THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

That group of organizers could never have imagined that Helpline would be an integral component of all that morphed into what is now known as the Center on Halsted. The Center has become a world-renowned LGBTQ+ institution with many notable events, a comprehensive list of services and over 1,000 visitors per day to its Lake View neighborhood location on Halsted Street. The organization has grown exponentially since its founding 50 years ago.

The '70s:

Changing the coming-out process

Michael Bergeron, a Chicago activist who published the Chicago Gay Crusader newspaper, is credited with founding the Helpline and also what became Gay Horizons. He opened Beckman House, the location of the Helpline, in 1974 at 3519-1/2 N. Halsted Street.

There had been several previous attempts at launching community centers prior to and concurrent with Beckman House. In 1971, a location at 171 W. Elm St. had been leased by a member of the Chicago Gay Alliance (CGA) for community meetings, while the Tavern Guild of Chicago raised funds for the Rodde Center on North Sheffield later in '70s, for example.

Gay Horizons became an official non-profit in 1974 (formed by volunteers remaining from Beckman House and concerned healthcare professionals). In 1975, the organization moved above the now-defunct Astro restaurant at 2745 N. Clark. This location also featured a drop-in center.

Gay Horizons at several points in its history was a springboard for other organizations and agencies that would later be important for LGBTQ+ Chicagoans. A group of gay and lesbian medical students formed Horizons Clinic under the Gay Horizons banner to treat community members with STI's. Horizons Clinic became a separate organization in 1975, and would eventually morph into the present-day Howard Brown Health.

From early 1975 to early 1976, Lee Newell was chairperson of Gay Horizons and the first person to serve an entire year in leadership. When asked about his time at the organization, Newell said "One thing stands out. When Gay Horizons was about to collapse, the whole community put aside their differences and came together to ensure its continuance. Without the Rogers Park Gay Center keeping the Helpline going, the lifeline to Gay Horizons would have been lost. The amazing community of activists, bar owners and volunteers coming together is what made this all so incredible."

In 1976, Gay Horizons expanded its mental health and social services, including peer counseling, under the Gay People's Counseling Service banner—now called Educational and Support Services. A youth program, now under the youth and family services slate of programming, started that same year allowing Gay Horizons could do outreach to that part of the community.

In 1978 Joe Loundy, who was then the chairperson, took on the role of volunteer executive director. Loundy stayed in that position until 1984. He called his time at Gay Horizons "the most fulfilling experience I had as a social worker. Along with many other talented volunteers, we ushered in the birth of LGBTQ+ affirming social services. The programs we created at that time have stood the test of time and continued, uninterrupted, up to the present day. At that time, the general belief was that being gay/lesbian was a psychiatric disorder that would seriously threaten family relations, job opportunities and social acceptance.

"Gay Horizons provided a framework for transforming all those negative false beliefs into a valuable reservoir of understanding and empathy to support the people who came to us for service. We facilitated the restoration of hope. Gay Horizons was in the forefront of reframing 'Coming Out' as a normal developmental phase."

In the early days of Loundy's tenure, a Women's Union was formed to reach more lesbian and bisexual women, and the Gay Switchboard was renamed the Gay and Lesbian Switchboard to be more inclusive.

Gay Horizons continued to grow in 1979 at a new location at 3225 N. Sheffield. The organization hosted the first Identity Conference, provided space for a research center and library (which was the antecedent for what is now known as Gerber/Hart Library and Archives) and a legal services program for all LGBTQ+ people, including those who could not pay, among other endeavors.

The '80s:

Gay Horizons gets a boost—from Nancy Reagan

In 1980, the first Gay Horizons Coffeehouse opened for LGBTQ+ people who wanted to socialize outside of the bars, especially those who were underage. That same year, the Gay Horizons board reorganized and welcomed its first Black board member. The organization also began tackling the emerging AIDS epidemic; that endeavor grew into the AIDS Action Project which, in 1984, became a part of Howard Brown Health.

Also in 1984, Bruce Koff took over Loundy's volunteer executive director role and, for the first time, a part-time administrative assistant was hired. Koff stayed in that volunteer role until 1986 when it became a full-time paid position. He continued to work in that capacity until 1990.

Koff told Windy City Times that Gay Horizons' outreach to LGBTQ+ youth in the early days was "noteworthy, but relied entirely on volunteers and had no capacity to expand outreach and awareness, especially to schools where LGBTQ+ youth were most vulnerable.

"Fortunately, later on, when then-First Lady Nancy Reagan was promoting the expansion of anti-substance abuse programs for youth called 'Just Say No'… we qualified for some of that funding through a consortium of local youth-serving agencies. I always found it pleasantly ironic that Nancy Reagan's efforts led directly to assisting LGBTQ+ teens in Chicago."

