After the abrupt closure of Rainbow Health, a health care and social service provider for the Twin Cities LGBTQ+ community for more than 40 years, other local agencies are working together to minimize the fallout for clients.

The Aliveness Project, a Minneapolis-based organization that has supported individuals living with or at risk for HIV since 1985, was awarded some 30 contracts from Rainbow Health that include services like housing, medical transportation, food vouchers, legal services and educational programs regarding HIV, said James McMurray, social services director for the Aliveness Project.

Rainbow Health informed some 80 employees on July 18 that it would close immediately, citing funding issues.

Former Rainbow Health workers, 60 of whom were union-represented, received an email in the morning regarding an all-staff meeting where just two hours later they were informed of the closure, according to a news release from Rainbow Health Workers Union, which is represented by SEIU Healthcare Minnesota & Iowa.

The announcement came just days after the nonprofit’s CEO, Jeremy Hanson Willis, resigned following a unanimous vote of no confidence, according to the union.

Transfer of services

Since the closure and transfer of contracts, Aliveness has taken over the Every Penny Counts emergency assistance program, AIDSLine, a statewide information and referral service and benefits counseling programs, said Sonya Bieza, development manager for Aliveness, in an email.

Aliveness has also helped to pay late rents and stop over 120 evictions, Bieza said.

“These programs will significantly expand our ability to serve our community, and I’m proud of how quickly the team has been able to get them operational,” said Aliveness Executive Director Matt Toburen in an email.

Funding and support for Aliveness during the transition has come from other local organizations like OutFront Minnesota and the St. Paul and Minnesota Foundation, McMurray said, as well as federal funding via the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program.

The St. Paul and Minnesota Foundation, a nonprofit that invests in community-led solutions, allocated $170,000 to local agencies that were stepping up in place of Rainbow Health with $120,000 going directly to Aliveness for emergency support, said Alfonso Wenker, vice president of community impact for the foundation.

The additional $50,000 was allocated to the PFund Foundation, which was established in 1987 and aims to build equity with LGBTQ+ communities across the Upper Midwest.

To keep pace with the new programs and their existing ones, Aliveness anticipates hiring 15-25 new full-time positions in the coming weeks, Bieza said.

Prior to Rainbow Health closing, Aliveness had 62 employees, McMurray said, and in anticipation of some 20 new hires in the coming months, Aliveness has implemented a hybrid work model.

“As we grow, maintaining the heart and soul of Aliveness Project remains a top priority. We’re not just expanding; we’re evolving in a way that honors our roots and strengthens our community connections,” Toburen said.

Closure emphasizes community

Like many across the Twin Cities, Family Tree Clinic was also surprised to learn of Rainbow Health’s closure.

Family Tree Clinic, which has provided reproductive and sexual health care services since 1971, has been a longtime partner of Rainbow Health, working with many of the same community members.

In fact, the day the closure was announced, Family Tree was hosting a name change clinic in partnership with Rainbow Health. Despite being let go, former Rainbow Health staff members still showed up to the event to help some 50 people with the complicated name change process, said Annie Van Avery, executive director of Family Tree, in an email.

“Following the closure we stepped up our MNSure navigation and patient resources efforts to cover services that Rainbow Health clients and former employees now had a critical need for,” Van Avery said, which includes helping community members access health insurance, health care programs and wrap around services referrals like mental health and case management.

For those at Aliveness, McMurray said the news of the closure came as a total shock. Leadership at Aliveness actually had an upcoming meeting on the books with Rainbow Health to discuss how the two organizations could collaborate on future projects, McMurray said.

“We hope that this illuminates the need to expand support of Twin Cities organizations and independent health care clinics to be able to meet the significant needs of our communities in accessing the services and programs needed to reduce health disparities and foster healthy communities,” Van Avery said. “We don’t know why the closure was as sudden as it was, but we do understand how difficult it is to ensure that your programs and services are free or low cost and have minimal barriers for clients.”

“You see how we pull together when we are in need,” McMurray said, “but I wish we could do that together all the time.”

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