlaps and opportunities lie. Rather than focusing only on registered 501(c)(3) non-profits, the mapping will explore the full spectrum of queer organizing including grassroots organizations and informal networks to capture differences in access, support, and lived experiences.
The Board believes that conducting a transparent, community-centered mapping process that welcomes the needs, wisdom, and aspirations of 2STLGBQIA+ Vermonters statewide will enable the Pride Center of Vermont to find its alignment within the broader ecosystem of care and advocacy while building trust through genuine collaboration.
This initiative prioritizes curiosity over questioning, alignment over agreement, clarity over certainty, and community ownership over institutional prescription. This work emerges from both necessity and opportunity: the Pride Center’s current pause creates space for the kind of deep listening and reflection that ongoing operations rarely allow.
How Input Will be Gathered
Over the coming months, M will lead a statewide engagement process that includes:
- stakeholder interviews with frequent community partners. If you or your organization would like to participate in a stakeholder interview, please reach out to M at: [mbarney@entangledhealth.com];
- Community listening sessions. Hybrid community forums will be hosted in Northern (3/18), Central (3/19), and Southern (3/24) Vermont. We will share locations and details in the coming weeks;
- Public online feedback forms:
- Focused outreach to communities often underrepresented in statewide planning, including BIPOC communities, transgender community members, rural communities, individuals with disabilities, youth and elders. Small group affinity-space discussions will take place the week of March 2nd. If you would like to participate in these conversations, please indicate so in this form (Community Wisdom Form for representatives for organizations or this one Community Wisdom Form for Individuals) and M will add you to the invitation.
This work will take place across Vermont, with a strong emphasis on participant privacy, emotional safety, accessibility, consent, and on creating affirming spaces where people can share openly, honestly, and without fear of judgment, exposure, or harm. The process will be designed to respect people’s time, boundaries, and lived experiences, particularly for those who may have felt marginalized, overlooked, or underserved previously.
How Findings Will be Shared
De-Indentified Findings from the Community Mapping process will be:
- Shared with the Pride Center of Vermont Board of Directors to inform future strategic planning and priorities for reopening.
- Made available to 2STLGBQIA+ organizations, partners, and collaborators across the state, so its insights can benefit the broader community, not just one organization.
How Findings Will Be Used
Findings from the Community Mapping Project will be used as a practical, action-oriented foundation for strengthening 2STLGBTQIA+ support systems across Vermont. Rather than serving as a static report, the Board will use and share these findings to inform real-time decision-making, collaboration, communication, and investment as the Pride Center charts its strategic future alongside the broader community.
- Inform organizational strategy and prioritization: The findings will directly inform the Pride Center’s strategic direction by identifying unmet needs, service gaps, geographic disparities, and emerging risks within Vermont’s 2STLGBTQIA+ communities. This information will be used to prioritize potential programs, partnerships, and capacity-building efforts that align with the most urgent and impactful opportunities for support.
- Strengthen partnerships and coordination: The mapping component of this project will be used to clarify who is doing what, where, and for whom across Vermont’s 2STLGBTQIA+ ecosystem. These findings will support stronger coordination among nonprofits, mutual aid groups, health providers, legal service organizations, municipal partners, and funders by helping stakeholders align roles, identify collaboration opportunities, and respond more effectively during times of crisis or increased demand.
- Support advocacy and systems-level change: Aggregated findings will be used to inform advocacy efforts with funders, policymakers, and community leaders by clearly articulating patterns, gaps, and systemic barriers facing 2STLGBTQIA+ Vermonters. This evidence base will help elevate community voices and support data-informed conversations about public investment, policy change, and infrastructure needs.
- Enhance transparency and accountability to the community: The assessment results will be shared back with community members and partner organizations in accessible formats, reinforcing the Pride Center’s commitment to trust and accountability. By demonstrating how community input translates into concrete action, the Pride Center aims to strengthen its role as a responsive, community-centered institution.
We are grateful to M for bringing her care, rigor, and relational approach to this work, and we look forward to sharing updates as the community mapping process unfolds.
We are also grateful, most especially, to our community with whom we hope to engage on this journey. Thank you, in advance, for any consideration you may give to participating.
FAQ Updates
Our FAQ section on the Homepage will continue to be updated. This is being expanded further with a timeline of ongoing work, current program priorities and ways to get involved.
SafeSpace Anti-Violence Program
Please note that the SafeSpace Anti-Violence Program continues operations at the Vermont Network. Survivors and community members can still reach advocates through the SafeSpace hotline at (802) 863-0003 or at https://www.safespacevt.org/. We remain deeply grateful to the Network and program staff for ensuring continuity of this essential service.