Our mission is to enhance the social and emotional wellbeing of queer youth in the Crawford County area by providing education, social connectedness, and opportunities to advance leadership and advocacy skills. 

Colorful Connections is a youth-led LGBTQIA2S+ social and educational group for ages 13-17 on Wednesday nights from 6-8pm. We are located at 701 S. Walnut St. in Pittsburg, KS. Entrance is at the southwest door.

Colorful Connections provides a safe space for teens to learn, build community, celebrate and lead together. Our mission is to create spaces and opportunities to enhance the social and emotional wellbeing of queer youth through social engagement, education and advocacy.

Educational elements are intertwined to help youth develop a shared language, increase mental health awareness and gain positive coping skills, provide inclusive sex education and HIV prevention education, and teach leadership and self-advocacy skills.

In addition to weekly opportunities to connect, youth also develop a calendar of events in the community where they can connect with each other. Such events include pride festivals, queer gear swaps, carnivals, county fairs, swim days, visibility walks, art festivals, barbeques, and much more.

Colorful Connections is made possible through generous donors and community partners coming together to volunteer in mentorship, education, social interactions, and financial support. Club members will engage in a range of activities with their mentors in fundraising activities to keep the club funded so no youth is turned away for lack of accessibility. Fundraising teaches soft and hard skills to teens wanting to enter the workforce and allows them to network with people and careers they have not considered. Occasionally, the number of youths who can be sponsored for events is limited. However, we make every effort to sponsor every youth who attends.