Derrick Rump believed that community problems could be solved if everyone got together and talked about them, so Derrick’s Domain is the name of a colorful conference room inside the new Prism Community Collective headquarters south of downtown Colorado Springs.

“It best describes who he was,” Carter Cadena, the nonprofit’s community resources specialist, said Tuesday during a media tour.

With permission from their families, the five people killed during the Nov. 19, 2022, shooting at Club Q are remembered by naming rooms in their honor in the new space, Cadena said.

The 3,000-square-foot Prism suite also has rooms where users can read queer-centric books, play video and board games, participate in a support group, meet with a counselor and receive physical health care.

A public open house will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday at the remodeled office space at 711 S. Tejon St.

Likely through June, referrals and services are available by appointment, until the final member of the hands-on crew of five is hired. Go to https://cosprismcollective.org to request an appointment.

In addition to resources and referrals, services include free STI and HIV testing by Hey719, peer support from the local office of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, medical care from Peak Vista Community Health, support from Diversus Health’s Club Q Action Group and CrossFit workshops.

People directly and indirectly affected by the tragedy continue to struggle more than a year and a half after a lone shooter entered the gay bar and dance club on North Academy Boulevard and fatally shot five people, left another 17 patrons and employees with gunshot wounds and in various ways injured 17 additional victims, according to organizers of the Prism initiative.

John Arcediano, who was physically injured from shrapnel  while bartending that night, today as Prism’s program and outreach manager is the first survivor of such an incident nationwide to work for a center that assists other survivors.

“Survivors are not always able to access resources, so we help them navigate through the systems to reach a point to re-engage in queer society,” Arcediano said. “As a trauma survivor, it can be overwhelming.”

Survivors continue to deal with financial instability, mental and physical health issues, and needing public assistance such as food stamps and disability benefits, he said.

“There are lingering effects needing long-term solutions, so they an start their journey to a healthy and happy recovery.”

A federal Anti-Terrorism Emergency Assistance Program grant of $1.7 million each year for three years is funding the center’s startup, Keener said, and Community Health Partnership has committed to sustaining its operation afterward, depending on community desires.

“Prism will provide a sense of fostering and bolstering community conversation, and a place where people can come for networking and connection, given the lack of LGBTQ+ safe spaces in Colorado Springs,” Arcediano said.

The idea for Prism, which was created by Community Health Partnership, an organization that backs programs that improve the health and well-being of residents, began before the nightclub shooting, said Rachel Keener, Community Health Partnership’s senior manager of health equity.

After the Gay and Lesbian Fund for Colorado closed its Colorado Springs office in 2011 and the Pride Center closed in 2015, the politically conservative-leaning El Paso County was left with a few gay nightclubs and a support organization for LGBTQ+ youth.

And a survey conducted in 2021 showed that a health and community center for the local LGBTQ+ population was in high demand.

Organizers wanted the center to open last fall, Keener said, but final approval on funding just came through last month.

The timing of Prism’s official opening coincides with Pride Month, a celebration of LGBTQ+ people. The local observation will feature a host of activities this weekend, including a two-day festival, a concert Saturday night and a downtown parade on Sunday.

In 2023, nearly 400,000 Colorado adults identified as LGBTQ+, according to the Colorado Health Access Survey. That’s 8.9% of the adult population.

Authorities determined the Club Q mass shooting to be bias-motivated and a hate crime.

In general, Colorado Springs has become more accepting of the LGBTQ+ community, Prism staff said.

More than 30 years ago, El Paso County was the epicenter of a voter-approved state constitutional amendment to ban municipalities from passing anti-discrimination laws to protect gays lesbian and bisexual people.

The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the legislation in 1996, but the county was left with a negative image of being unwelcoming.

Changes in attitude have been noticeable, said Prism site director Stoney Roberts, with “People showing up even the darkest of times,” although a lack of resources for LGBTQ+ people still plagues the community, Prism staff said.

Users of the new center can turn anguish into solace as they play games in the media room, named after the late Raymond Green Vance; find inspiration in the Lavender Library, also called Daniel’s Den for Daniel Davis Aston, select gender-affirming clothing in the purple and pink Kelly’s Closet, in remembrance of transgender advocate Kelly Loving; or meet with a therapist in Ashley’s Area, with a nod to Ashley Paugh, who helped adoptive parents in her work before she died in the Club Q shooting.

Organizers hope that opening the community and resource center will reduce stress, anxiety, depression, survivor guilt, thoughts of suicide, mental health crises, substance abuse and other non-healthy ways people deal with such trauma, Keener said.

Editor’s note: This story has been corrected to say that John Arcediano sustained physical injuries from shrapnel during the Club Q shooting.