My name is Richan and I live in Smithers, Northern BC, on unceded Witsuwit’en territory. About five years ago I looked around and realized we didn’t have much of a queer community, not like what I could access online. So I decided to change that. I started a group called Kaleidoscope and invited every 2S/LGBTQIA+ person I knew and met. We gathered for community dinners and started a Queer Book Club, which has grown quite a lot since then, as has Kaleidoscope itself. The Queer Book Club decided to start investing in its own queer library for harder-to-access books. This is one reason I applied to Neighbourhood Small Grants, to help buy queer books from neurodivergent and BIPOC authors, as well as an embosser to keep track of which books belong to the book club. This diversity ensures that there’s something new and exciting for everyone in the book club to enjoy, to learn, and to find new favourite authors.
The other reason I applied to NSG was to be able to book a venue to host a skill-sharing workshop that would do many things, including bring people together. I decided to make it a sewing workshop that would focus on helping people make gender-affirming clothing as shopping options are very limited here (especially for queer folks), clothing waste is at an all-time high, and upcycling is cool. I get so many compliments on my homemade overalls that make me feel at home in my body, and I wanted to help others experience that same joy. What I didn’t foresee is just how many people don’t have sewing skills, but very much want to learn to sew. So while some folks ended up altering clothes to better suit themselves, most participants learned how to use a sewing machine for the first time. Some folks went on to start a project and there were many more people who couldn’t attend the two-day event but also wanted to sew with us. As a result, I am now hosting a monthly sewing group where folks can come together to work on their projects, learn a new skill, and get help when they get stuck. We’ve learned hobbies and skills like sewing don’t have to be a solitary activity; they can be opportunities to gather as a community, to support one-another, and ensure queer folks are not only welcome, but essential parts of a community.
I am so grateful for the community I live in because this would not have been possible without the people who chipped in in so many ways so that attendees would have access to everything they would need. I am also grateful to Neighbourhood Small Grants and the Association of Neighbourhood Houses BC for getting this group started and for helping grow our queer library. It’s heart-warming to know there’s organizations out there investing in small-scale community, in people, and in what we can do together.
