WJCS Center Lane is where LGBTQIA+ youth create community, connect with culture, and contribute to the world!

WJCS Center Lane was founded in 1995 and is still the only center for LGBTQIA+ youth, ages 13-21, in Westchester county.

Center Lane provides affirming supportive, educational, and recreational programming for LGBTQIA+ youth. Facilitated by supportive adult experts, group discussions and activities are welcoming spaces where youth can feel safe sharing difficult experiences, discussing personal issues, developing friendships, problem solving with other youth and adult mentors, and engaging as leaders.

Through in-person and virtual programming, Center Lane youth gain a sense of community surrounded by peers and adults who understand them and who can help them understand themselves. We have a program Center in Yonkers’ Getty Square, but travel and partner with communities throughout Westchester to serve youth and adults.

LGBTQIA+ youth are one of few marginalized communities not raised by their own people. WJCS Center Lane helps youth connect with their culture by learning and celebrating important touchstones of LGBTQIA+ life. Coming out, navigating well-meaning friends and family members’ lack of knowledge, battling isolation, deciding on a “look,” owning space, finding pronouns (and watching them change), and silencing critics are all unique parts of the Queer experience.

At WJCS Center Lane, youth learn a road map for success, tackle roadblocks, and avoid life-limiting detours. Through informative and fun programming, WJCS Center Lane youth and the larger Westchester community learn about the history of the LGBTQIA+ community, including the challenges faced and overcome, and contribute to making their homes and our towns, county, and world a better and safer place for all LGBTQIA+ youth.

WJCS Center Lane’s programs include:

Center Lane Support Groups are weekly structured forums for participants to discuss what’s going on with them or in the world, problem-solve with their peers, make friends, and build community.
TransParentcy is a unique support group where Trans and gender expansive youth meet in one room while their parents/caregivers meet next door so that everyone has an opportunity to discuss topics of concern with peers. TransParentcy+ groups are often smaller, focused on a more specific audience, and short term. TransParentcy+ groups have included one for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) youth and parents.
Pride Academy is a short-term program where, in partnership with volunteers throughout Westchester, LGBTQ+ youth learn more about themselves, their community, and the contribution they’ll make to the world.
Youth Leadership Opportunities include planning events, creating resources to improve the lives of LGBTQ+ youth, and making decisions about the future and direction of Center Lane.
Special Events include our annual LGBTQ+ Prom, holiday celebrations, Open Mic Nights, and Movie Festivals which give youth opportunities to connect with LGBTQ+ youth and allies throughout Westchester.
Pride Camp is a weeklong day camp where LGBTQ+ youth learn more about the LGBTQ+ community.
Community Education workshops are provided to schools, parents, and organizations throughout Westchester County to ensure that LGBTQ+ youth are supported by their home communities. Center Lane is committed to serving LGBTQ+ youth by educating young people and adults through fun, interactive, and educational presentations, trainings, and assemblies.