The federal government announced $67 million in grants to organizations assisting people in signing up for coverage in new health plans as part of the Affordable Care Act — and Atlanta-based The Health Initiative will be receiving some federal funding to help people with open enrollment beginning Oct. 1.
How much federal funding The Health Initiative will receive and the exact details of the grant is not yet known at this point. The Health Initiative is a resource for LGBTQ seeking health care resources.
In late March, the stakeholders of the Phillip Rush Center, Atlanta's LGBT community center, announced a plan to expand its current space by some 1,700 square feet. In the two months since, tens of thousands of dollars have been raised, according to Georgia Equality's Jeff Graham.
“It's our second expansion and we hope that the community will continue to support us to ensure there is a safe, accessible LGBT space here in Atlanta,” Graham told GA Voice.
Georgia Equality and the Health Initiative are jointly responsible for the space where several local LGBTQ nonprofits are based.
The Health Initiative today announced a rescheduling of the organization's annual Garden Party fundraiser to allow it to focus on helping LGBT Georgians navigate the new health insurance marketplace created by the Affordable Care Act. Open enrollment begins Oct. 1.
Linda Ellis, executive director of The Health Initiative, told GA Voice today that planning the Fall Garden Party would take away some of the organization's ability to properly address the changes.
“The work that we need to accomplish related to enrolling LGBT Georgians in the health insurance marketplace is core to who we are and what we do,” Ellis said. “It made sense to us to hold off the party and the celebration until after that work is done.”
The Phillip Rush Center, Atlanta’s LGBT community center, is negotiating to expand by 1,700 square feet, but organizers need to raise another $48,000 in the next six months to complete renovations on the new event space and additional offices for community organizations.
About 100 people attended a March 30 reception at the Rush Center to learn about plans to rent a space in the building located directly behind the current facility on Edgewood Avenue in Candler Park.
Donors pitched in $31,000 that day, including two $5,000 anonymous donations as well as many smaller donations, to help secure that new space and help with its build out.
The Phillip Rush Center begins expansion plans Monday into an approximate 1,700 square foot space in a building located directly behind its current location in Candler Park thanks to more than $31,000 raised at a reception on Saturday.
Linda Ellis, executive director of the Health Initiative, is co-director of the Rush Center with Jeff Graham, executive director of Georgia Equality. She explained Saturday that the expansion was needed because the Rush Center has outgrown its space at 1530 DeKalb Ave. as more and more LGBT organizations, such as the Rainbow Center, which serves and advocates for LGBT Jewish people and families, seek permanent office space. The expansion is also to meet the needs of a statewide survey of LGBT residents.
$31,000 raised so far for Atlanta's LGBT center
Since the Phillip Rush Center’s inception, organizers have shied away from using the term “community center” to describe the Candler Park LGBT facility where dozens of groups meet and numerous town hall forums have been held.
Several attempts at an LGBT community center in Atlanta had failed and Linda Ellis, executive director of the Health Initiative, and Jeff Graham, executive director of Georgia Equality, administrators of the Rush Center, wanted to avoid any kind of “curse” the title may have.
But now Ellis and Graham, after conducting a strategic planning process, are embracing the term because, well, that’s what the Rush Center has become.
At its annual Fall Garden Party in September 2011, the Atlanta Lesbian Health Initiative announced it would expand its mission to encompass all of the community — becoming The Health Initiative, “Georgia’s voice for LGBTQ health.”
In the year since its re-branding and expansion, the biggest change has been the number of individuals that utilize Health Initiative’s services, said Executive Director Linda Ellis.
“The most significant shift has been the overwhelming expansion in the number and types of people who are accessing our services, particularly the health fund,” Ellis said. “We’re seeing an increase in trans individuals and gay men who access the fund. That’s a shift for us and that’s exactly what we wanted to happen.”
The Health Initiative today announced plans for its annual Fall Garden Party fundraiser. The event, now in its 17th year, will again be held at Midtown's Einstein's on Sept. 23 from 4 - 8 p.m.
Among the festivities this year, the Health Initiative will honor the Atlanta Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence for their work in the community with the Healing Angel Award.
Linda Ellis, executive director of Health Initiative, said the Atlanta Sisters were deserving of the honor for their work in LGBT advocacy across Atlanta.
“The Sisters are extremely deserving of this honor," Ellis said in a statement. "They spend countless hours working for the well-being of the community and we are excited to offer them this type of recognition for their efforts.”
The Health Initiative, Georgia’s voice for LGBT health, will host a Spring Health Fair on April 28 at The Rush Center. The event is being held in partnership with Grady Medical.
Doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals will be on-hand to offer a variety of free health screenings and consultations ranging from blood pressure to cholesterol and glucose checks.
Also included in the health fair are short (30-45 minute) health and wellness information sessions that will focus on a variety of topics specific to LGBT participants. These sessions will occur throughout the day, according to the Health Initiative’s James Parker Sheffield.
The Health Initiative announced today it is launching its new, interactive website ― www.thehealthinitiative.org ― as part of National LGBT Health Awareness Week.
The new look of the website includes a place for the LGBTQ-Friendly Provider Directory, a place where health care providers can sign up for training information as well as be listed for those seeking those providers. Those visiting the website can also search for LGBTQ-friendly providers by inputting either name, city or specialty.