Delco hasn’t had enough spaces for LGBTQ, youth, and BIPOC communities. This new community center wants to help.

A new kind of community center is opening its doors in Delco this weekend.

The founders of the Upper Darby social justice nonprofit, UDTJ, said that their community center will be the first LGBTQ-, youth- and BIPOC-focused center in Delaware County. It is located at 115 Fairfield Ave. in Upper Darby, on the second floor.

UDTJ is holding a ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house for the community center, from noon to 6 p.m. this Saturday, Feb. 10. The center’s standard hours will be from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesday to Saturday.

UDTJ, which stands for Understanding, Devotion, Take Action and Justice, has been organizing and providing services since it was founded in 2020, following George Floyd’s murder. While UDTJ is well-known locally for its LGBTQ activism and for founding Delaware County Pride, its leaders said that the community center is meant to be intersectional and open to all people.

“We really wanted to make a difference.”

“We always dreamed of having a community center and space for the youth, for LGBTQ people, for BIPOC people to feel safe and included. Delaware County has just historically lacked those spaces and those resources,” said Kyle T. McIntyre, cofounder and director of operations for UDTJ.

“We really wanted to make a difference, and we wanted to change that.”

UDTJ plans for the community center to be a safe space and hub for programming, events and hanging out for at least 100 people a month to start.

Some of its offerings will include a youth-empowerment program, mentorship, workshops on opioid education and violence de-escalation, and open mic nights. As the center grows, UDTJ staff plan to add more programs, like a long-term youth leadership development cohort and possibly even a performing drag 101 class.

“Knowing that [our] marginalized communities [are] so underfunded, they’re so underrepresented, and now that we’re able to provide resources to those sections of the county, it’s very exciting,” said Dyamond Gibbs, a UDTJ cofounder and director of the youth empowerment program.

» READ MORE: Anti-trans policies in Pa. schools don’t just impact LGBTQ kids

The UDTJ leaders hope that the center can be an essential resource for those they serve, especially in this particular moment of vitriol towards these communities, and in the lead-up to what is sure to be a contentious election season.

“We are going to fight back against this hate. Not just by protesting or posting on social media, but by putting in the time, the effort and the energy to create something that never existed before,” McIntyre said.

“That’s what moves that needle forward. That’s what will put us back on an upward trajectory.“