State Grant To Fund Expansion Of The Rainbow Room In Bucks County

DOYLESTOWN, PA — The Rainbow Room, a safe haven for LGBTQ+ children and teens, received a substantial financial contribution on Friday that will expand its presence within the county and secure its future.

State Senator Steve Santarsiero announced $630,000 in state funding during a press conference held in front of Salem United Church of Christ, the home of the Rainbow Room on East Court Street. The state funds will be used to support the current Rainbow Room and establish a second, yet to be determined location in Lower Bucks County, he said.

The senator was joined at the event by Melissa Reed, CEO and President of Planned Parenthood Keystone; Marlene Pray, the director of The Rainbow Room; Sue Ann DeVito and Heather Sincell, Rainbow Room parents; Carson Delany, a Rainbow Room attendee; and Father Michael Ruk from St. Philips Episcopal Church in New Hope.

“The Rainbow Room has been an important part of the Bucks County LGBTQ+ community for 20 years, and this investment will ensure the future of The Rainbow Room is robust and bright,” said Sen. Santarsiero. “I have seen first-hand the immense benefit The Rainbow Room offers LBGTQ+ youth and their families in Bucks County. At a time in their lives with so much pressure and scrutiny, The Rainbow Room provides a safe and nurturing space for these young people to find community, education, and empowerment.”

“This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Rainbow Room and an already special milestone becomes even more memorable with this grant," said Marlene Pray, Rainbow Room founder and regional director of LGBTQ+ youth education. "The expansion of the Rainbow Room means that more LGBTQ+ youth have access to the peer support, education, and resources they need to be their authentic selves.”

According to Pray, the organization is "weeks away" from announcing the Rainbow Room's second location in the Lower Bucks County area.

"We have been exploring and meeting with faith leaders to hone in on a new location," she said. "We are incredibly optimistic about the response ... We have a whole team of folks working together on this. We don't have the news yet, but it is coming."

According to Santarsiero, the grant will cover annual operating expenses at the Doylestown site and at the future Lower Bucks site "for many years to come."

Melissa Reed, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Keystone, whose organization oversees the Rainbow Room and is the recipient of the grant, thanked the senator for his work in securing the money and for being "an outspoken advocate for LGBTQ+ youth.

“We are honored to be recipients of this grant that will expand LGBTQ+ youth programming in Bucks County," said Reed. "Now the Rainbow Room will have two locations in Bucks County to ensure that LGBTQ+ youth have a safe and supportive space all their own. In the face of attacks on and discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community, this grant empowers us to stand up in the face of bigotry and provide more educational programming and resources to youth,”

SueAnn Devito, the parent of a Rainbow Room youth member echoed support for the organization saying, “The most difficult thing as a parent of an LGBTQ+ youth was fearing for my daughter’s safety. I am eternally grateful for the safe space that Rainbow Room provided her.

"In addition to having a safe place to gather, she and her friends learned about healthy relationships, holding safe space for others, and civic engagement-positively shaping all of their lives," said Devito. "The Rainbow Room has had a long lasting and profound impact they have all carried into adulthood."

Added parent Heather Sincell, "When my child at the age of 13 had the courage to come out to me I had limited resources to fully understand and support him. I made it a personal goal of mine to walk beside him and grow together. He is my rock," she said. "I was blessed to find the Rainbow Room ... From that moment, I realized he was going to be okay because not only did he have me in his corner but now he had the Rainbow Room and Marlene as a support to guide and help him unconditionally. The Rainbow Room has continued to support us through every real life situation."

Father Michael Ruk, a priest at St. Philips Church in New Hope who has been involved in the Rainbow Room for 17 years, expressed gratitude that the Rainbow Room will continue on and expand, "giving life and joy" to LGBTQ+ teens and youth in the community.

The Rainbow Room, he said, is "a place for standing up for students and teachers who now feel unsafe in their schools. The Rainbow Room is a place where they can feel safe and the Rainbow Room, I know, saves lives from children and teens and youth who do not feel safe anymore in their schools, their homes or their communities."

Carson Delany, who makes the trip weekly from Cheltenham to Doylestown, said the Rainbow Room "has absolutely changed my life. I received overwhelming support from the moment I walked in the door three years ago.

"Having such a supportive community, I have been able to learn about myself, about others and how to be confident in who I am and spread that confidence to others along with being able to advocate for myself and to have a voice and to be able to make the world what I want it to be," said Delany. "Three years ago I was such a different person - so timid and scared of everything. The Rainbow Room has helped me come out of my shell and love myself."

The Rainbow Room, which opened in 2002 at the Lenape Middle School and is now located inside the Salem United Church of Christ, provides a supportive, brave and empowering environment and dynamic programs for Bucks County's LGBTQ+ youth ages 14-21.

"We are here for the youth," said Pray. "We know there's been an escalation in cruelty and attacks and bigotry directed toward queer youth. Planned Parenthood will never stop standing with young people and will never stop fighting for their lives, their dignity and their rights."

Additional information on The Rainbow Room can be found here.