When Center on Halsted opened in the heart of Boystown in 2007, many LGBT people hailed it as a new beacon for the community. Among other things, the Center brought hundreds of programs, HIV testing, food, a computer lab, a gymnasium, new meeting spaces, crisis support, a theater and a space to hold large events for the community. In addition, it wrapped those services into a massive gleaming building, brand new and green in design.
However, not all Lakeview residents celebrated its arrival, which brought scores of LGBT youth to its front door from across the city, making some believe that the center posed a safety threat to the neighborhood. Also, the youth themselves have complained that some Center policies further marginalize them.
As Center on Halsted prepares to celebrate its five-year anniversary, Windy City Times sat down with CEO Modesto "Tico" Valle to talk about the Center's historic start, its bright future and the ugly rumors in between.
Windy City Times: So, five years—
Modesto "Tico" Valle: It really has gone by fast, and part of it, for me, is about the tremendous amount of people that have come here and the unmet needs in our community. There was a lot of conversation prior to the Center opening that, "Was there a need for a Center of this magnitude to open? How will it impact other social service organizations? Is it going to be an empty building? Can the community support it?" All good questions. But to celebrate five years—and the number of people coming through the doors have remained steadfast every single day and month and year—is pretty remarkable.
WCT: Does it look like you imagined it would?
MV: It looks better. We definitely were very intentional to create the Center as a destination because we heard from the community that they wanted a place that they could gather and it be safe and nurturing, hence the mission. Did we know that you walk through the building and it would be as packed as it is? I didn't anticipate that. The need was greater than we expected.
WCT: What are the most significant ways that you think the Center has grown in the last five years?
MV: I think as I look from day one to now, that we've been adaptable and not stuck with "this is the only way we're going to do something." It's not about our ego and ourselves but it's about the people that we serve.
The other thing that sometimes we take for granted is … that [our staff members] know the complexities around homelessness, transgender issues, violence, and that sometimes we have to stop, and we have to train our own people to make sure they're culturally competent to deliver service.
WCT: How does the Center measure success?
MV: Across the board, we do client evaluations. We set goals of numbers of participants or clients that we serve a year against our budget, and the board looks at that one a monthly basis. Feet coming through the door is another way. We're in strategic planning right now, and we're going to be doing surveys in the community on the corners to get the neighborhood input, online surveys and some focus groups.
WCT: How do you perceive the community that you serve?
MV: It's diverse, like the Center—and it really is diverse.
WCT: You have recently received some significant HIV-related grants. Is the Center moving towards health services?
MV: Not our intention… Our first year, we were contracted to test 1,500 people, and we tested 3,000. What we noticed was we were seeing a very high rate of positivity. So the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] would like to see around 1 percent test for positivity. We were seeing sometimes 7, 8 percent in our youth, and it was alarming. So the high positivity rate was important to us because we wanted to move these young people into care. So that really moved really quickly into the CDC and state saying, "Wow, you're the site that's getting the community that needs to get tested and move into care." So we immediately moved into partnerships.
WCT: The Center has been controversial for a lot of Lakeview residents worried about safety, especially last summer with the "Take Back Boystown" Facebook page campaign. Why do you think that is?
MV: We are a significant presence on Halsted Street. This is the go-to place. In one way, it is a compliment because, wow, if they think we're causing that and we should be able to be the police to solve the problems… I think the issue is a lot more complicated and it involves a lot of the "isms" of our society. Some of it has to do with fear and facing your own prejudices. When you really have the opportunity to speak to some individuals in the community and challenge tone and language, people can pause for a minute and realize "hmm, maybe there is a bit of racism." So, how does that get solved as a community?
WCT: What were you hearing from youth in the Center last summer when this was going on?
MV: I heard from a lot of young people a roller-coaster of emotions: anger that they were being blamed for something that they had no role in, [and] sadness because they came into a community that they thought was going to embrace them and be safe after being beaten, raped, abused in their neighborhoods, in their families. They kind of saw this as their safe haven and their family. The community—not everyone, but some—slammed the door in their face in a very ugly way.
WCT: Why is the Center security team now armed with guns? How long has that been the case?
MV: At one point, we had a different security team. ... We consciously made a decision to fire them. The security just was not culturally sensitive to address people by the proper pronoun, and there was no effort to try. That, to me, was alarming enough to say, "I'm done, we're making a change." So, we went to the police department and we went to secure LGBT police officers who we work with.
WCT: How do you secure LGBT officers?
MV: Well, there's an officer who has a firm of off-duty police officers, and he hires LGBT police officers. So I wouldn't say all of them. They come from this precinct. Those officers had relationships with our young people because many of those officers play volleyball in the gymnasium. …
These officers worked well with the Center; [they] go through sensitivity training and [are]part of our community, not a subcontract that just visits. So them carrying guns … they're officers who are required to carry guns. Even off-duty officers have their guns with them. People don't know that. So, I've asked them to hide it put, it away, do what you have to, but that's not the message I want delivered here.
