Nonprofit serving LGBT, youth to close
Group, programs end due to lack of funding
A nonprofit organization that has been serving the LGBT and youth community in Yuma and Imperial counties since 2003 will be closing its doors at the end of this year.
Back to the Basics Please Inc. will officially close on Dec. 31, according to a letter dated Sept. 19 from Brandon Bennett, president and CEO. He noted the board of directors have voted unanimously to dissolve BTTBP.
“It is a sad day to be writing this announcement for sure; however, with changing demographics in the local community, fewer volunteers who can commit to projects and funding sources drying up, we feel strongly that the active story of BTTBP must come to an end,” Bennett wrote.
“We sincerely hope that our mark and the lives that we have impacted through the years will be felt in the hearts and minds of those who have shared this journey with us, whether for a short while or a long while,” he added.
BTTBP has provided outreach since 2003 and incorporated in 2009 as a nonprofit corporation in Yuma.
“We knew from the start that building this coalition was going to be a challenge in Yuma,” Bennett said. “However, we indeed helped a lot of people, brought a great deal of awareness to the local community, and built outlets for members of the community to flourish.”
The organization was “highly committed” to providing better services and outreach to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, local music and art performance events, substance abuse outreach and HIV/STD awareness.
According to the BTTBP website, Bennett is a recovering addict who wanted to use his management background and life experience
to “help others find their way out of blight so they can explore their individual life goals.”
He told the Yuma Sun he initially started the organization as a web platform to reach other LGBT who were new to recovery, both drug and alcohol, and “help me and others on this new journey through sobriety.”
The name “Back to the Basics” refers to a phrase commonly used in Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous.
BTTBP founded the Reach Youth Center in May 2012 as Generation Y 2000 Diversity Center (GY2KC). It had a computer center for homework, a library, a game room with foosball, pool and video games, a music center for practicing bands, guitar lessons for kids and parents and a movie center. All resources were available to the public for free.
The youth center relied on monetary donations from local businesses, organizations and individuals, in-kind support from local non-for-profit organizations, as well as grant awards from state and national public and private organizations. It closed December 2013 when funding dried up.
The BTTBP also founded
The Backyard music venue in September 2012 to enhance and offer music development options for youth in Yuma and the surrounding area. It hosted free dance parties, acoustic concerts and held band battles. It was a safe-zone, bully-free environment and had at least one state certified staff member and aid on site at all times.
Drugs and alcohol were not tolerated as well as any member or visitor of any age thought to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
BTTBP also sponsored SMART Recovery, an addiction recovery support group, in Yuma that closed August 2016.
Bennett said he was proud of all the community events they put on, but he was most proud of the youth center.
BTTBP had to overcome some challenges. “In Yuma, we had a great deal of backlash from the very conservative culture,” he said, noting that coming from a big city he was not prepared for the “dynamics” here.
In addition, it was a challenge keeping kids and parents involved, with many parents working two jobs and others not wanting to accept their child was gay.
“They tolerate a kid who is gay, but they don’t want to deal with it,” Bennett
said.
He pointed to the “changing demographics,” explaining many people in the gay community have moved away and some of the youth they served have gone to college elsewhere. And gay groups and clubs have dwindled.
“There’s very little going on in the gay community,” Bennett said.
But the biggest obstacle has been the shrinking funding. Some of the criteria for grants from foundations and programs have changed, for example, some are now more focused on education and not on the arts.
As the organization closes down, assets from the youth center are being donated to the Imperial Valley LGBT Center in El Centro, Calif. Remaining funds will be donated to the Littlewood Fine Art and Community Co-op in Yuma.
All private donations will now be returned, and the organization will reach out to community grantors to stop all future donations. The organization’s website and bank accounts will also close at the end of the fourth quarter this year.
BTTBP’s Facebook page will remain open as a library of stories and pictures, even after the website (www.bttbp.org) has shut down, Bennett said.