Dining Out For Life, Hampton Roads

05/14/2026

The shelves are stocked, and the Hampton Pride Pantry is ready for the weekend 💛

If you need pantry staples, snacks, drinks, frozen meals, fresh items, or ingredients to help put together meals for yourself or your family, come by and shop the pantry.

We’ve stocked up on:
🥫 Pantry staples
🥔 Fresh produce
🥣 Breakfast items
🥪 Lunch & frozen meals
🥤 Drinks & snacks
🍞 Bread and more

📍 LGBT Life Center – Hampton, 20 Settlers Landing Road.

Stop by and grab what you need.

05/13/2026

Food is culture. Food is history. Food is community.

As part of AAPI Heritage Month, we’re highlighting just a few of the incredible Asian American and Pacific Islander-owned restaurants and food businesses helping shape the flavor of Hampton Roads.

From Thai cuisine and Laotian street food to Filipino coffee, Hawaiian-style poké, and Asian fusion favorites, these local spots bring generations of tradition, creativity, and culture to our community.

Supporting local AAPI-owned businesses means supporting the people, families, and stories that help make Hampton Roads what it is.

Featured this week:
🍜 Sawasdee
☕ Buko Boy Coffee
🍣 Pokétastic
🥘 Renee’s
🥢 Vang Go Bistro
🌶️ 757 Loas Street Food

Go try something new. Bring a friend. Support local.

05/12/2026

SATURDAY, May 16: Bayou Bon Vivant is almost here, and we’re looking for volunteers to help us bring the energy 🍻🎶

Join LGBT Life Center as we sling beer, support the community, and celebrate a weekend full of Cajun music, food, and fun. Volunteers help make events like this possible, and it’s always a good time.

Available shifts:
• 2:30 PM – 6:30 PM
• 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM

Sign up here: bit.ly/BayouBB2026SATURDAY, May 16:

05/03/2026

This month’s LIFE Support Volunteer Newsletter is about showing up.

For our history.
For our community.
For each other.

Inside the May issue:
🧵 A reflection on the AIDS Quilt and the stories we carry forward
🧠 Why youth mental health can’t be dismissed or delayed
✍️ A call for your creativity; writing, art, and your voice
🏳️‍🌈 The legacy of Harvey Milk and what it still asks of us
🎬 A spotlight on filmmaker and activist Madeline Lim
➕ Ways to get involved, upcoming events, and a few lighter moments too

Take a few minutes. Read it. Be part of it.

👉 https://lgbtlifecenter.org/blog/may-life-support-showing-up-building-community-and-making-it-happen/

May 2026 LIFE Support volunteer newsletter from LGBT Life Center, highlighting community impact, volunteer efforts, and ways to get involved.

04/28/2026

🎟️ GIVEAWAY: Music of Queen: A Rock Symphony 🎶

Virginia Arts Festival (VAArtsFest) to give away 2 tickets to Music of Queen: A Rock Symphony with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra on May 15 at the Sandler Center!

Want to win? 👇
✔️ Follow LGBT Life Center + Virginia Arts Festival
✔️ Like this post
✔️ Comment your favorite Queen song

That’s it.

Winner will be selected and announced on Friday, May 1.

Bonus: Use code LIFE26 at vafest.org to save 15% on tickets.

04/21/2026

Sometimes support looks simple.

A bag of groceries.
A volunteer showing up.
A place where someone feels seen and not alone.

Today for LIFE’s Impact Day, Andrew Garber is sharing what support services really look like at LGBT Life Center; how food, volunteers, and everyday connection come together to meet people where they are.

Because for a lot of folks, this isn’t extra. It’s essential.

It’s what helps someone get through the week.
It’s what keeps people connected to care.
It’s what reminds people they’re not on their own.

Follow along with us today as we continue to show this work in action—and if you believe in it, help us keep it going: 👉 lgbtlifecenter.org/donate

04/21/2026

A safe place to live shouldn’t be a turning point. It should be a starting point.

Today for LIFE’s Impact Day, we’re talking about housing; what it means to move from instability into something steady, and how that changes everything that comes next.

Julie Snell, our Director of Housing, shares what this work looks like up close. Not just placing someone in a home, but helping them stay there, build from there, and move forward with support around them.

Because housing isn’t just about a roof. It’s about health, dignity, and having a foundation to build a life on.

Follow along with us today as we continue to share this work in action, and if you believe in it, help us keep it going: 👉 lgbtlifecenter.org/donate

04/21/2026

What does opportunity actually look like?

For a lot of people, it’s not just about finding a job. It’s about having someone in your corner, helping you navigate what comes next, and making sure you don’t have to figure it out alone.

Today for LIFE’s Impact Day, Dominique Cravins is sharing how our Economic Empowerment program is doing exactly that; connecting people to jobs, resources, and real pathways forward.

Because stability doesn’t happen by accident. It takes access. It takes support. It takes community.
And it works.

📍 Join us on May 7 from 3-6 pm at our Hampton location for our upcoming Job Fair; whether you’re looking for work or your next step, we’re here to help you get there.

Follow along with us all day as we share more of this work in action, and if you believe in what you’re seeing, help us keep it going: 👉 lgbtlifecenter.org/donate

04/13/2026

The stories we carry matter.

Join us for Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt; a powerful evening of film and conversation honoring the lives, grief, and resilience represented in the AIDS Memorial Quilt.

🗓 April 16
🕠 5:30 PM
📍 Torggler Lecture Hall

Featuring our very own Michelle Reed, Director of Client Engagement, as well as a screening of the Academy Award-winning documentary and a panel discussion with community voices, plus a rare opportunity to view panels from the AIDS Memorial Quilt.

This is more than a film. It’s a chance to remember, reflect, and connect.

04/07/2026

A new article highlights the real impact of recent HIV funding cuts across Virginia—and our CEO, Stacie Walls, is part of that conversation.

👉 https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/funding-cuts-state-error-strain-093051958.html

Here’s the reality:
Across the state, organizations like ours are being forced to scale back services after a funding shortfall tied to a state billing error. That means fewer resources for things like housing support, food access, and care navigation; services people rely on every day.

This isn’t abstract. It affects real people, right here in Hampton Roads.

At LGBT Life Center, we’re continuing to show up; making sure people can access care, stay connected, and get the support they need.

Because when systems get harder to navigate, this work becomes even more important.

People living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus — and safety net clinics that serve them — have spent the past year on edge, squeezed by federal funding cuts and a state health department billing erro...