Want to be an upstander, not a bystander? Volunteer to be a Pride Greeter or to give First Aid at Valley LGBTQIA+ events and Prides.

We will have trainings throughout this spring - please sign up here and we'll reach out with possible dates!

Pride Greeters

We are an intersectional, queer led community safety team founded by in 2023 and led by Mahoning Valley Queer Action - we have been the community safety team more than a dozen Mahoning Valley and Ohio Valley prides and LGBTQIA+ events.

This project responds to the general need for guidance and support for the community in these growing festivals and also specifically addresses the mounting threat of physical and verbal assaults by hateful individuals and groups.

We are welcoming you to volunteer and join our peer led community safety team that launched in 2023 so that all attendees of Mahoning Valley LGBTQIA+ and Pride events can enjoy a safer space and gain better access to resources of Pride and beyond.

Pride Greeters are more than simply those who greet our Pride family however; you will also be able to serve as marshals for anything related to the movements of groups of people and also as a set of eyes and ears on the streets for the event. We're community upstanders, not bystanders - and we can make a positive different in our community every day, not just at Pride.

Seeking first aid volunteers

We will be providing basic first aid to LGBTQIA+ and ally community members for common event & festival related injuries such as heat exhaustion, sunburns, blood sugar discrepancies, scrapes, and basic mental health first aid (fidget toys, ear plugs, comforting items). Here is a list of certifications/trainings one must have to work the tent, you only need one: Basic first aid training, 20 hour Street Medic Training, BLS, ASN, BSN, EMT certs (B, P, etc) MD. If you have a cert that you believe should be on the list, please email us at mvqueeraction@gmail.com. We ask that first aid volunteers take the Pride Greeters training as much of it involves event-related situational awareness that is useful for a "field medic" style position.

If you are seeking to volunteer for the first aid tent, we welcome you to take any of the trainings we offer, but they are not required. We will reach out to you to schedule you -- again they will be two hour shifts. We will have a first aid tent onsite stocked with basic first aid supplies

Please ask if you would like to bring equipment your certs allow you to carry but that would not be part of a first aid care response.

Our protocol: Our safety training is based on the experience and research of a founding member who is a movement femme elder with 20+ years in community safety including marshalling, street medicking, harm reduction, accompaniment, and more. We acknowledge and respect the collective community care and wisdom that helped create this protocol and actively work to grow the protocol to best suit the needs of our LGBTQIA+ community in its intersections of vulnerability.

Requirements

You must be available for one online training and one in person training to be a Pride Greeter and or Pride Greeter First Aid volunteer. You must be available for at least one full shift one of the Valley Prides in 2026 and you must be free from other obligations at that time. Although we we will go over this in the trainings, we strongly suggest our volunteers be even keeled and open to speaking to the public for this role. We ask that all volunteers understand our points of unity, code of community care conduct, and grievance policy as part of their commitment to the role.

Questions? Please email mvqueeraction@gmail.com

There will be gas cards available to those who need them to participate.