The community center at Inside Out Youth Services, a nonprofit organization catering to LGBTQ+ youth and young adults, was closed for Thanksgiving break when on Nov. 19 a shooter killed five people inside a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs and injured another 22 patrons and employees.

The youth center hasn’t reopened since.

Immediately, there was concern that the mass shooting could spawn copycat actions and the center would be targeted, said Liss Smith, spokesperson for Inside Out.

Colorado Springs police, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security reached out to the organization to help thwart potential intrusion, she said.

While the organization received an outpouring of support from around the nation and countries such as New Zealand and England, Smith said negative online comments from anti-LGBTQ+ groups began appearing in earnest.

Social media threats got so bad that Inside Out had to delete its Twitter account, Smith said, “because we could not keep up with the hateful messages and harassment.”

The threats did not warrant police intervention, according to Colorado Springs police Lt. Pam Castro.

Police recorded no calls for service to the Inside Out address east of downtown in the past year, she said.

Inside Out has been holding virtual programs and off-site weekly in-person get-togethers, such as at libraries or at other organizations like Food to Power.

The organization serves between 100 and 200 youths in a quarter, Smith said, and has provided 190 free therapy sessions since November.

“A lot of our young folks don’t really have a safe space at home or school,” she said. “Inside Out is one of the few places they can truly feel like they can be themselves without judgment.

“It’s lifesaving to have that collective community to be connected to.”

Office renovations by volunteers from Lowe’s home improvement store to improve security and make the area “more fun” are nearly complete, Smith said.

Additional safety training for staff and up to 70 volunteers also is being conducted, she said.

The community center will reopen this month in phases, Smith said, at first for three days a week and working up to five days, Monday through Friday, its typical schedule.

The organization has had security practices in place for years, she said, including a locked double-door entrance.

Also, only vetted adults have been able to volunteer, with the goal of creating a secure and confidential “safe space,” where teens and young adults ages 13-24 can congregate.

“Unfortunately, it hasn’t been enough for this new movement,” Smith said.

Experts in anti-LGBTQ+ extremism and cybersecurity and physical safety practices have advised the group on how to move forward with safety being top-of-mind, she said.

The organization has contracted with a security company to provide on-site workers, the address is being removed from online sites, along with employees’ names.

“We’re reupping the vetting, taking volunteers only by referral and not having applications online,” Smith said.

Adult volunteers can still contact the organization via email, social media or its website, she said, as clients need trusted adults and intergenerational connectedness they may not get elsewhere.

“We’re not going to rush it; we know how important it is to do it right,” Smith said.

Nearly three months after the Club Q shooting, the local LGBTQ+ community is still in mourning, she said.

“People don’t know what it feels like to be targeted in that way and to lose people we knew and loved,” Smith said. “That’s the history of the LGBTQ community — grieving, coming together, being resilient.

“There’s sadness, anger, fear and overall a sense we have to come together, a sense we’ll change things. We’ll turn hate into love.”