Gay City News: The 2019 Gay City News Impact Honorees

The 2019 Gay City News Impact Honorees | April 2, 2019: CHYNNA PITLOCK - A native of Minnesota who grew up in Upstate New York, Chynna Pitlock has been director of the Queens Center for Gay Seniors since 2015, having joined the Center — part of the Queens Community House — the year before as assistant director. As director, she has been instrumental in expanding outreach, community awareness, and advocacy for LGBTQ older adults in the borough. The Queens Center for Gay Seniors provides a culturally-rich environment where LGBTQ older adults engage with peers, enjoy a hot meal, take classes, explore new interests, and give back through volunteer and advocacy opportunities.

The same year she assumed leadership at the Center, Pitlock began work on her master’s degree at Hunter College’s Silberman School of Social Work. Working full time and attending school full time at night, she also managed to find the time to complete a social work internship at Generation Q, Queens Community House’s LGBTQ youth drop-in center. In her thesis to complete her social work degree, Pitlock created an intergenerational LGBTQ program curriculum for integrating a senior center with a youth center in order to create a mentoring program. She completed her master’s, with honors, last year, with a concentration in aging and clinical work.

Pitlock moved to New York City from upstate in 2010 and was recrutied to play goalkeeper on the women’s soccer team at SUNY College at Old Westbury. Joining the campus LGBTQ group PRIDE, she became president, supervising a four-member exeuctive board serving a 50-member club. She led PRIDE in presenting educational forums on LGBTQ issues and rights for the Old Westbury undergraduate community and the college’s staff. When she graduated with high honors with a degree in psychology and a minor in social work, Pitlock was named Student Leader of the Year and one of the 50 most influential student leaders of the previous decade.

In her first job out of Old Westbury, she served as a youth specialist working with LGBTQ incarcerated youth in Brooklyn, helping them adapt back into their communities and families upon their release.

Pitlock is a member of the board of the Lesbian and Gay Democratic Club of Queens and also serves on the events committee for Queens Pride. Her leadership has been recognized with awards from the Queens borough president and gay City Councilmembers Daniel Dromm and Jimmy Van Bramer.

Full Article: https://www.gaycitynews.nyc/stories/2019/7/impact2019-2019-03-28-gcn.html