photo by: Niamh Coomey

Friendlier City Project board members discuss finances, successful events in 2024 and upcoming projects during a meeting Monday at the Ohio County Public Library.

WHEELING — The Friendlier City Project, a Wheeling-based LGBTQ+ nonprofit, held its inaugural annual public board meeting Monday evening to discuss recent successes and upcoming projects.

The lively meeting drew in over 20 community members in the Ohio County Public Library’s auditorium. The board introduced several new members and approved regular business with a “slay” rather than a “yay” before jumping into a recap of their accomplishments from 2024.

Among these were the successful “Sparkles and Spikes'” pop-punk drag show at the Capitol Theatre last month and a “Queer Thanksgiving” at Table 304.

“It’s really just a great time because not everyone gets to go home to a loving family meal,” Events Committee Chair Kellie White said. “We get to be your family for the night. It was really truly lovely.”

Looking ahead, Pride 2025 celebrations will be a big planning focus, members emphasized. While there is a lot to iron out for this year’s event, the group has landed on the second Saturday in June with Heritage Port as the location.

The group is also aiming to release a comprehensive guide to LGBTQ+-safe resources in the region spanning from healthcare providers, hotlines and legal advocates to coffee shops and places of worship.

This project is in the works and the goal is to release it next year, according to Board Chair Mikaya Green.

“I want literally everything, so that if you’re from the Ohio Valley, it will be like these are the retail businesses, these are the coffee shops, these are the doctors, I want a really comprehensive list,” Green said.

The board is also working with library staff to get a queer youth community group up and running.

The board recently revamped its rainbow sticker campaign to indicate safe spaces in the region for LGBTQ+ individuals. Creating the initial stickers three years ago was the first task they tackled as a board, Green said, and the revamp was much needed.

“(The stickers) were Wheeling-specific and there’s a lot of Ohio and West Virginia businesses that weren’t in Wheeling that wanted it,” Green said. “So now we have an Ohio sticker, we have a West Virginia sticker and then we have a Wheeling sticker.”

The newly designed stickers will soon be visible at LGBTQ+-safe businesses around town and beyond.

The board opened up the floor to comments and questions from community members, some of whom made suggestions for future focuses for events and programming.

Regularly scheduled meetings will continue in January of next year.