For more than a quarter of a century, Ann Arbor's Jim Toy Community Center has been a beacon of hope for the Southeast Michigan community. In 2018 the center received unexpected news that the landlords of its current location would be selling the building. Despite this sudden knowledge, Board President Travis Radina said that programming will continue as the center focuses on its move, though it will be the first priority coming into the new year.
"That's the first thing that we have to take on. So, as a result, we're not going to focus too much on expanding our calendar this year," Radina said. "We're going to make sure that we're going to have our marquee events like pride and the Jim Toy Birthday Bash and continue to, as long as we can, provide that physical space for all of our partner groups to meet and utilize the facilities."
Commenting on the results of the midterm election, Radina said that he's excited to work in a state that will have many more pro-LGBTQ officials in 2019.
"The Jim Toy Center is nonpartisan and non-political as a nonprofit organization, so we're not as much focused on the blue wave versus the red wave so much as we are focused on candidates who are tolerant and accepting of the LGBT community," he said. "And with the election of Dana Nessel as attorney general, we're finally going to have an attorney general who understands and supports us and is part of our community — and that's coming off of an incredibly hostile attorney general's office. So having Dana Nessel is an incredible accomplishment and we're looking forward so much to working with her."