Gay Horizons began to garner attention beyond the LGBTQ+ community in Chicago in 1985 with both a Metropolitan Business Association award of merit and the Oprah Winfrey Show inviting the organization's youth members on her TV show.

Additionally in 1985, Gay Horizons changed its name to Horizons Community Services, Inc. (Horizons). According to Koff, the name change "was controversial and was not taken lightly … . It is hard for people now to understand this but, in those days, no mainstream foundation would support the organization. We were told—point blank—that we would not access such funding with the word 'gay' in our name. We realized there was no way we could accomplish what we hoped to do by just relying on bar fundraisers and private donations. To provide more services for LGBTQ+ youth and adults … we needed mainstream financial support. So we swallowed hard, [and] changed our name while remaining forthright about our mission."

That same year Horizons started a support group called Passages to educate gay and bisexual men who were at risk for HIV/AIDS transmission, as well as conducted its first community-wide needs assessment.

"In the mid-1980s, a wonderful man named Chris Clason came to me in my capacity as ED of Horizons with an idea," said Koff. "He wanted to start an organization run by and for people with HIV that would empower those impacted to take charge, develop resources and educate each other. The problem was no one wanted to publicly acknowledge their HIV status for fear of discrimination, so Chris was having a hard time finding HIV+ people to join him.

"As Horizons was then operating support groups for people with HIV, I offered to send all of them a letter about Chris and his idea so that they could contact him directly about it. Chris agreed. We sent the letter out to those clients, and many of them subsequently joined Chris in founding Test Positive Aware Network (TPAN), which is still a vital organization in Chicago for people with AIDS. Small gesture, huge impact."

Horizons celebrated Helpline's 5,000th night of continuous operation in 1987 and in 1988 a Youth Director was hired. Also in 1988, Horizons became the first in the nation organization to have a federally funded LGBTQ+ exclusive Anti-Violence Project. This project brought public attention to the rising scourge of anti-LGBTQ+ violence in the community that continues today.

In 1989, Horizons hired its first development and group services staff members and became the first LGBTQ+ organization in the Midwest to gain membership as an official member agency of the United Way.

The '90s:

New respect from the community

To usher in a new decade, Horizons relocated again to 961 W. Montana St. with its 15 paid staffers. Koff handed off the executive director role to Ellie Emanuel in 1990. Also in 1990, Horizons received the 1990 Glynn Sudbery Award from the IVI-IPO Independent Gay and Lesbian Caucus. Then, in April 1992, Tom Buchanan became the executive director until December 1996.

Koff told Windy City Times that at that time, "Horizons was going through a rough patch and for nine months had no ED. It was in debt and morale was low. But dedicated volunteers kept the place afloat, and I knew it needed to thrive. I applied for the job of ED and in the process met my future husband, Robert Bell. I left my career with an international NGO and came to Horizons for about half of what I'd been making. I never regretted it.

"With a group of incredible staff and volunteers and a solid board we became financially solvent, nearly doubled staff and built a volunteer corps of over 400. Horizons' reputation was great, with programs helping thousands of people through eight program areas. By the end of 1996, when I was preparing to go back to working internationally, a small group of us realized Horizons could be much more: a full community center where people would celebrate, learn and grow together. It was a joy to see that dream become real in the years after I left."

While Koff was executive director, Horizons held its first annual Human First Gala.

Bell, who was then the Horizons board chair, told Windy City Times that, "We chose the name 'Human First' because it embodied what and who we all are. We wanted it to be totally inclusive and transcend sexual orientation and gender identity—remember this was 1990. Human First occurred because the preeminent (gay, of course) Chicago event planner contacted me and said Horizons should consider hosting such a party. We naively thought he would be doing this for free—which was not the case. However, we went ahead with planning without knowing whether anyone would even attend—especially at $100 a plate.

"We hosted the event in Lincoln Park. The first recipient of the Human First award was John Callaway, a well-known and respected radio and television journalist, for his allyship and in-depth reporting on the LGBTQ+ community."

Among the many other Human First honorees over the years were Koff and Randy Shilts in 1994; Vernita Gray in 1999; Art Johnston and José Pepe Peña in 2004; Michael Leppen in 2005; then-Illinois state Rep. Larry McKeon; Ruth M. Rothstein; Buchanan and Bell in 2006; Loundy, then-Illinois state Rep. and current Illinois state Sen. Sara Feigenholtz and recently retired Illinois state Rep. Greg Harris in 2009; Laura Ricketts in 2012; Jonathan "Yoni" Pizer and Bradley Lippitz in 2013; Evette Cardona, Mona Noriega and Carol Ronen in 2014; Charles Middleton in 2015; Denise Foy in 2016; Fred Eychaner in 2017; Christy Webber in 2019; Sam Kirk and Jane Saks in 2020; Julio Rodriguez and Mary Morten in 2022 and Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Ann and Jackie Kaplan-Perkins in 2023.

