The organization You Are Safe Here is among the new members of the Seal Beach Chamber of Commerce.
New members are introduced at the monthly Chamber Networking breakfast, last held Thursday morning, July 13, in O’Malley’s on Main. Non-members may attend the breakfast for $30. Each new member is given 2 minutes to speak, be it about their business (if they are business members) or about themselves (if they are individual members).
Other new members included the businesses Pearle Vision and Optimum Employer Solutions and an individual member.
You Are Safe Here is a sister city program, according to founder Rick Foster of Seal Beach. Foster is a member of the Orange County Development Processing Review Committee. He is also a member of SAG-AFTRA Government Affairs, Public Policy.
According to a statement issued by You Are Safe Here, the organization came about to help the United Nations, the U.S. State Department, and various foreign affairs offices around the world identify and share data on safe communities that could take in LGBTQ refugees.
For years Foster has helped write Congressional legislation and has been advising members of Congress and the Senate on the conditions and unique challenges that face LGBTQ refugees. Foster states he didn’t find this work, but this work found him. While writing a pitch piece for Rolling Stone, Foster met a group in a social media chat and discovered horrific stories of abuse, torture, and sex tourism targeting LGBTQ refugees; this shook Foster to his core, and he decided to do what he could to help these at-risk individuals.
Foster began advocating for the world’s most vulnerable refugees within the LGBTQ refugee communities nearly a decade ago.
Currently, Seal Beach is not on the You Are Safe Here list of safe communities, but Foster hopes to be able to add Seal Beach to the list someday.
