Shenandoah LGBTQ Center names new director of Friendly City Safe Space

The Shenandoah LGBTQ Center has named Dandy Knopf to serve as the site director of the Friendly City Safe Space in Harrisonburg.

Knopf assumed their new role last week.

“Dandy is a creative, a business owner, and someone with deep connections to our community,” said AnhThu Nguyen, executive director of Shenandoah LGBTQ Center, which is based in Staunton.

“Their gifts are critical right now,” Nguyen said. “Our immediate focus is to engage and mobilize folks through active listening and collaborative creation to build the necessary support for our community at this time.”

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Friendly City Safe Space was founded in 2021by Hyacinth Bellerose. It offers drop-in hours, free counseling services, a community clothes closet, queer lending library, and food pantry.

The space, located on the second floor of the Ice House on South Liberty Street in Downtown Harrisonburg, hosts a diversity of affinity group meetings and social events and partnered programming with local organizations.

Knopf joins Friendly City Safe Space with a degree in sociology from James Madison University and more than four years of experience in founding and sustaining their local business, Deviant Kreations.

Alongside their partner, Phoenix, they have worked to create an unapologetically queer space where people feel seen, respected and uplifted.

“As the site director, my goal is to continue that mission by further strengthening the queer community in the Harrisonburg and Rockingham County areas,” Knopf said. “I aim to build relationships, increase awareness, and expand support. I firmly believe in the power of community and the importance of listening to the diverse voices and intersectional lived experiences of our neighbors and peers.”