Rainbow Coalition of Waterloo Region History
A Brief History of the Coalition
Rainbow Coalition of Waterloo Region (RCWR) was founded in January 2011 in
response to a series of community conversations held in the Fall of 2010. The questions being asked were:
- How do we unify the various groups supporting the Rainbow Community in Waterloo Region?
- Who advocates for the Rainbow Community in Waterloo Region?
The outcome of answering these questions through community conversations was the identification of the need to develop a framework to support sustainable development opportunities for the collaboration in the local Rainbow Community. The Waterloo Region Rainbow Coalition (WRRC) was the response to this need.
The WRRC was founded as a volunteer based community organization committed to:
- Building a unified voice for gender and sexual diversity for people of all ages in Waterloo Region
- Promoting sustainable opportunities for advocacy, awareness, education, and community building that are respectful of the diverse interests within the Rainbow community
- Working together with local allies to foster a strong and inclusive community
To keep operations sustainable, WRRC focused on one major initiative at a time over the years.
This work led to efforts in collaboration and coordination through groups like the Rainbow Community Council, Social events such as Queer Night Out, creation of a brick and mortar space that led to Spectrum. In addition to these longer term projects WRRC also:
- Hosted several in person and virtual conversations
- Led two Jane’s Walks
- Organized educational/advocacy camapigns
- Supported the Outlook Study
- Organized a number of one-of events
WRRC also collaborated on initiatives with community partners to address immediate community needs.
In June 2016 WRRC partnered with the Order, a local queer Nightclub at the time, to create a space for the community to grieve and support one another in the wake of the Orlando shootings.
In 2021 WRRC took a pause before tackling new projects. WRRC identified organizational challenges that had to be addressed such as:
- An ageing web and digital infrastructure
- The sustainability of the volunteer base
- An ability to access needed funding
- Brand confusion
- Scaling up to support more than one initiative at once
It was determined that a course had to be set towards a more sustainable model of operations.
After 10 years of successful community building, in 2021 WRRC rebranded as Rainbow Coalition of Waterloo Region (RCWR) and incorporated as a not-for profit organization to allow for increased access to resources to advance our work. RCWR priorities became:
- Increasing the region’s capacity to support grassroots, non-profit organizations, and other social enterprises that provide services to the 2SLGBTQIA+ Community in Waterloo Region
- Advancing, promoting, and addressing the well-being of our community through social opportunities that facilitate peer connection and prevent social isolation.
- Establishing high standards of practice in supporting members of our community.
Today RCWR is a 100% volunteer-run community organization committed to building a unified voice for supporting gender and sexual diversity in Waterloo Region. RCWR promotes sustainable opportunities for advocacy, awareness, education, and community-building that are respectful of the diverse interests within the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
Please review our recently ratified strategic plan for more details on the current focus of RCWR.