LGBT Life Center is moving ahead with plans to open a Peninsula location and renovations of its Norfolk headquarters and clinic.
“There’s so much work to get done,” LGBT Life Center CEO Stacie Walls said. “We will do this work. We will not be the ones that sit on the sidelines and bring others down.”
In a first “State of the Center” event Thursday in Norfolk, Walls outlined the nonprofit’s future and importance of its work in the community. The town hall came after her leadership was criticized by former employees and board members in a Virginian-Pilot investigation last year.
The center also is close to meeting a fundraising goal for constructing a new clinic at 20 Settlers Landing Road in Hampton, spokesperson Janelle Burchfield said. The center has raised more than $2.8 million, or 85%, of its $3.3 million goal. The nonprofit received $1.8 million in federal funding for the expansion effort in 2022.
Additionally, the center is renovating its offices at 5360 Robin Hood Road, Walls said, adding four exam rooms, an on-site pharmacy and a large community room.
At the event, LGBT Life Center employees, board members and community members spoke about their experiences with the nonprofit, including personal and emotional anecdotes. Jarrell Hargraves, a community health navigator, described how the center helped him navigate a positive HIV diagnosis years ago and inspired him to now help others access testing and health services in the community. Board member Ken Nelms said he supported the center because of a gay friend and a co-worker’s lesbian daughter who both died by suicide.
“Hopefully, the work that I do will change somebody’s life and make the world a better place,” Nelms said.
Additionally, the Life Center touted a recent successful grant review process by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development in a Dec. 14 announcement. According to a letter from the agency, auditors reviewed the program site, organizational policies and financial procedures as well as inspected three client case files on Oct. 30. According to the letter, the review found no findings or concerns.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also recently responded to a Pilot information request, saying no grants for the center were discontinued or cut short due to performance issues.
A lawsuit from a former pharmacy program partner is also moving forward. A hearing date for the suit brought by fellow nonprofit CAN Community Health will be set on Jan. 26, according to the Norfolk Circuit Court Clerk’s Office. CAN is suing the Life Center for $1.1 million for what it says in court documents is money owed after the failure of a drug program partnership. In a response, lawyers for the Life Center said CAN first breached the contract and it is unenforceable, but did not say why.
Trevor Metcalfe, 757-222-5345, trevor.metcalfe@pilotonline.com
