South Coast Equity Coalition

09/07/2026

Our Space: a Trans and Gender Expansive Support Space 🏳️‍⚧️

Monday, September 7th, 2026 | 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM | Tonight

📍 1934 Newmark Street, Suite B
In person and online options available | Tea, Coffee and Snacks

Join us for A Trans and Gender Expansive Space — a supportive, affirming gathering for transgender, non-binary, and gender expansive community members across the South Coast.

This monthly space offers a chance to connect, share, and build community in an environment grounded in care, affirmation, and belonging. Whether you’re joining in person or online, you’re welcome exactly as you are. 💜

🗓 Meets every first and third Monday of the month
💬 Convened by the South Coast Health Equity Coalition (SCHEC)

For questions or to get the meeting link, please email: 📧 [email protected]

09/07/2026

SCHEC Offices Closed Today | Monday, September 7

In recognition of Labor Day, SCHEC’s Coos and Curry offices will be closed today.

🏳️‍⚧️ Our Space is still happening!

Our monthly Trans & Gender Expansive Support Group will meet at its regular time:

🕠 5:30–7:00 PM

Come as you are. Our Space is a place for connection, community, support, and simply being together. 💗🤍💙

As we recognize Labor Day, we also refuse to let this holiday pass without remembering the “Forgotten Rosies” and the Black women whose labor, organizing, and resistance helped make the labor movement possible.

Black women workers organized at the intersections of systemic racism, gender exploitation, and class inequality, often while being excluded from the recognition and protections afforded to others. They organized workplaces, built community power, challenged discriminatory systems, and helped ignite movements for lasting change.

Labor history is Black history.
Labor history is women’s history.
Labor history is our collective history.

Today, we honor the workers whose names we know and the countless people whose names history did not preserve.

May we remember that many of the rights workers have today exist because people before us organized, resisted, cared for one another, and demanded something better.

We owe it to them to remember. We owe it to them to keep building.

08/31/2026

🌻 Reproductive Justice 101 is happening this week!

What is Reproductive Justice, and how does it connect to the issues impacting our communities every day?

Join the South Coast Reproductive Justice Project for the next session of our Mini Education Series featuring Evelyn Estrada, who will introduce the foundations of Reproductive Justice and explore how it connects to health, equity, access, and our communities.

📅 September 3
⏰ 5:30–7:00 PM
💻 Virtual
🌻 Reproductive Justice 101 with Evelyn Estrada

This conversation is open to everyone — community members, healthcare providers, educators, advocates, youth and emerging leaders, community-based organizations, and system partners.

Whether Reproductive Justice is new to you or you're looking to deepen your understanding, come learn, connect, and be in conversation with us.

♿ ASL interpretation, language access, and other accommodations are available upon request.

🔗 Register: https://bit.ly/4qHOOEp

Presented by the South Coast Reproductive Justice Project and South Coast Health Equity Coalition, with support from Advanced Health.

08/29/2026

🏳️‍🌈📚 Q***r stories. Q***r voices. Q***r community.

SCHEC is excited to continue supporting Southern Oregon Coast Pride’s Book Club, creating space in Curry County to gather, connect, learn, and celebrate the wide spectrum of 2SLGBTQIA+ stories and experiences.

Coming up next:

📖 September 16: Alligator Tears by Edgar Gomez
📖 October 21: The Spectrum of S*x by Hida Viloria
📖 November 18: This Town Sleeps by Dennis E. Staples
📖 December 16: Disco Witches of Fire Island by Blair Fell

In rural communities, spaces like these matter. Access to q***r stories, representation, and affirming community can help interrupt isolation and remind us that 2SLGBTQIA+ people belong on the South Coast, our stories deserve to be read, and we deserve spaces where we can simply be together. 💜

📍 Hosted at the South Coast Health Equity Coalition Curry Community Hub, 555 Hemlock St., Brookings.

Need a copy of the book or want to join by video call? Contact [email protected].

Come for the books. Stay for the conversation, connection, and community. 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈

***rBookClub

08/29/2026

💙 Su***de prevention is health equity work.

SCHEC is proud to uplift the 2026 Coos County Out of the Darkness Walk and our friends at Southern Oregon Coast Pride Southern Oregon Coast Pride, who are bringing community together through their Pride Striders team.

We know that mental health and su***de do not exist separately from the conditions people experience every day. For communities that have been institutionally underresourced, barriers like poverty, housing instability, discrimination, isolation, transportation, limited culturally responsive care, and a lack of local services can make it even harder to access support.

This is especially important in rural communities like ours.

