One of Stockton’s few LGBTQ+ service organizations is racing to raise money to keep its doors open as it faces a funding shortfall that could force it to close.
The San Joaquin Pride Center — one of two organizations in San Joaquin County dedicated to exclusively serving LGBTQ people — announced its financial strain Monday evening on its website, citing the loss of several state and federal grants.
“The painful reality is that the need for our services has never disappeared,” said John Alita, the center’s executive director, in a letter sent to supporters and shared on the website. “Young people still need safe places to belong. People still need affirming mental health care. Individuals still need recovery support. Schools still need partners committed to creating welcoming environments for every student. Families still need someone to call when they don’t know where else to turn.”
Because of the funding crunch, Alita told Stocktonia the center has already laid off two employees and expects to make further staff cuts. At least six employees currently work at the center, he said.
The center’s longest running funding source came from the California Reducing Disparities Project (CRDP), a statewide mental-health program focused on serving LGBTQ+, Black, Latino, Native and Asian and Pacific Islander communities. Run by the health equity office at the California Department of Public Health, the project awarded some of its first funding in 2016 to eleven nonprofits across the state, including the San Joaquin Pride Center.
In 2025, the state proposed eliminating CRDP’s remaining $15.8 million in funding for the following fiscal year, putting its 42 contractors and grantees at risk. While the CRDP funding continued through June 2026, Alita said the center’s current financial challenge is tied to the lack of guaranteed funding to replace it.
Alita said the center received nearly half a million dollars from the program each year.
But the center also faces another funding disruption. A two-year grant $400,000 grant from the Sierra Health Foundation was also halted because of “DEI” restrictions at the federal level, Alita said. The grant was aimed at preventing substance use.
According to an investment brief shared with Stocktonia, the Pride Center serves more than 800,000 residents across San Joaquin County, with most programs aimed at supporting LGBTQ+ youth, including a zine and a gender-affirming clothing closet. Over the past two years, it secured over $1.2 million in new grant funding; the brief also said that the center operates on a monthly budget of $65,000 — a yearly cost of $780,000.
The center has approximately $300,000 remaining to operate through the end of the year, Alita said.
To continue operating for at least the next six months, the center is seeking $200,000 in bridge funding, Alita said. The money would allow the center to operate with a reduced staff of three, working remotely while pursuing additional grant funding.
Whether those funds come through is less certain. Alita estimated that local Stockton donors account for just 2% of the center’s funding.
“The challenge, though, is that we’re not in an affluent community,” said Alita in a recent phone call. “We’re also not in a community where there’s universal support for the LGBTQ+ community, and so our base of potential funders is smaller.”
Without the additional funds, he said, the center’s board of directors will decide on Oct. 1 whether there are enough resources to continue operations beyond the fall. A complete closure of the center’s on-site venue is possible come December.
“We are not asking our community to rescue a failing organization,” Alita said in the letter. “We are asking our community to protect services that San Joaquin County still needs and deserves.”
Donations to support the Pride Center can be made on its website.