SAN ANTONIO – The Pride Center San Antonio is moving for the first time in nearly a decade.
The center is relocating from its longtime space at the Metropolitan Professional Building to a new site in Government Hill on the inner East Side.
Cristian Sanchez, chair of the Pride Center, said his priority is making sure the free services they provide to the LGBTQ+ community will continue without interruption.
However, the transition is also putting a spotlight on a larger challenge: the center does not have a permanent location.
Cristian said the move is being driven by redevelopment of the Metropolitan building.
“We’ve been in the Metropolitan Professional Building for about eight years, provided by Methodist Health Systems, and they’ve been an excellent partner,” Sanchez said. “Because of them, we were able to go from no staff to a full clinical program serving many people.”
“From what we understand, they’re just redeveloping the building,” Sanchez continued, “so they’re making us transition out of this space."
While the new Government Hill space is not open yet, it will soon serve as the center’s temporary base for free LGBTQ+ resources. Cristian said demand for those services remains high.
“Just this year, we have provided over 1,500 hours of free mental health counseling,” he said. He also said the center has served over 200 people in just the first five months of 2026.
In addition to counseling, the Pride Center offers case management, including referrals and help accessing social services, as well as grief groups and youth groups.
The center is also used as a training space for graduate social work students to complete internships.
“This is one of the few places in Texas where you can, as a practitioner, a student, learn to provide services that are geared toward the LGBTQ+ community,” he said.
During the transition, Cristian said The San Antonio AIDS Foundation has stepped in to help provide temporary space.
While he’s grateful for the assistance, he said the Pride Center needs a permanent location.
“What we won’t be able to do is some of our community programming, which is like our drop-in center, some of our groups, group therapy,” Cristian said. “So we really need support to find a permanent home and to be able continue that programming.”
To help cover costs and keep services stable, the Pride Center launched the San Antonio Deserves of Pride Center emergency fundraiser campaign.
“We’re aiming in our campaign for $100,000,” he said. “We think that will set us up really well to continue our programming even though we’re having to go through this transition.”
The Pride Center expects to complete its move to it’s new temporary location in late June as they have to move out of the Metropolitan Professional Building by the end of June.
Once the new center is set up, they’ll share the Government Hill address on their social media. In the meantime, Sanchez is hopeful the San Antonio community will help the Pride Center find and fund a new location.
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