Provo’s Encircle LGBTQ Family and Youth Resource Center opens
Provo Mayor John Curtis, left, helps as members of the Encircle board, including Executive Director Stephenie Larsen, second from right, cut the ribbon during the Encircle LGBTQ+ Family and Youth Resource Center grand opening event Saturday, Feb. 11, 2017, in Provo. DOMINIC VALENTE, Daily Herald
Supporters and attendees come and celebrate during the Encircle grand-opening event Saturday, Feb. 11, 2017, in Provo. DOMINIC VALENTE, Daily Herald
Supporters and attendees come and celebrate during the Encircle grand-opening event Saturday, Feb. 11, 2017, in Provo. DOMINIC VALENTE, Daily Herald
Supporters and attendees come and celebrate during the Encircle grand-opening event Saturday, Feb. 11, 2017, in Provo. DOMINIC VALENTE, Daily Herald
State Sen. Jim Dabakis, D-Salt Lake City, speaks during the Encircle grand-opening event Saturday, Feb. 11, 2017, in Provo. DOMINIC VALENTE, Daily Herald
There were “no sides, only love” at Saturday’s ribbon-cutting for the Encircle LGBTQ Family and Youth Resource Center in Provo.
The goal of the center is to give LGBTQ youth and their families a safe place within the community where they can learn how to support and encircle each other with love.
“This really is about family, about staying together as a united family. This house is the aid, the resource to keep families together,” said Steve Young, former NFL and Brigham Young University quarterback. He and his wife, Barbara, are co-founders of the Forever Young Foundation, and were one of the many early donors for the Encircle home.
The woman behind the home, the one with the vision — Stephenie Larsen, executive director of Encircle — received a standing ovation at Saturday’s ceremony before she even spoke. She was quick to thank the many volunteers and supporters who have given of their time, money and manpower these past few months to making the house come to life.
Larsen has wanted to do this for a long time now, because of the example she saw in her in-laws, the Williams family. Her husband’s late uncle John Williams, a Salt Lake City business owner and philanthropist who was murdered in May 2016, was the inspiration and driving force behind the home, and it was dedicated to his memory Saturday.
When Williams came out as gay to his family several years ago, they encircled him with love, Larsen said. Seeing their example prompted Larsen’s vision of a place in Utah County to empower families of LGBTQ youth.
“Why is it that John was able to come out as a gay man in Salt Lake City, and yet in my community here LGBT youth are choosing not to live? John never left the circle of his family. Here at Encircle, these kids will feel loved,” Larsen said.
Larsen also credited 21-year-old Orem resident Jacob Dunford as the driving force behind the home’s completion. Dunford, Encircle’s development director, worked tirelessly behind the scenes to organize many of the essential pieces. For him, as well for most of those involved, it was personal. He came out two years ago, and while attending BYU, he felt very alone.
“I didn’t have any resources. I felt totally isolated,” he said after the ceremony.
He moved to California, and said he had “a great life there,” but felt compelled to come back to Utah County to make a difference for those who were struggling. His mantra, “No sides, only love,” is the Encircle home’s theme, and the phrase adorns multiple walls within the home.
“Everybody deserves love. My main mission is to stay here until the community is accepting,” he said. “Whoever you are, whether gay or straight or whatever, you should be able to walk into Wal-Mart holding the hand of the person you love without it being a big deal.”
Those behind the home’s remodeling and mission all agree that Encircle is just one step in a bigger movement. Barbara Young said the historic William D. Alexander House on 200 South was meant for this purpose — it just had to wait 125 years. But this building is only just the beginning.
“This house looks small, but it’s going to do bigger things. This pebble is going to hit the water and make ripples — circles — circles upon circles encircling families, encircling LGBTQ kids,” she said.
Katy Bettner lives in Texas, but worked closely with Larsen on the project, and said that other religious communities around the nation are taking note of Encircle, with hopes to incorporate its vision.
“In a place nobody thought would be hospitable to this, it’s here. And no one’s asking you to leave a part of yourself at the door. No one’s asking you to leave behind your religion, your orientation, your politics. We want the whole you. I’m convinced this had to happen here,” she said.
The Encircle center will begin services Monday, including workshops, free classes, wellness events, mentoring and therapy. If Saturday’s crowd was any indication, it will be a busy place.
“We needed to make it bigger,” quipped Provo Mayor John Curtis on Saturday after the ceremony.
Information about Encircle is available online at encircletogether.org.
