Home sweet home.
Griot Circle, a New York City-based non-profit organization serving LGBTQ older adults of color, announced it signed a 10-year lease to return to its former headquarters after spending more than two years in limbo without a permanent home.
Founded in the mid-’90s, Griot Circle has become a critically important community space and provider for queer older adults of color, including many individuals who travel from across the New York City metropolitan area to take advantage of the organization’s programs and services. Griot Circle’s offerings include art classes, mental health services, a buddy-to-buddy peer caregiver program, support groups, and more.
As Griot Circle emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic, however, the organization was forced to move out of its office space at 25 Flatbush Ave. in Brooklyn, forcing staff and members alike to share resources with other organizations. SAGE, a national organization serving LGBTQ older adults, provided a space for Griot Circle at Stonewall Houses in Fort Greene as part of a temporary arrangement, while the Brooklyn Community Pride Center also opened up its space for Griot Circle.
On Jan. 15, however, Griot Circle announced on social media platforms that the organization secured a 10-year lease at its former location at 25 Flatbush Ave. in downtown Brooklyn.
“This is fantastic news for all of us,” the staff and board said in the announcement. “25 Flatbush offers a central location with excellent transportation options, making it easily accessible for current and future members.”
The organization further expressed its “sincere gratitude” to SAGE and the Brooklyn Community Pride Center for providing the space while Griot Circle worked to secure a space of its own.
“While there is still much work to be done, we are excited to begin designing our new space at 25 Flatbush,” the statement noted. “This will be a collaborative effort, and we will ensure that members have a significant voice in shaping the environment that will best serve our community. In the coming weeks, we will launch a fundraising campaign to support the renovation of our new space and provide a more specific move-in date.”
The organization underwent a change in leadership after initially departing the space at 25 Flatbush. Griot Circle’s former executive director, Jose Albino, was succeeded by former deputy director, Aundaray Guess, in 2023.
Guess recalled when Griot Circle received the unexpected news in 2022 that the building at 25 Flatbush was being sold. All tenants were forced out of the building, including Griot Circle, leaving the organization in limbo.
Guess worked with brokers to find a new space for Griot Circle, but it proved to be more difficult than anticipated to land the right spot.
“At one point, I got so frustrated I just started walking around,” Guess said.
Guess took matters into his own hands and simply inquired about the possibility of returning to 25 Flatbush under the building’s new ownership. In the end, Griot Circle walked away with a 10-year lease in the same building as they left in 2022, but on a different floor.
Guess said the location — in downtown Brooklyn — was critical to drawing new members to Griot Circle when the organization was at 25 Flatbush the first time around.
“A lot of our new members were people who organically would just walk by and come up and check out services,” Guess said. “As far as outreach, that’s how we gained a lot of members.”
Griot Circle now hopes to re-engage members who drifted away from the organization during the two-year gap between locations.
The new space has just about the same amount of room as the last time at 25 Flatbush, Guess said. One of the most important benefits of the new space is the freedom to offer programming and services throughout the week. During the two-year gap between locations, Griot Circle’s weekday offerings were limited to Tuesdays and Thursdays.
The organization now plans to return to offering services Monday through Friday, while also maintaining a hybrid component.
“There are some members who vocalized they were not participating in the programming until we got our new space,” Guess explained. “So with the new space, we will now bring back not only more participants but also various programs based on the fact that we have our own space.”
Out Councilmember Crystsal Hudson of Brooklyn, who represents the area encompassing Griot Circle’s new location, “was a cheerleader” for the organization as it sought the necessary funding to land the new space, said Guess, who also noted that Griot Circle welcomed funding from Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams.
“I am so excited for GRIOT Circle to return home to District 35,” Hudson, referring to her City Council district, told Gay City News in a written statement. “We need inviting spaces that cater to the needs of LGBTQIA+ older adults now more than ever.GRIOT Circle has defined itself as one of the premier groups in support of our city’s queer older adults and has continued to provide an inclusive, vibrant, and accessible place for people to gather and connect. Witnessing GRIOT’s advocacy and the way the community helped this organization is a testament to our district’s ongoing commitment to helping older adults thrive. I look forward to GRIOT Circle’s next chapter and many more years working together.”
