# Community events

Source: https://www.qaravan.org/annual-report/2024/events/

*Guests at a QARAVAN community event.*

In 2024, we organized over 100 community events, mostly in person. Regular in-person gatherings provide a safe space to welcome newcomers, build a sense of belonging, make friends, receive support, and learn.

- **Over 100** community events in 2024, mostly in person
- **25-30** new participants join each month
- **15 to upwards of 200** people attend an event

## The 2024 events included

- Orientation, advocacy, and community building
- Health and well-being events
- Information sessions
- Social and cultural gatherings and programs
- Volunteer trainings
- A winter coat distribution event

During events, we serve refreshments and distribute necessities like clothing and personal hygiene items. Guest speakers from nonprofit and public agencies join to present their services.

Our social outings and art programs foster community engagement and provide opportunities for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) immigrants to connect and express themselves creatively, promoting social integration and overall well-being. Our community members, including musicians, singers, painters, and drag artists, perform and present at the Brighton Beach Pride, World Refugee Day, and other events around the city.

*Guests talking and sharing snacks at a community event.*

## Meeting spaces

In 2024, the Brooklyn Community Pride Center, Pier57 Community Classrooms, Coney Island USA, the Brooklyn Public Library, and NYC Pride donated the meeting spaces.

*Guests mingling at a community event.*

*A presenter beside a slide about the structure of the U.S. Congress, at a lectern marked Brooklyn Community Pride Center.*

[PDF, 27 pages, 15.7 MB](https://www.qaravan.org/files/qaravan-annual-report-2024.pdf)