For Andie and Homer, connection began through a volunteer match with Shanti Project — but neither expected how deeply they would impact each other’s lives. Their relationship reflects what Pride has always been about: intergenerational community, care, and making sure no one has to navigate life alone.

Andie, a Peer Support Volunteer, joined Shanti in 2024 while seeking deeper connection within the queer community. She was immediately drawn to the one-on-one model because it offered something beyond volunteering — real human connection.

“I wanted that intergenerational connection,” she says. “Not only to be there for someone, but to learn from them.”

Growing up queer in a small Southern California town, Pride meant visibility and survival: “There is someone that needs to know we exist.”

Homer, now 80, has been connected to Shanti’s HIV program since the mid-1990s and has worked with volunteers for over 30 years. Each relationship has offered companionship through different stages of life.

Since meeting in June 2024, Andie and Homer have built a steady rhythm together — weekly dinners, movie outings, and long conversations. From Las Brisas to a silent film screening, even celebrating Andie’s birthday at Denny’s, their connection has grown into something consistent and meaningful.

“She’s slowly integrated into my life,” Homer says.

What began as volunteer support has become chosen family. For Andie, who is not close with her own family, the relationship has been unexpectedly healing. “It means friendship. It means my future,” she says. “I look at Homer and think, ‘I’ll be you one day.’”

Their bond also reflects a deeper lineage within queer history — honoring those who came before. “I think it’s really important to take care of our own,” Andie says. “Homer and his peers were the pioneers who fought for the rights we have today.”

For Homer, the impact is simple but profound: “As you get older, it’s harder to make friends. And Andie fills that void.”

More than anything, he values presence. “I like having someone I can talk to without them looking at their phone.”

After decades with Shanti, Homer says the program continues to remind him he is not alone. “Having these volunteers in my life has been very enriching,” he says.

Andie, in turn, says the experience has reshaped how she understands compassion and vulnerability — how to listen, and how to show up.

At its core, both return to the same truth: connection is love in action.

“This program breaks isolation,” Homer says.

And that, for both of them, is what Pride ultimately means — not just visibility, but community. Not just being seen, but being held across generations, experiences, and time.

“This fight is not over,” Homer adds. “And it’s important for organizations like Shanti to keep being there for people in need.”