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OUR HISTORY
Original Founders from the left Emily Coelho, Payton Cram and Tim Bortner
BCC Full Spectrum Community Outreach Center was founded in 2016 by Tim Bortner, Payton Cram, and Emily Coelho, who recognized a critical gap in local support for the LGBTQIA+ community. Their vision was to create an organization that offered mental health services, support groups, community engagement, and eventually, safe housing for LGBTQIA+ individuals. The foundation of Full Spectrum was built in coffee shops, living rooms, and through conversations with those eager to be part of the movement.
As interest and demand quickly grew, the group secured its first physical space inside St. John’s Episcopal Church on Wick Avenue in Downtown Youngstown. This location became a hub for support groups, meetings, and events. Building partnerships with local businesses and organizations became a key focus, and Full Spectrum began participating in community events to increase visibility and awareness of LGBTQIA+ issues.
Due to rapid growth, the organization soon outgrew its original location and moved into a commercial plaza, though that space closed in April 2021. In 2019, Full Spectrum launched Warren, Ohio’s first Pride festival—Pride in the Valley—which continues to thrive today. That same year, the organization also began work on the area's first LGBTQIA+ housing initiative, aimed at providing shelter and support to those in need, marking a major step forward in their mission to serve and uplift the community.
In August 2023, Full Spectrum acquired the Hope House Visitation Center, which includes a space designated to become the region’s first LGBTQIA+ Adult Transitional Homeless Shelter. This shelter will be the only one of its kind within a 40-mile radius of the Mahoning Valley. The goal is to officially open the shelter in early 2026.
Alongside this effort, the community outreach center will serve as a year-round hub for support groups, events, trainings, and organizational offices, continuing Full Spectrum’s mission to serve and empower the LGBTQIA+ community.
Full Spectrum Community Outreach 2025 Executive Board, From Right to left. Mai Ali, Secretary; Tim Bortner, Founder/President; and Frank Amato, Vice President
Full Spectrum Community Outreach Location as of August 2023
OUR MISSION
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Full Spectrum Community Outreach Center is helping to build an inclusive Mahoning Valley where LGBTQIA+ people thrive as healthy, equal and complete members of society.
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To promote awareness, education, mental and emotional health, as well as advocacy for the LGBTQIA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, Queer, Intersex, and Asexual, and our Allies) community within Mahoning Valley.
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Working on inclusion in today’s workplace by networking with other local organizations and businesses.