GLBT Health Center Pushes Toward Funding Goal
CHICAGO (CBS) - The Howard Brown Health Center has reportedly received more than half of the money it needs to avert dangers of closing.
The medical clinic at 4025 N. Sheridan Rd. in the Uptown neighborhood, which has tended to the gay and lesbian community for 36 years, set a goal of raising $500,000 by the end of the year.
Howard Brown chief executive officer Jamal Edwards told Gay Chicago Magazine that as of Tuesday, the clinic had already received $300,000.
Right away, donations began streaming in. Howard Brown says within five days, it had raised $90,000, and also received a $100,000 challenge grant.
Howard Brown serves about 36,000 people a year. The health center was founded in 1974, and opened its first clinic two years later.
The health center now offers everything from HIV and STD testing and prevention, to medical care and counseling. Howard Brown also operates the Triad Health practice at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, the Broadway Youth Center, and the three Brown Elephant resale shops in the Boystown and Andersonville neighborhoods and in Oak Park.
But the health center was jeopardized by the mismanagement of $3 million dollars in federal grant funds between 2006 and 2010. Internal investigations revealed the money was used to cover operating expenses, which led to the firing of two top administrators.
Now, Gay Chicago Magazine reported the projected 2011 budget for the clinic shows revenues of nearly $13 million and no deficit. The clinic has also charted a path to be recognized as a federally-qualified health center, which would allow for federal funding to cover such services as pediatric care and dental work, the magazine reported.
The clinic is also working to begin a capital campaign, increase its focus on women's health care, and provided satellite services on the city's South and West sides, the magazine reported.