Jackie began working as then Congressional candidate Jan Schakowsky's finance director in early 1997 and became well known as an out lesbian in political circles. In the summer of 1998, Jackie was asked to join the Horizon's board and its development committee to help fundraise for the upcoming 1999 Human First Gala. This is where Jackie met Ann, who had been on the Horizons board for five years at that time and was serving as the Human First co-chair with Gary Rice. That is how their love story began.

When asked what it meant to Jackie and Ann to be honored with a Human First award this past Spring, the couple told Windy City Times in a joint statement that "one of our first toasts to each other and our new relationship was 'To Horizons of all kinds.' We never imagined that 25 years later we would be honored by the same organization that brought us together. It was incredibly poignant to receive the Human First award with our 22-year old son beaming and whooping from the head table, along with extended family and a community that has also become family; people like Art Johnston, Pepe Peña, Lori Lightfoot and Jan Schakowsky. It was the most amazing 25th anniversary party ever."

The couple added that "it was very exciting to have been on the Horizons board just at the time when the plans for the Center on Halsted were becoming reality. We have worked for the better part of the last four decades to advance LGBTQ+ rights, many of those with or alongside the Center, and it has been humbling to see the victories as well as the setbacks. The work of the Center to nurture and support our LGBTQ+ community is needed now as much as it ever was."

Additionally, under Buchanan's leadership, Horizons was inducted into Chicago's LGBT Hall of Fame in 1992, the same year its board achieved gender parity. The organization received other accolades in the early '90s, including the Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS in 1992, and Dignity Chicago's John Michie Award, specifically for the Anti-Violence Project.

For a six-year period (1997-2003), the executive director role was held by Liz Huesemann, Roger Doughty and Frank Oldman Jr. at various times. An older LGBTQ+ adults programming and advocacy started under the name Mature Adults, Motivated and Active launched at that time as well. In 1999, Horizons launched its first website, which has since grown to include a significant social media presence as well.

The 2000s:

A new century, new home and new name

Horizons began the new century eyeing an expansion of its physical footprint in the Lake View neighborhood with its then 24-person staff and over 300 volunteers. When Chicago Park District property on the corner of Halsted and Waveland became available in 2000, Horizons negotiated with both the Park District and City of Chicago to acquire that land. The transaction took place the following year, and officially launched the beginning of what is now the Center on Halsted.

To understand the needs and interests of Chicago's LGBTQ+ community, Horizons undertook research to determine what their new building would need to be a successful community resource. Northalsted Merchants Association donated the first seed money for the building in 2001, with $350,000 from the City of Chicago the following year.

Programming at Horizons also continued to grow in the early to mid-2000s, with a new computerized database for Helpline; a community technology center; both a young women's and mentoring programs added under the Youth Services umbrella; and an expanded Just4Adults program.

In 2003, Horizons officially became Center on Halsted, with a new board of directors and programs reorganized under three departments—mental health, youth and community and senior services. Modesto 'Tico' Valle, who was then the Center's director of development and volunteer services, took over as acting executive director that same year.

In 2004, the Center held its first annual Anti-Violence Vigil and launched the public fundraising phase of its capital campaign, resulting in donations from many prominent people. This was also the year that Robbin Burr took on the executive director role, with Valle as deputy executive director. She did that job for the next three years.

A groundbreaking ceremony took place in June 2005, with then Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and other prominent elected officials in attendance. The Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation awarded the Center with a design grant for Green Building. Among the other monies received were a grant from the Kresge Foundation, philanthropists Miriam Hoover and hew nephew Michael leppen, the City of Chicago and the federal Fiscal Year 2006 HUD appropriations bill.

On June 5, 2007, the three-story, 185,000-square foot Center opened its doors at 3656 N. Halsted St. with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The new space was designed to facilitate multiple meetings and events with its rooftop garden, multi-functional theater space, a gym, technology room, kitchen and other amenities as well as indoor access to the Whole Foods next door.

"I was honored to be recruited and selected as executive director during the birth of Center on Halsted's new building," Burr recalled. "To watch years of so many people's collective dreams, fundraising efforts and planning materialize into bricks and mortar was thrilling.

"The first time I walked into the Center's lobby after Whole Foods opened, I saw just what we had dreamed about for that space. There were trans youth, heterosexual couples with babies in strollers, seniors, women, men, high schoolers and young children all representing a variety of races and socio-economic statuses. I was so moved I cried like a baby."

Following Burr's departure as executive director in 2007 after the Center's grand-opening, Valle officially took on that role. Then in 2008, Valle's title was changed to CEO, and he held that position for the next 14 years. In 2008, the Center received a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Silver Certification for its status as a green building.

