We’re Tweaking our Support Circles and Chapter Meetings

More face time, less Zooming.

That’s the gist of how we’re approaching our monthly get-togethers this year.

The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted our long-standing practice of meeting once a month in person and forced us onto Zoom out of sheer necessity.

Last year, as the threat of infection receded, we scheduled a handful of in-person meetings – and our community told us they wanted more face-to-face gatherings.

In response, the PFLAG Portland board has adopted these changes.

  • Our Fourth Saturday meetings will be in-person. We are calling them Chapter Meetings to distinguish them from our Second Thursday Support Circles, which will continue to be online. Unscripted, open-ended support discussions will be offered at both. Chapter Meetings will typically feature a guest speaker.
     
  • We will hold 10 Chapter Meetings – one every month except for August and December, when we hold our annual picnic and holigays party, respectively. Starting March 22, the meeting time will be 10 am to 12 pm, an hour earlier than the usual 11 am to 1 pm.
     
  • We will hold 6 Support Circles – one every other month. These will happen during the odd-numbered months of January, March, May, July, September and November. The meeting time will remain 7 to 8:30 pm.

To summarize:
VIRTUAL Support Circles: every other 2nd Thursday (7-8:30pm) in odd months
IN-PERSON CHAPTER MEETINGS: every 4th Saturday (10am-12pm) beginning in March. February’s mtg. will meet from 11am-1pm.

We are trying to strike a balance in making these tweaks.

Zoom offers the convenience of being able to join in from anywhere, but we know some folks don’t particularly enjoy the online experience or may have technical difficulties. In-person meetings offer more intimate connections but require an effort to get to the meeting location.

Let us know what you think of the changes. Write to supportcircles@pflagpdx.org or just tell us in person!