Prism United – Mobile, Alabama
MOBILE, Alabama – Adrian loves the beauty and rich history of his hometown – how the azaleas bloom every spring, how it celebrated the first Mardi Gras in the U.S. (not New Orleans), how six different flags have flown over this Gulf Coast port city since its founding.
“It’s important to create that community of queer people because we don’t have it anywhere else.”
But that doesn’t mean it’s always been easy to live here.
“Being queer in the South has always been challenging, but with that comes opportunity to create community surrounding that challenge,” says Adrian, 20, a Starbucks barista and director of the same teen program at Prism United that helped him just a few years ago. Prism United is a nonprofit that supports LGBTQ+ youth and their families in the region.
“It’s important to create that community of queer people because we don’t have it anywhere else.”
Starbucks is proud to celebrate Prism United, a recipient of a Neighborhood Grant from The Starbucks Foundation. The award will be used to help Prism expand its programming and fund the region’s first LGBTQ+ youth community center.
Adrian, a trans man, was referred to Prism by a therapist during middle school, after experiencing severe depression and anxiety related to gender dysphoria.
“I didn’t know how long I could make it,” Adrian remembers. “The support from Prism really gave me the ability to live as my true self.”
Adrian started working at Starbucks four years ago, his first job. As he was going through his transition, the Starbucks healthcare advocacy team helped him with his questions about how the health insurance would work and how to find the right health care provider.
At Prism, Adrian facilitates discussions for teens around mental health and the sociopolitical climate, creates educational curriculum around the LGBTQ+ experience and helps organize local LGBTQ+ events, including a recent prom attended by almost 100 youth.
“I can’t help but think about all the people who used to sit by my side when I needed that help and support,” Adrian says. “I’m helping the next generation of queer youth to have a better lived experience.
“Prism United receiving the Neighborhood Grant truly means the world to me. I know how much Prism has done not only for me, but for the broader community in Mobile. It’s truly impactful. It’s literally life changing for so many people.”
Corey Harvard, the executive director of Prism, helped start the organization as a support group for high schoolers, the kind of space he wishes he had growing up. Instead of running away from the South, as he once dreamed, Harvard stayed home and turned Prism into a nonprofit.
“The thing about LGBTQ efforts in the South is we really learn what it means to create community because it’s about survival,” Harvard says. “We have to come together and create places of belonging in order to exist.”