For Black, Indigenous and other communities of color, 2SLGBTQIA+ people, immigrants, people with disabilities, low-income families, and others who have historically been pushed to the margins of systems, su***de prevention must be about more than responding to crisis. It must also be about creating the conditions where people can thrive.

That means belonging. Connection. Stable housing. Accessible healthcare. Cultural affirmation. Community. Safety. And being able to ask for help without fear, shame, or judgment.

On September 26, our community will gather to remember those we have lost, surround survivors and families with love, and continue building a South Coast where no one has to navigate their darkest moments alone.

🌈 Join the Southern Oregon Coast Pride Striders!

📅 Saturday, September 26, 2026
📍 Mingus Park, Coos Bay
⏰ Check-in: 9:00 AM | Walk: 10:00 AM
💙 Participation is free and fundraising is optional.

Register using the QR code or link on the flyer.

Our collective well-being depends on making sure the people who have historically received the least have access to the care, resources, connection, and community they deserve.

***dePrevention

08/28/2026

08/26/2026

Marsha P. Johnson + SCRJP Mini Education Series & SOC Pride Survey🌻 - https://mailchi.mp/southcoastequity.org/marsha-p-johnson-scrjp-mini-education-series-soc-pride-survey

08/25/2026

Join our Mini Education Series by the South Coast Reproductive Justice Project a program of South Coast Health Equity Coalition.

This Thursday, August 27 from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.!

Register today:
https://bit.ly/4hasJ3q

Lessons Learned from a Gender-Affirmation Closet, a discussion Southern Oregon Coast Pride Director, Laura Erceg Southern Oregon Coast Pride

Join Laura Erceg, Executive Director of Southern Oregon Coast Pride, for a conversation exploring the journey of developing and sustaining a Gender-Affirmation Closet in rural Oregon. Through stories, lessons learned, and practical insights, Laura will share how community partnerships, trust, and listening have shaped a resource that supports transgender, nonbinary, and gender expansive community members in affirming their identities.

This session will explore the importance of gender-affirming resources as a public health intervention, the role of clothing in identity, confidence, and well-being, and how community organizations can create welcoming, affirming spaces that reduce barriers and increase belonging. Participants will also learn about the challenges and opportunities of launching a community-driven program, from building partnerships and securing donations to ensuring the closet reflects the diverse needs of the people it serves.

08/24/2026

Today, we celebrate the life, joy, resistance, and legacy of Marsha P. Johnson, born August 24, 1945.

Marsha was a Black transgender activist, community organizer, performer, and fierce advocate for LGBTQ+ people, particularly trans people, young people, and those experiencing houselessness. Alongside Sylvia Rivera, she helped create STAR, Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries, building community and support for transgender and gender-expansive people who were too often pushed to the margins.

Marsha reminds us that liberation is not only about being seen. It is about making sure our people are housed, fed, affirmed, protected, loved, and able to live fully as themselves.

Her legacy also reminds us to center those who movements have too often left behind, especially Black and Brown trans people, Two-Spirit people, trans women, trans masculine people, gender-expansive people, and LGBTQIA2S+ youth.

So today, we don't just remember Marsha.

🌸 We celebrate her.
🌸 We say her name.
🌸 We protect Black trans lives.
🌸 We build spaces where trans people can experience joy, safety, connection, and belonging.
🌸 And we keep working toward the liberation she fought for.

Happy Birthday, Marsha. Your legacy is still blooming. 🌺

***rHistory

08/21/2026

𝑆o𝑢l F𝑜o𝑑 𝑆u𝑛d𝑎y W𝑒l𝑐o𝑚e𝑠 𝑡h𝑒 𝑂r𝑒g𝑜n R𝑒m𝑒m𝑏r𝑎n𝑐e P𝑟o𝑗e𝑐t’s S𝑢n𝑠h𝑖n𝑒 𝑇r𝑖p𝑠

This August, Soul Food Sunday is honored to collaborate with the Oregon Remembrance Project as part of its 2026 Sunshine Trips. 𝐎𝐧 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝟐𝟑, 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝟐:𝟑𝟎𝐩𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝟓𝐩𝐦 𝐚𝐭 Oak Street Park 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐏𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐥 𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲, 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝, 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

Sunshine Trips are free, guided journeys that bring Black Oregonians together to explore Black history, justice, and community across Southern Oregon. The Coos Bay trip, taking place August 22–24, will include historical pilgrimages, tide pools, shared learning, and time in community with Soul Food Sunday.

This collaboration reflects what Soul Food Sunday has always been about: creating a place where Black people can gather, share a meal, build relationships, celebrate our culture, and feel at home. We are excited to welcome our visitors, exchange stories, and deepen connections between Black communities across Oregon.

For more information please email Jayden at [email protected]