The Heber center is named after Collin Russell, a gay man who died of an accidental drug overdose in 2018 at the age of 23.
His sister, Emma Westwood, spoke at Saturday’s grand opening. She said she and her husband took a tour of the Encircle house in Salt Lake shortly after Collin died and they decided it was a cause they wanted to be a part of.
"The minute I walked in that home, I felt Collin there," she told the crowd. "He would have loved Encircle. He would have loved the community that it brought together. He would have loved gathering and sharing his story and listening to everyone else's story."
Westwood said her little brother was a very bright, loving and happy person. But he also struggled with anxiety and depression during his teenage years as he began to come to understand his sexuality. And to cope, he eventually turned to substance abuse.
"I felt like if Encircle had been around when Colin was 12, 13, even into his later years, it could have changed his life," she said. "It would have helped us as a family so much."
Encircle’s Executive Director, Jordan Sgro, told KPCW Encircle gives help to LGBTQ+ youth and young adults by providing a safe space for them to be themselves.
"We provide a whole host of mental health services, therapy programs, support groups, education, general drop-in hours where youth can kind of come and hang out and study, eat, do whatever," she said.
And it provides that space in beautiful historic homes. The one in Heber was known for years as the old Zions Bank building. It was built in 1892 by Abram Hatch. He was the member of the Utah territorial legislature who introduced the bill granting women the right to vote in Utah.
Sgro says Encircle wants these homes to feel warm and inviting to all who come in.
"When the home is open and functioning, it's very lively, there's games, there's homework, there's cookies and food," she said.
The house has a kitchen, a music room, a room for art projects, and a living room which features a wall lined with pictures of LGBTQ+ youth. Encircle calls it the "friendship circle" room.
"This is like a really sacred space," Sgro said.
For some LGBTQ+ youth, these sessions present the first opportunity to see "somebody like them — seeing someone who's been through that same experience, like, 'Oh, my goodness, I'm actually not alone.'"
Upstairs, there are three rooms devoted to therapy. Sgro said Encircle has 13 therapists who provide around 500 therapy sessions a month to LGTBQ+ youth and their families — and that number will increase with the Heber house now open.
She said Encircle accepts ten different insurance providers. The reimbursements from those insurance companies help cover the costs of a grant program that provides affordable therapy to those who need it.
"One grant provides a youth or a family member or a parent six months of weekly therapy. So you can apply for those on our website," she said.
In addition to providing these resources to LGBTQ+ youth and their families, Sgro said Encircle wants the community as whole to feel like the house belongs to them as well.
"We want Encircle to be a space for everyone," she said. "We want parents to be able to come in here. We want community members in here. We want youth in here. We really believe in 'no sides, only love' and building bridges."
![Artwork is prominently displayed throughout the house — and it’s all for sale. Fifty percent of the proceeds help fund Encircle’s mental health programs, while the artists pocket the other 50% for themselves.
“There's art in here that's done by LGBTQ artists, by parents with LGBTQ kids, [or] just general community members and allies,” Sgro said. There’s even art for sale created by some of the Encircle youths themselves.
The house also has an art room, which holds weekly “art nights” with local artists teaching their crafts to Encircle’s guests.
“We've done everything from watercolor painting, oil painting, balloon animals,” Sgro said. “If it has ‘art’ in the title, we've done it here.”
Or, “a youth or a family can come in really any time and just create and have the space to just explore and be themselves at the same time,” Sgro said. “It's pretty awesome.”](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/2ddb71d/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3507x2160+166+0/resize/880x542!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F5e%2F98%2F7e8d124e4904bbd94cdd82b4aa05%2Fpxl-20230608-222717961.jpg)
![The home now features custom crown molding with “circles encircling circles,” Sgro said. “There's a lot of symbolism and small details throughout the whole home that make every home feel like an Encircle [home]. But every home is unique for that community.”](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/a53cea3/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3401x2095+162+0/resize/880x542!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F2d%2F59%2F44a254ed4af9be86024062913ce8%2Fpxl-20230608-222226099-edit.jpg)
She says Encircle seeks to build those bridges by encouraging members of a "historically conservative" community to come to them with questions they may not have been comfortable asking before.
"We assume that generally most people have good intentions, and they love their families, and they are doing the best they can," Sgro said. "And we are just going to provide education and resources and tools to help people understand what being an LGBTQ youth looks like and means."
For Collin Russell, being an LGBTQ+ youth meant a lot of struggle. Emma Westwood told KPCW that, while they can’t change the outcome of her brother’s story, she’s hopeful the new center in Heber will change the outcome for many young people like him.
"I'm just so thrilled that they have a place that they can come and just be who they are," she said. "They don't have to keep any piece of them out. They can fully be who they are."
The house is located at 81 East Center Street in Heber City. All Encircle locations are open Monday thru Friday from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.