WCT: Are people scared to see guns?
MV: I've had one complaint. Most people, they're fine. It's interesting. Even our young people have never raised it with them.
WCT: There have been some complaints about the Center from youth. One is that they are asked to use the side door, while everyone else uses the front door.
MV: The side door was always intended to be the entrance for the youth program. That's why it was designed … so that youth could have their own privacy. We did use it the first year and a half, and then we stopped. We haven't used it for two years now because of that response. We don't want people to feel like they're second-class citizens. We do use all the doors when the house is packed.
WCT: The male and female bathrooms here have been an issue with some trans people in particular. What is happening there?
MV: Bathrooms here is such an interesting topic. Honestly, where the struggles come through is because the Center brings so many communities, allies, straight people; it's an education. So what we're looking at is trying to make it more of an educational opportunity.
WCT: Are you moving towards gender-neutral bathrooms?
MV: It's come up, yes. It's an option. So, if I could do it all over again, this building, they'd be all unisex bathrooms.
WCT: Is it true that if you're caught stealing from Whole Foods, you are banned from the Center?
MV: If you are caught stealing and you're a patron of the Center, there is restorative justice. Restorative justice means you're banned; you have to come back and meet with everyone that is involved in the consequence and how are you going to make it right. Whole Foods works really closely with us and in most cases, they let it go.
WCT: Why is the Center policing for Whole Foods?
MV: We want to be a good neighborhood here. And if there is a challenge here and someone is stealing food, instead of Whole Foods prosecuting them, and they can, calling us instead really makes a difference because they're also being a good neighbor.
WCT: There is also a rumor that the Center has a list of people with warrants and that those who come for services can be handed to police.
MV: No. We do have a list of who we have banned from the Center.
WCT: In what circumstances does the Center call police on people?
MV: Violence.
WCT: Has there been a security concern about Center being such a visible LGBT presence?
MV: Every day. It's one of the reasons why my staff and security is all about supervision, knowing who's in the building and being client-centered. We are responsible for the safety of a lot of people, and that's something we're always teaching.
WCT: Have you had any scares?
MV: No, but when I've heard about—for instance, a couple years ago there was a threat of a bomb in one of the synagogues—I was a little scared. It was a little close to home. Anytime Fred Phelps shows up, even though he means nothing to me, I get a little worried because emotions get high and violence can trigger.
WCT: The Center has grown in a time when other organizations have shrunk. Why do you think that is?
MV: We've done a lot with very little. We've stayed around $4.5 million all these years. This year was a big year with major grants, and we're going to continue to grow. But we're not going to grow for the sake of growing. We're going to grow because there is a need that needs to be filled.
WCT: You had some cuts around 2009. Have you hired those back?
MV: Yes. Most of them have come back and more.
WCT: What happened to Hope Barrett? [Barrett was senior director of public programs until recently, and her departure went unreported until now.]
MV: Great person. I can't talk about [human resources], but I love Hope. She did great work, but her position was eliminated.
WCT: So no one is being hired in her place?
MV: No.
WCT: What programs are going to be emphasized in the future, and will any be cut?
MV: I wouldn't say any are going to be cut. The senior programming, they need more case managers here because the program is growing so rapidly. I am looking at the Anti-Violence Project and how do we bring it to the next level and moving Lisa [Gilmore, director of education and victim advocacy] more into advocacy work. She's doing it, but [we need to] really focus [on] that work. In order to do that, she needs more help in the Anti-Violence Project. So, if anything out of the strategic plan, I'm hoping that it really comes out that we as an organization need to do more advocacy and policy work.
WCT: What does the future hold for the Center?
MV: One, we know about the senior-housing project that we're working with Heartland Housing. I have a dream of wanting to create a youth center. So, when we created the Center, there was always a vision of Center on Halsteds throughout the City of Chicago. It didn't have to be the size of this building, but it could be a part of another organization and in the five years, as I've seen the young people come here and the numbers … it's made me humble to really look at the complexity of the issues. They come here and they really trust the Center. There are things that we can do better, and that we learn from them. But there's such a need there, and I feel that our city has failed them.
Center on Halsted will celebrates its first five years at its annual Human First gala, which will feature singer k.d. lang and Bravo's Andy Cohen. It will take place Saturday, May 12, at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph St., at 7 p.m.
This year's honorees will include Amina Dickerson, Laura Ricketts, Greg Cameron, Richard and Susan Kiphart, Kraft Foods, the Chicago Community Trust and Chicago Cubs Charities.
Tickets for the event start at $125 each; see www.centeronhalsted.org/1stv/#5.
—Assistance: Yasmin Nair
