Lavender Magazine Community Pride Award – Nonprofit: Rainbow Health

How do you build on a legacy that has stretched over four decades?

According to Jeremy Hanson Willis, the Chief Executive Officer of Rainbow Health, the LGBTQ+-focused health organization had to be “relevant to the needs of our community.” The evolution in the past five years included going beyond HIV/AIDS. Hanson Willis’ pointed out they, Rainbow Health, needed to “address other health issues in LGBTQ communities” – including mental health.

The past five years saw this transformation take place at Rainbow Health. This included last year’s relocation to a new space in downtown Minneapolis, back to where this organization began four decades ago. Hanson Willis points out that the new office is “just across the street from the Hennepin County Government Center. Not only is the space much more accessible to all forms of transportation and transit, but the space is beautiful. It’s welcoming, it’s inviting, and we hope it will provide the kind of high-quality experience so that everyone that we serve feels welcome and supported when they walk in the door.”

In receiving this award, Hanson Willis reflected that “what this award means to us is that we are fulfilling that mission, that the services and programs that we have to offer really are responding to the most important health issues in our community, from substance use to mental health, to HIV, to housing, homelessness, and financial need. So, it says to us that the wide array of services that we’re offering to our community really is responding to the health needs and making the impact that we hope to make.”

As they continue to be at the forefront for health and well-being of the LGBTQ+ community, Lavender Magazine congratulates the team at the Rainbow Health for their Community Pride Award in the Non-Profit category.