During a grand opening celebration on Saturday, members of the public were allowed a chance to take a look at the facility — the fifth “home” opened statewide by Encircle.

Encircle spokesperson Callie Birdsall-Chambers told the Standard-Examiner a little about the non-profit’s mission:

“Encircle is an LGBTQ youth and family resource center,” she said. “We were founded in 2017 and opened our first home in Provo. These are safe spaces that look like home and feel like home for those LGBTQ individuals that may not have that otherwise, but also for families to come and find connection with people they may not have otherwise.”

She said the new location will offer several services to LGBTQ+ youth and their families.

“We have art nights, music nights, writing nights and a lot of mental health programs that really help those youth thrive,” she said. “Friendship circles are very critical — those are our support groups — those are age and identity based programs that are peer-led, a place where people can come, find connection, really learn what people are going through and just share stories and find that in a safe space where they can be themselves.”

Additionally, clinical therapy is offered on site with licensed clinicians.

“It’s critical right now,” Birdsall-Chambers said. “We have statistics that show 47% of LGBTQ youth in Utah who wanted mental health resources were not able to access it, and most of that is due to funding and finances. We know that they need that affirming care and so we offer that in all of our homes as well as tele-therapy.”

She added that the space may not be occupied 24/7, but they went out of their way to make it feel like a home.

“We have these big, beautiful kitchens,” she said. “While people don’t live here, it’s built like a home so it looks like a home and feels like a home for people who might not have that otherwise. The kitchen was donated by IKEA, it’s beautiful. That space, any given night, you could have a family dinner night. You’ll find community members in here baking cookies with the youth, making fun treats or just having food from local companies coming in. Just like any other home, it’s where everybody congregates, just talks and has a really good time.”

Birdsall-Chambers noted it was quite the journey to get Encircle’s fifth home up and running.

“We broke ground in 2021,” she said. “Along the way, we’ve had some bumps. We had some construction issues based on cost — construction costs went up quite a bit — and donors. We’re always trying to get more funding for things. This is our first build. All of our other homes are 1890s-style Victorian homes that we go in and remodel. This is our very first from the ground up. It used to be this big hill of grass, but now it’s this big, beautiful home here in Ogden.”

She said that organizations such as the Young Caring For Our Young Foundation and Nilson Homes have been critical to making Encircle Ogden a reality.

“The Young Caring For Our Young Foundation, based here in Weber County, bought the naming rights for the home, so that helped make it possible,” she said. “Jed Nilson with Nilson Homes, he is the builder of this home and he knew that we’d kind of run into some snags just trying to find the funding to finish this space. He said, ‘You know, I really want to make this happen so I’m going to finish it.’ We’d already put money into it but he paid to finish the home, and now he owns it. He’s giving it to us free for 10 years.”

Birdsall-Chambers said there was a large difference between the four previous homes Encircle opened in and the Ogden location.

“Building a commercial building is a lot different than remodeling a Victorian home,” she said.

Overseeing this new space will be Encircle Ogden’s Program Director Elise Villaroman.

“I have been with Encircle for three years in their Heber City location,” she told the Standard-Examiner. “To be able to be youth every single day who come in and find that safe space and build those friendships and community is really important. I’m just really excited to be able to open our doors to Ogden and to see that happen all over again.”

She added that she looks forward to serving the Ogden community.

“I have a real passion for working with young people,” she said. “As a queer individual myself, I can understand the difficulties that sometimes come with being an LGBTQ+ person. So, my message to the community is just ot come and see this space, see what we do, see how you feel when you come in the home. We’re just excited to welcome everyone and build a great community here.”

Birdsall-Chambers said spaces like Encircle Ogden have become increasingly important.

“It seems like often, everywhere these youth turn, often they’re finding walls,” she said. “Whether it’s at home where they’re not accepted at home, or maybe at school or maybe at church. They need to know that there are spaces like this that are worth investing in. These spaces are full of love. When they’re constantly barraged with hateful speech and negative messages online, in social media, this is that place where we drop that and we can let them know and remind them that we’re here for them. With our “No Sides, Only Love” (motto) we don’t get into politics or anything like that, but what we find is that when big things happen that are really disturbing or really harmful to these youth and these families, we have to remind everybody that we’re here.”

Saturday’s festivities included two ribbon cuttings and statements from several dignitaries, including Encircle CEO Alex Cutini, past Encircle board chair Mike Ostermiller, Cassie Young of the Young Caring For Our Young Foundation, Jed Nilson of Nilson Homes, Ogden City Mayor Ben Nadolski, Ogden Pride President Sean Childers-Gray and Villaroman.

Encircle Ogden will officially open to the public on Monday.

For more information, including volunteer opportunities, building tours and services available, visit https://encircletogether.org/encircle-ogden.