Wreath auction raises money for Tanager Place’s LGBTQ+ Youth Center

CEDAR RAPIDS — Tanager Place’s LGBTQ+ Youth Center’s annual wreath auction goes live Friday to raise money to support the center’s programming and continue providing “kids a safe place to be who they are.”

This is the fifth annual wreath auction, culminating in a luncheon from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Dec. 14 at Camp Tanager, 1614 W. Mount Vernon Rd. in Mount Vernon. Tickets for the luncheon are $25 a person or $200 for a table of eight.

The luncheon is a celebration of outstanding LGBTQ+ youth in the community, community organizations and allies as their achievement is honored with special recognition and awards.

Wreaths will be on display at the luncheon for last-chance bidding.

About 30 wreaths will be up for auction. Corporate sponsors and individuals purchased wreaths for $1,000, decorated them and donated them back to the center to be auctioned off. Other wreaths were decorated by community partners, including the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Corridor.

To purchase tickets or bid on wreaths, visit tanagerplace.org.

Last year, the auction and luncheon raised $30,000 to support programs and events offered at the center over the last year, including prom and summer camp.

The LGBTQ+ Youth Center is a safe and confidential place for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth and allies. The center was launched in 2018 to be a place where youth and families could find support and be themselves.

The center holds meetings on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, every other Friday and every other Sunday afternoon at the Tanager Place Estle Center, 1030 Fifth Ave. SE in Cedar Rapids. The center offers several support groups, including a transgender support group and parent support group. It teaches skills including cooking, financial literacy and social skills.

Sage Lawrence, 14, said she has felt more confident in “who I am as a person” since she started coming to the center over a year ago. “It made me realize there was, in fact, people more like me and who supported me for who I was,” Sage said.

Her favorite activities at the center are “mental health hangouts” led by a therapist who asks questions and leads discussions, and cooking in the center’s kitchen with her friends.

“It’s an amazing place where people can be themselves and not be afraid to be who they are,” Sage said.

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Lori Ampey, director of the LGBTQ+ Youth Center, said the center is becoming increasingly important as state legislatures have introduced and implemented a record number of anti-LGBTQ policies.

“A lot of times they come in and feel like they have no future, especially if they are in a not supportive home,” Ampey said. “From what I hear from the kids is they don’t feel like they have a place where they can go and be themselves without being harassed or bullied, and that’s the safe space the center provides. Without the center, we would have many more kids who are suicidal. I only know that because they tell me that.”

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In a 2023 U.S. National Survey on the mental health of LGBTQ young people conducted by The Trevor Project, nearly 1 in 3 LGBTQ young people said their mental health was poor most of the time or always because of anti-LGBTQ policies and legislation.

Nearly 2 in 3 LGBTQ young people said that hearing about potential laws banning people from discussing LGBTQ people at school made their mental health worse.

Fewer than 40 percent of young people found their homes to be LGBTQ-affirming, and a majority of LGBTQ young people reported being verbally harassed at school because people thought they were LGBTQ.

Forty-one percent of LGBTQ+ young people seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, and young people who are transgender, nonbinary and/or people of color reported higher rates than their peers, the survey found. Fifty-six percent of LGBTQ young people wanted mental health care in the past year were not able to get it.

The Trevor Project is a national nonprofit organization that provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services, research and advocacy for LGBTQ+ youth.

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Ampey said she dreams of a day when the center no longer is needed because society is accepting of LGBTQ+ people. “I picture someday loving environments for these kids who are LGBTQ+ in their homes, schools and churches. For me, a world looks like everyone and not having separate spaces,” she said.

But for now, LGBTQ+ youths don’t have the same opportunities as other kids, Ampey said. “They’re trying to survive the bullies.”

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David Maier, a Cedar Rapids City Council member, and his husband, Matt McGrane, purchased five wreaths, many that were decorated by small business owners, and donated them back to be auctioned. They also purchased two tables, one for the Eastern Iowa Arts Academy, a nonprofit in Cedar Rapids that provides fine arts enrichment to kids.

The wreaths Maier and McGrane purchased that will be up for auction were decorated by the Moss Plant Shop, Kismet Coffee & Bloom, the create/exchange and the Eastern Iowa Arts Academy.

“The LGBTQ+ Youth Center, I believe, is the only safe space for all queer kids and their allies to come and be themselves under the supervision of Lori Ampey, and also have positive experiences with each other,” Maier said. “There may be some negative comments you hear online or in the news coming from our politicians, but having that strong support where they can be their authentic selves and be loved is important.”

Matt Van Maanen, chair of the advisory board for the LGBTQ+ Youth Center, said the wreath auction and luncheon has become a “signature event.” The wreaths decorated by community members and businesses are a visible show of support, he said.

“The best thing we can do is volunteer, donate and support those most marginalized, and in this case that’s the kiddos at the center. They need our support more than ever. They need to be seen, heard, and they need to know we’re there for them,” Van Maanen said.

For questions or more information about the LGBTQ+ Youth Center, contact Ampey at lampey@tanagerplace.org or by phone at (319) 777-8068.

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