The Good Page features positive LGBTQ+ news in Central Florida and Tampa Bay, uplifting and inspiring stories highlighting locals in our community. In this issue we introduce Dr. Bahíyyah Maroon, Goodwill Industries of Central Florida’s vice president of mission impact.
Dr. Maroon is a queer woman who oversees programs that provide people with one-on-one coaches to fulfill their goals and their financial dreams with paid on the job training opportunities.
These programs seek to empower people to enter the workforce and advance their careers, Maroon says. This benefits more than 2,500 locals every year.
She says the most rewarding parts of her role are being able to serve people who are from vulnerable communities and people who face monumental obstacles, like the LGBTQ+ community of which she’s a part.
“I am living as a Black queer woman today,” Maroon says. “And to know that I can still show up to work and provide services and pathways to prosperity, to people who are the most vulnerable and even more vulnerable in today’s environment, means everything to me.”
Maroon creates impact when she can share her story with community members and Goodwill Industries of Central Florida employees. She shares her story with others to spark hope.
She was excommunicated from her deeply conservative faith community at the age of 13. She says her faith was her safe space and she was encouraged to later seek conversion therapy.
“I instead chose to make my way on my own in New York City as a young, queer woman and have built my life from there knowing what it feels like to live the story behind the statistics that we see,” Maroon says.
She finds it inspirational when she sees that she can be of service to the community.
One of the initiatives Maroon leads is Goodwill Connects. This allows people to call in across six counties for assistance with a housing crisis, food crisis, payment issues and more.
“We are continually innovating and I’m very proud of the innovations that have been put in place to serve more community members,” Maroon explains.
As an LGBTQ+ leader, Maroon ensures that the language the employees at GICF use make people of all backgrounds feel valued so they know they will be treated with respect.
She says GICF has a sizable portion of people who receive services because they present as a person with disabilities, youth aging out of foster care or an individual moving out of public assistance into work.
“When we sit down and have a conversation, they know that this is a genuinely inclusive space where all of their self will be seen and respected,” Maroon says. “They share that they are a member of the LGBTQI+ community and can then be guided towards additional resources and additional service supports that acknowledge and empower them as a member of that community.”
When Maroon looks at the political climate, she says it’s a time of despair.
“It is a moment of such deep reckoning to witness every day the loss of rights it has taken us decades to secure,” Maroon says. “And it’s easy at this moment to feel hopeless and helpless.”
She says people have to ask themselves “What’s one small thing I can do to support my community or myself in this time?”
Maroon holds herself to the highest standard so she can provide everyone around her with the tools, insights and information to also achieve the highest standard.
She says the best advice she has for others is to ask themselves a question that moves them to action every day.
“For me, the question I start the day with is ‘How can I be of service?’” Maroon notes. “And I end the day with ‘How was I of service?’ We have to ask more of ourselves and also hold ourselves accountable to our vision, and that’s how we make a real difference.”
Interested in being featured in The Good Page? Email Editor-in-Chief Ryan Williams-Jent at Ryan@WatermarkOutNews.com in Tampa Bay or Central Florida Bureau Chief Bellanee Plaza at Bellanee@WatermarkOutNews.com in Central Florida.
