A few of the things RBCC members and participants have said about what the Center means to them.

“Moving to a new state is always an isolating experience, and I have had trouble meeting new people and finding community in the past because those places didn’t have nearby community centers. Thanks to Rainbow Bridge I have been able to make friends and feel like I belong here. I feel connected to the my new town and state in a way I never did in my previous homes. I fully credit RBCC with that.” – Faye

“I lived in a very homophobic part of the South. When I started to question my gender, I needed to put as much space between me and my old environment as I possibly could in order to safely answer important questions about myself. I chose Vermont as the place to figure myself out, a state where I knew ZERO people. This meant I was alone in a strange place for one of the most trying periods of my life. Thankfully there was this local trans group who provided me refuge, friends, and a nonjudgmental environment to help me navigate all of this. It was a true blessing.”

“I also wanted to say a HUGE thank you for organizing these meetings. This group seemed to magically appear just as I needed it. When I think back to where I was 3 years ago walking into that first meeting, my mental health was so broken, and I was hurting worse than I ever had in my life. But y’all played a huge part in helping me survive. And now tomorrow I’m planning on wearing a DRESS to work! I’ve come so far. I’ll always be grateful to you and this group for giving me the safe space I so desperately needed in order to heal myself. “

“I came out to myself as a trans woman in late 2023 after decades of self denial and rationalization of all the incongruities in my life. Isolated and without a real support system I sought out peers and a place to exist as myself, that’s when I found the trans/enby/gnc support group at Rainbow Bridge. The connections I made through that group and through the social groups I started attending at RBCC rapidly grew into the foundation of my support system. Those supports have helped carry me through some of the most turbulent parts of my life, through grief and loss. I’m forever grateful that Rainbow Bridge was there when I needed it and I hope it will continue to be around for the next person who comes looking for connections.”

“The Rainbow Bridge Community Center has been a source of comfort, community, and self expression that has improved my life dramatically. Having an organization in town that is focused on helping people in the LGBT+ community and creating safe spaces for them really helped me think of Barre as home when I first moved here. It helped me find a group of people who were kind, accepting, and wise. People whom I call friends, and people whom I look to as mentors. Many times both! With their Table Top RPG Nights I was able to find a group of welcoming queer geeks to build a community with. People who are imaginative, expressive, and fun to be around. In the Queer Writer’s Group I have been able to express myself more deeply as a writer. I’ve found others with whom I can keep up my momentum as a writer while discussing our writing in depth. This has brought me a greater sense of fulfillment in my own work, and helped me form close bonds with others. In short, The Rainbow Bridge Community Center has helped me thrive as a person, and made the town of Barre feel like home in ways I am immensely grateful for.” – Phil C.

“The friendships, connections, support, and engagement that I have found at the Rainbow Bridge Community Center have been life-affirming and profoundly impactful. Like many of my generation, I grew up knowing a bit about the L, G, and B but having never even heard of the T or the Q, and most of the concepts and terms which are found within our inclusivity umbrella did not even exist when I was growing up. At the age of 11, in the late 70s, I knew I wanted to be a girl, but not at the cost of being a boy; I wanted both. But as the term ‘genderfluid’ would not even be invented until the mid-90s, I suppressed my identity and buried the idea for over forty years. Coming out in my 50s was a rocky experience in some ways, but when I found myself mired in dysphoria, reaching out to the queer community was the most powerful method of coming back to myself, and groups and clubs at RBCC were a key part of that process. The result changed my life, letting me shed anxieties and depressions I didn’t even realize were rooted in gender identity, and made me feel more part of a community than I ever have before. Now retired from a career in public service, I’m happy to direct my energies to helping the Center in order to bring that kind of affirming change and joy to others.”