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Reinvention Reigns During COVID-19 Pandemic
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We Are An Organization
That Knows How to Reinvent Itself
The COVID-19 pandemic changed how the Center offers many of its programs and services, but the why never wavered even as events unfolded and realities shifted day by day, sometimes hour by hour. A herculean effort by the Center’s leadership, staff, supporters, volunteers, and clients helped ensure that vital care and resources stayed in place and that new programs were developed to meet the changing needs of the LGBTQ community.
• Staff from Public Policy & Community Building, Health Services, and Facilities on site during the COVID-19 pandemic
By mid-March, the COVID-19 pandemic had dramatically shifted how the Center was delivering care and support to the thousands of clients who depend on the organization’s free and low-cost programs and services each month. Here is just a snapshot of some of those efforts, which continue today:
Staying Together Apart
Safety precautions were put in place to reduce the number of people in each of the Center’s ten locations. Most in-person events, programs, and activities were canceled or postponed. The Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Senior Center closed for activities. To provide proper social distancing, drop-in services for youth moved from the Youth Center to The Village at Ed Gould Plaza.
With tremendous support from the Center’s Information Technology (IT) team, hundreds of staff members transitioned to working from home. Other staff voluntarily redeployed to other roles within the organization, including helping to screen clients still coming into the Center’s pharmacy and health clinics. The screenings help determine if people were experiencing symptoms of COVID-19. If they had symptoms, they would then meet with a triage nurse, who continues the screening and determines if the person needs further testing.
Adam Bass, the donor services and finance specialist for AIDS/LifeCycle, volunteered to help screen clients at the Center’s McDonald/Wright Building. He believes, more than ever, that the Center is a place people trust during good times and bad.
“We are a place where our community knows they won’t be judged and will be safe,” Bass said. “I wanted to do everything I could to make sure that we continue to be an effective provider of services for our community. It’s good to know so many people rely on the Center—and that the Center doesn’t disappoint them.”
Tanya Tassi, national community center policy manager for the Center’s Public Policy and Community Building department, also volunteered to help screen clients. She was deeply moved when a man walked into the lobby one day carrying a plastic bag filled with surgical masks.
“He said the Center had done so much for him, so he wanted to make sure the clinic staff had enough masks and was donating his supply,” Tassi recalled. “Knowing that the Center remains open is like a beacon of light during this uncertain time. It gives me a sense of pride. We’re on the front lines taking care of our community.”
Who’s Zoomin’ Who
Going virtual quickly emerged as a necessary step to ensure that programs and services could still reach the clients and community members who were depending on the Center.
As many staff learned the ins-andouts of meeting via videoconference, the
VIRTUAL
•Greg Hernandez from Marketing & Communications
for a special virtual celebration of the Trans/GNC/ENBY community. Featuring Big Queer Convo with Isis King, workshops, the VarieTy Show, giveaways, and much more! FRIDAY, JUNE 19 • 7–10:30 P.M. & SATURDAY, JUNE 20 • 12–9:30 P.M.
lalgbtcenter.org/transpride
•First-time virtual events included (top) Trans Pride Los Angeles; (bottom left) Big Queer Convo with
U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff; and (bottom right) Senior Prom.
Center’s Health Information Systems and IT teams collaborated to put in place a telehealth platform that allows a vast majority of routine appointments to take place via telephone or online, keeping patients safe at home while still getting the care they need. The new technology will also help strengthen the Center’s Health Services post-COVID-19 capacity.
“On March 5, we signed an order with Allscripts, our Health Services technology partner, to implement telehealth visits and by the end of the month we were up and running,” said Health Information Systems Director Gabriel Lopez. “We realize now what our potential is as far as telework and telehealth, so that introduces more options around more ways to engage patients and provide services moving forward, even after in-person visits ramp up again.”
Staff members from across the organization also developed and implemented virtual content, programs, and services for the Center’s community. Programs now offered online include dozens of Senior Services activities; group meetings for youth offered by the Children, Youth & Family Services department; social networking groups run through the Cultural Arts department; and Trans* Lounge, theCenter’sgroundbreakingeducation and empowerment program dedicated to serving Los Angeles’ trans and gender expansive community.
“For so many folks, it was their lifeline to get to the Center or to be a part of Trans* Lounge. There was no way that we could just lose that connection with people,” Trans* Lounge Manager Gina Bigham explained.
Similar to telehealth services in Health Services, virtual options will likely continue for many programs post-COVID-19.
“We’ve seen so much more engagement. We have people who could only get to L.A. maybe once a month because they live farther away. Now they have the opportunity for more participation, and they’re hooked. We are not just going to forget about them,” Bigham said. “The pandemic has allowed us to show our fluidity and our resilience—nothing is going to keep us from creating community and being together somehow, some way.”
Hello, How Are You?
Before COVID-19, the youth drop-in center at the Center’s Anita May Rosenstein Campus could have as many as 120 youth inside at one time having meals, meeting with case managers, or just hanging out.
WHAT
WE’RE FACING RIGHT NOW IS TREMENDOUS. WE’RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO ADVOCATE AND MAKE SURE THAT, AS WE FIGURE OUT AND DISCOVER WHAT ELSE IS NEEDED, WE’RE THERE AND ADVOCATING ON BEHALF OF THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY.”
Now, drop-in services and case management for youth without housing have moved to The Village at Ed Gould Plaza’s courtyard located across the street. There, they can get something to eat, use the restrooms, charge their devices, and connect with one another from a safe distance. The Youth Center is now only used by the 100 or so youth in the Center’s residential programs to spend time, have meals, and participate in sociallydistanced activities.
In the past year, senior clients were served a hot lunch provided by the Center’s Culinary Arts program and could participate in other programs and activities at the Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Senior Center on the Campus.
The Senior Center is now closed for activities, but boxed lunches are available for pickup each day. Staff members and volunteers are calling clients at home to find out if the Center can help them with any special needs as part of the Center’s new Hello Club.
“We’re able to remind our seniors that someone is thinking of them and make sure that they are able to get the resources they need while staying safe,” said Senior Services Activities Coordinator Stephanie Harris.
Meal service at the Center’s Triangle Square affordable senior housing is now delivered to the residents’ apartments daily. Staff and volunteers are also picking up groceries and medications through Senior Services’ newly-created service Senior Angels.
“Seniors in general are very isolated. Our seniors are even more isolated and typically don’t reach out to non-LGBT organizations,”saidDirectorofSenior Services Kiera Pollock. “Unless we jumped in, they weren’t going to have other kinds of connection. We’ve gotten tons of emails and calls from folks who are just so thankful we reached out and that someone cared.”
Stay up-to-date with Center news at LGBTNewsNow.org
and follow us on social @lalgbtcenter “ The Center is a first responder for our community. We always have been, but we serve as one even more so today. The reality is that we serve those who are not part of the national conversation.”
•Byron Patel (left) from Health Services and (right) Center supporter Nats Getty from Strike Oil
• Bella Gavilan from Human Resources
IT’S EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO ME TO BE ABLE TO CONTINUE DOING THE WORK TO HELP PEOPLE. THIS IS A MOMENT WHERE I HAVE FELT THE NEED TO STEP UP AND MAKE SURE I’M AVAILABLE WHEN I’M NEEDED.”
How You Can Help
Volunteer with Hello Club making outreach calls to seniors or with the Senior Angels delivery team: lalgbtcenter.org/volunteer
View and donate to Senior Services wish list: lalgbtcenter.org/care4seniors
View and donate to Children, Youth & Family Services wish list: lalgbtcenter.org/care4youth
Donate to the Center’s CARE Fund at lalgbtcenter.org/care
