One of a kind - that’s the phrase you could use to describe LINC. For almost 20 years the Cork jewel has been the only community development organisation working exclusively with lesbian and bisexual women in the Republic of Ireland. It is no exaggeration to say that thousands of women have been supported and assisted during that time, and thousands more have found friends, family, a safe space, a lifeline and a home.
Ask many queer women, and they will describe passionately how much it has meant to them. That passion and love for LINC (and the community it serves) is reflected back just as strongly by the women who founded it and the women there today who ensure there is always a welcome for a sister in need.
Siobhan O’Dowd, one of its founders, explained its origins: “There was a very definite sense of the need in 1998 for a space and place for LB women in Cork. There was a piece published in the Community Workers Co-Op magazine wondering why, given that there were so many community workers in the LGBT community, how come they weren’t using those skills within the community?”