The Los Angeles LGBT Center to Receive Street Law’s 2023 Community Champion Award

Street Law’s 2023 Community Champion Award will be presented to the Los Angeles LGBT Center, the largest global provider of programs and services for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. The award will be presented at the annual Street Law Awards Gala on April 20^th in Washington, DC.

The Community Champion Award honors community partners who integrate Street Law materials and methods into their direct service programming for vulnerable communities. For over 50 years, the Los Angeles LGBT Center (the Center) has worked to build a world where LGBTQ people thrive as healthy, equal, and complete members of society. The Center offers programs, services, and advocacy for more LGBTQ people than any other organization in the world, and serves as a vital social safety net for the LGBTQ community.

In recent years, Street Law has written a community-based curriculum and trained staff to integrate the Legal Life Skills Program into the Center’s repertoire of educational programs for clients. The program uplifts participants—almost all of whom are homeless LGBTQ youth who face severe marginalization by society at large—with an understanding of the laws that affect their everyday lives, equipping them with the skills to make positive changes in their own lives and communities.

“Through our partnership, queer and trans homeless youth are equipped with vital life lessons they need to thrive outside of our safe space. Street Law’s innovative curriculum invites our young clients to critically explore key life skills that should be taught in schools,” said Terra Russell-Slavin, Chief Impact Officer at the Los Angeles LGBT Center. “Center youth leave every Street Law workshop feeling confident and supported to build the independent, beautiful lives they dream of,” added Russell-Slavin. 

The Legal Life Skills curriculum provides important resources to help participants attain the legal literacy needed to navigate and thrive in daily life, develops key skills such as critical thinking, and empowers participants to utilize the rights and protections afforded to their communities. This program has been adapted and replicated at community sites across the country.

“Street Law is thrilled to partner with the Los Angeles LGBT Center,” says Street Law CEO Ashok Regmi. “We are proud to call the Center an exemplary partner organization in Los Angeles.”