When Hailey Johnston moved to Lansing in December, the first thing she did was look for LGBTQ community centers.
That’s how she found the Salus Center.
Not only did Salus provide a “safe, inviting and warm” space for her to go on a date with her partner, it helped her make new friends and find programs supporting LGBTQ people, she said.
“I was able to find everything else after finding them,” Johnston said. “They have been huge to building my community.”
Many have shared similar stories about the area’s only LGBTQ community center, which is now facing permanent closure due to budget shortfalls during the coronavirus pandemic.
Losing previously secured funding worried Isabella Copeland, Oprah Jrenal and Dio Aldridge, who became co-directors at Salus Center after its founder left the organization in early August.
“The trigger point for me is when we started having conversations about rent being past due and the urgency,” Copeland said. “We needed to be doing more than ever for the community now. We are trying to keep our community safe as possible, connected and resourced during these challenging times.”
Salus Center has typically needed more than $77,000 a year to sustain itself, according to its operating budget. The organization pays out more than $17,000 in rent and other bills each quarter.
The organization wouldn’t be able to make September’s rent or pay other bills if something wasn’t done, the center’s website shows.
Salus Center launched a GoFundMe on July 31. Its leaders have raised nearly $22,000 of their $80,000 goal as of Wednesday afternoon.
“We want to ensure we are here long-term,” Aldridge said. “We want to get the bills correct and make sure we can pay for everything for years to come.”
Leadership changes at Salus Center
Salus Center became Lansing’s first and only LGBTQ hub in 2017 when it was founded by the Rev. Phiwa Langeni.
In an Aug. 1 letter, Langeni explained their decision to leave the organization and expressed confidence in the new co-directors.
“It would be a huge disservice for me to stay on when the gifts I bring with the most passion are no longer the gifts Salus needs most deeply,” Langeni wrote.
The change in leadership means rebuilding the organization as a nonprofit independent from the United Church of Christ – a connection that previously existed due to Langeni’s role as a pastor, according to Copeland.
“I like that we are building off the legacy of Phiwa and the legacy of LGBTQ people before them,” Aldridge said. “It has been a positive experience working with the co-directors and others in the community.”
Challenges created by the pandemic seemed great, so the co-directors decided to work together to uplift the Salus Center.
Aldridge will lead new education initiatives for the center while Jrenal and Copeland will handle programs, events and other duties.
“When the conversation started to happen about burn out (for Langeni) and taking the center in bigger and greater directions, we three were all very interested in having those brainstorms,” Copeland said.
Helping the LGBTQ community
When Cara Nader was growing up as “a queer kid up north,” there were no LGBTQ organizations. Nor did she know anyone who was gay.
“It’s important to have a community center where everyone feels welcome,” said Nader, the owner of Strange Matter Coffee. “Support is needed, especially for young people.”
“There are lots of trans kids, on the eastside especially, who really get a lot from the center,” she added. “Without that, they are going to be lost like they are lost in cities where trans women get murdered every single day.”
Nader has donated to Salus Center over the years because of the work the organization has done in the community, she said.
“Just their community outreach, the things they do with youth and they organize these areas for poetry readings and gatherings. I think those are so important.”
Julia Anne Miller has often recommended Salus Center to the homeless youth she has met.
“They don’t have a shelter in the Lansing area for people who identify as something other than the gender they were assigned at birth,” said Miller, co-founder of Punks With Lunch Lansing, which feeds the hungry.
Miller said she worries what could happen to these young people if Salus Center ceased operations.
“Younger folks, when coming out, they get disowned by family,” she added. “Salus Center is not a shelter, but they do offer a community: A place to go where people can feel safe, where they belong and hopefully find safe resources.”
Salus Center serves 16 support groups, including some for youth.
“Not all LGBTQ folks are coming from a supportive home life. One of the groups that meets regularly at the Salus Center is TRUE, which is for LGBTQ youth,” Jrenal said. “Sometimes that’s the only space for people where someone respects your pronoun usage and chosen name.”
Planning for the future
The co-directors are planning a “bigger and brighter community space,” according to Copeland.
Many of their upcoming initiatives involve educating and advocating for the inclusion of LGBTQ people.
“We want to build ally-ship with businesses downtown and across Lansing with monthly workshops,” Aldridge said. “We will invite business owners to engage, have conversations and help them create services that are understanding of the nuanced life experiences of LGBTQ people and even break down what that acronym means.”
Beginning in September, Aldridge will lead the three-part virtual workshop series, which is free to business owners.
Salus Center will also hold a virtual meet and greet the following month. The event will bring together organizations serving the LGBTQ community and those who participate in the center’s support programs.
“One hope for this event is to make and establish connections that will mutually aid the community in coming together and surviving this difficult time,” Copeland explained.
But the top priority for Salus continues to be fundraising.
The center is partnering with Downtown Lansing Inc. and the Lansing Public Media Center to screen the film “Moonlight” on Aug. 20.
Money raised through ticket sales will help Salus Center continue serving the LGBTQ community.
“I think of LGBTQ centers almost like a church,” Aldridge said. “You get everything you need. That’s what draws me to this type of work, knowing it’s filling a huge need.”
Contact LSJ reporter Kristan Obeng at KObeng@lsj.com or 517-267-1344. Follow her on Twitter @KrissyObeng.
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