Over the past 15 years, the Center continued to grow and evolve to address the needs of the entire LGBTQ+ community in Chicago with expanded youth services, vocational programming and job placement services, including a culinary arts training program that is now named Silverfork; the nation's first LGBTQ+ Homesharing program, for elders to age in place with a renter who agrees to do the household chores in exchange for a reduced rental rate; a partnership with Northwestern's IMPACT Program, which researches LGBTQ+-specific health and wellbeing issues; and serving as both an incubator and residence for community partners that are listed on the Center's website.

The Center's Director of HIV and STD HUB/Hotline Resources Jill Dispense told Windy City Times that, "Over the 20 years that I have worked at Center on Halsted/Horizons, I am most proud of, one, the responsive and well-regarded HIV programs we developed and sustained, and two, the hundreds of professional and compassionate health educators we trained over the decades who then became assets to public health nationally, taking our training and values with them as they launched."

In speaking about his over two decades working at the Center, Chief Technology and Operations Officer Jim Klein said "Since joining Horizons back in March of 1999, we have grown from such a small, nascent grassroots social service organization to the dynamic community Center offering a plethora of services and programs for the Chicagoland LGBTQ+ community at various locations. I have met so many gifted people, wildly diverse, innovative, smart and focused. All with their own stories, adventures, intersectional identities and personalities. All leaving their imprint on the organization, helping to move the needle and meet the ever evolving needs of our community. I am occasionally asked why I love what I do and the answer is simple, not only is it gratifying working to help create systems change for a community I am a member of but every day is something new. The only constant is change.

The Center's Director of HIV and STD HUB/Hotline Resources Jill Dispense told Windy City Times that, "Over the 20 years that I have worked at Center on Halsted/Horizons, I am most proud of, one, the responsive and well-regarded HIV programs we developed and sustained, and two, the hundreds of professional and compassionate health educators we trained over the decades who then became assets to public health nationally, taking our training and values with them as they launched."

In speaking about his over two decades working at the Center, Chief Technology and Operations Officer Jim Klein said "Since joining Horizons back in March of 1999, we have grown from such a small, nascent grassroots social service organization to the dynamic community Center offering a plethora of services and programs for the Chicagoland LGBTQ+ community at various locations. I have met so many gifted people, wildly diverse, innovative, smart and focused. All with their own stories, adventures, intersectional identities and personalities. All leaving their imprint on the organization, helping to move the needle and meet the ever evolving needs of our community. I am occasionally asked why I love what I do and the answer is simple, not only is it gratifying working to help create systems change for a community I am a member of but every day is something new. The only constant is change."

New Endeavors

To address the needs of the growing LGBTQ+ elder population in Chicago, the Center announced plans to build the Midwest's first affordable LGBTQ+ senior housing facility in 2011 in partnership with Heartland Alliance, which was called Town Hall Apartments. The six-story, 79-unit building is adjacent to the Center at 3600 N. Halsted St. and, on the first floor, also houses the Center's Senior Services program under the name Center on Addison. The Town Hall ribbon-cutting ceremony took place in 2014 with many luminaries in attendance. What also makes this site unique is it was once the former location of the police precinct headquarters that was utilized to carry out the many years of raids and arrests at the local LGBTQ+ bars for so-called "illegal" acts.

The Center also opened a new South Side hub called Center on Cottage Grove at 6323 S. Cottage Grove Ave. in a storefront of the historic Strand Hotel apartments in 2022. This hub is a program of Center on Halsted, as a part of its mission to expand its geographic reach in Chicago. A main focus of Center on Cottage Grove is HIV outreach and testing to reduce HIV transmission rates on the South Side, as well as LGBTQ+ youth housing.

Valle told Windy City Times that, "It has been an honor and privilege to follow in the footsteps of great leadership that founded Gay Horizons. My 21 years of service have been an incredibly inspiring and humbling journey; serving our community during the AIDS pandemic, the expansion of program services and building the most comprehensive community center in the Midwest. This journey has been possible because of the hundreds of volunteers, staff and donors who wanted to create something positive for our LGBTQ+ community.

"Today, the Center continues to be a vital resource for the LGBTQ+ community in Chicago. In addition to providing support and services to individuals, the Center also advocates for LGBTQ+ rights and works to create a more inclusive and safe society for all including the Center on Addison senior center which offers a safe space for older LGBTQ+ adults to find support and connect with peers. As the Center celebrates its 50th anniversary, it remains a beacon of hope and resilience for the LGBTQ+ community in Chicago and beyond."

Valle stepped down last year and until a new CEO is chosen, the Center's Chief Program Officer, Editha Paras, is also serving as the interim CEO.

See centeronhalsted.org/ and windycitytimes.com/lgbt/Center-on-Halsted-leaders-discuss-transition-and-organizations-future/75391.html .