Nearly 30 years together have given Linda Pina and Carla Werts countless memories: a business they’ve built, a life rooted in Oceanside and a partnership that has weathered life’s highs and lows.
Spend a few minutes with them, and their warmth is immediate. So is the care they have for one another, a relationship they’ve continued to strengten in over nearly three decades.
Like any long-term relationship, they have faced difficult moments. When Linda and Carla decided to seek counseling, both together and individually—they spent months trying to find affordable care.
Then Carla realized something she hadn’t known about an organization they had supported for years: the North County LGBTQ Resource Center offered free counseling services.
“Wait, they do this?,” she remembers thinking. “It was life-changing for us. Not just in our relationship, but also for me as an individual.”
For Linda, the experience reaffirmed something she now shares openly with others.
“If you’re feeling bad, you need to talk about it,” she said. “And if you can’t talk about it, get some help to talk about it.”
Where Care Meets Community
Linda and Carla aren’t the only people who have walked through the Resource Center’s doors looking for support.
As more people seek mental health support, the Resource Center has expanded its counseling services while continuing to meet a wide range of community needs.
“We always mirror what the needs are,” said Max Disposti, Executive Director of the Resource Center. “Our relationship with people is not just transactional. It’s really relationship-based work.”
What began as a way to boost the LGBTQ+ community’s visibility has grown into a hub for housing support, food distribution, legal and immigration assistance, along with youth and senior programs, and much more.
As demand for their services has increased, the organization has also expanded its behavioral and mental health efforts and created training opportunities for future clinicians.
San Diego Foundation (SDF) has supported that work through grants that strengthen mental health services, expand the behavioral health workforce through clinical intern stipends and sustain essential community programs through the San Diego Unity Fund during periods of funding uncertainty.
A Place to Belong
The programs, however, are only part of what keeps people coming back.
Max says the Resource Center has earned trust by creating an environment where all people know they’ll be welcomed.
“People trust us because they know they can come here, and we don’t place any judgment,” he said. “We don’t turn away anybody.”
For Linda and Carla, what they found at the Resource Center transformed their relationship.
“We’ve learned to re-communicate with each other and question things that we didn’t question before,” Linda said.
Their experience also reinforced the value of having a trusted place to turn during life’s most difficult moments.
“It feels like an extended family,” Carla said. “A lot of people don’t have that kind of support at home. It really does help create the community people need.”
