Friday afternoon was a long-time vision turned reality for Southwest Saskatchewan Pride as they officially unveiled their drop-in centre.

The room located inside the former Dickson School was bustling with people excited to celebrate their newfound space.

Southwest Saskatchewan Pride Interim Board Chair Shaun Hanna said the long-term plan for the site is to act as a resource centre.  

"[This is] something we wanted to do for the community," he said. "So we have a space of our own to carry our resources and deploy information to the public and have a safe space for people to come and be themselves."

The City of Swift Current played a vital role in helping the non-profit organization acquire the space. They reached out to Southwest Saskatchewan Pride to notify them of the vacant room and by the beginning of May, they moved in.    

"We had some money saved up over from fundraising events," Hanna explained. "We were able to strike a really great deal with the City to be able to move into the space affordability and sustainability."

The Newcomer Welcome Centre and First United Church have offered up their facilities to Southwestern Saskatchewan Pride for the past few years giving them a meeting place. Hanna said while they're eternally grateful for the kind acts - having their own space means the world to them.

"We have lots of resources available to us for people that are needing to access those resources or informational pamphlets but when you don't have a physical space to store it, it's usually at someone's house, and then deploying those services becomes very difficult," he said.

The drop-in centre has received an outpouring of community support in terms of furnishings since the organization took over the space.

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