Howard Brown Health Center (HBHC) invites community members to participate in a series of town-hall meetings to discuss the health and wellness needs of Chicago’s diverse LGBTQ community. The sessions are part of HBHC’s community needs assessment, conducted every five years to gauge health-related concerns for HBHC’s patient populations.

“Respondents to the 2012 LGBT Community Needs Assessment overwhelmingly identified affordable health services and care as their leading concern,” said David Ernesto Munar, President and CEO.  “Our series is designed to dig deeper in order to better understand the community assets and barriers affecting the health of people in our community.”   

HBHC will rely on the community needs assessment for planning and quality improvement initiatives. Input from the meetings will be shared widely to spur public awareness and support for LGBTQ health promotion activities.

Sessions will be held at HBHC’s Brown Elephant in Lakeview at 3651 N. Halsted, 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. on the following dates: 

Monday, May 12: LGBTQ Older Adults

Facilitators: Medical Director Magda Houlberg, MD and Cecilia Hardacker, Manager of Geriatric Education

Monday, May 19: Lesbians, Bisexual and Queer Women

Facilitators: Betsy Rubinstein, Manager of Lesbian Community Care Project, and Michelle Wetzel, Sr. Vice President for Policy, Strategy and Business Development

Monday, June 2: Gay, Bisexual & Queer Men

Facilitators: Staff Physician Alfred Torrence, MD and Serette King, Health Educator

Monday, June 9: Transgender Individuals

Facilitators: Blue, Program Manager of the Transgender Women of Color Project, and Taylor Casey, Manager of Transgender Health

Monday, June 16: LGBTQ Youth Under 24

Facilitators: Imani Rupert, Director of HBHC’s Broadway Youth Center, and Kristin Keglovitz, PA, Director of Clinical Operations

Interested participants who cannot attend in person can join the discussion virtually on Twitter with the hashtag #HBHCTownHalls.