Longtime Chicago House and Social Service Agency CEO Rev. Stan Sloan announced the week of Sept. 14 that he would be stepping down from his post next summer.
Sloan, who has headed up the organization since 2000, does not yet have any new career plans. He notified the Chicago House Board of Directors Executive Committee of his departure on Sept. 15, and Chicago House employees the following day. The resignation takes effect June 30, 2016, which is the end of the agency's current fiscal year.
He explained to Windy City Times that the main factors in his decision were his parents' health issues—they're still in the same house where he grew up in Amarillo, Texas—and some self-reflection he undertook when he was a candidate for another position in New York City.
"All the things that you think—I can't leave my home, I can't leave all the friends I have here—made me think that, actually, I can do all those things," Sloan noted. "They went with another candidate, but I realized that, if I don't make a move right now, I would likely just keep letting time pass."
He is engaged to a cardiologist who lives in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and the couple has not decided whether Sloan would go to live in South America or if his fiance would join him in the United States. With his last day not until June, "I have time to see what my options are, play with ideas and plan what's next," he said.
An Episcopal priest, as well as a former Roman Catholic priest, Sloan was inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame in 2010. Under his watch, Chicago House's budget, which is about $6.6 million, and client base have expanded significantly.
"I've worked in homeless services my entire life here in Chicago," he noted. "Chicago House asked me to come here because the programs were largely designed for people who were dying with AIDS. Instead, our houses were filled with classic homeless service clients. We were just on the cusp of protease inhibitors when I got here. People were starting to live instead of die, and we knew we needed to build up our programs to match that. "
He added that there's been a 'beautiful evolution' in care for HIV during the time he's been with the agency, noting, "People live, and go back to work. At one time, people didn't really talk about prevention for people who had HIV, but then, by 2001, we realized that people were dying of co-infections with Hep C; keeping people safe [from other infections] was important whether they were positive or negative. By 2004 or 2005, with Senator [Richard] Durbin's help, we really pioneered what is still one of the nation's largest employment programs for people with HIV/AIDS, and helping them move forward."
The agency also opened its TransLife Center in 2013. "Chicago House was founded at a table at the Baton," Sloan said, "We'd always said it was founded to address the crisis of AIDS. We had the opportunity to 'revisit' that table, and realized we had to address the most urgent needs of those who are LGBTQ. At [the time of Chicago House's founding], it was HIV. In 2011 or 2012, when we started raising funds for the TransLife Center, we realized it was the needs of the trans community."
Sloan summed up the years as "growth in mission, physical growth and institutional growth," but also noted that there were some difficult times along the way: "We let our infrastructure lag as we grew so much. We had to work on that with our staff. They were great in calling us out on it this past year. There have been turbulent moments, but it's been a beautiful, grace-filled experience here."
In the months ahead, Sloan and Chicago House will continue working on many projects, including a program that helps transgender women become more aware of and gain access to pre-exposure prophylaxis ( PrEP ) and an initiative calling attention to and alleviating poverty in the LGBT community. The organization's 2015 Speaker Series luncheon, on Nov. 12, will feature Caitlyn Jenner; Sloan has been trying to get her to visit the TransLife Center when she comes to Chicago.
"There have been great moments, like when we put up a new families building," Sloan said, reflecting on the proudest times during his tenure. "That's when we doubled our family units. Mayor Daley was there. There's moments like when Congresswoman [Jan] Schakowsky cut the ribbon on the TransLife Center."
He became emotional, however, recalling other, quieter moments that came from working with Chicago House clients.
"I have saved emails, from clients who took the time to write and say, "Thanks, here's my life now,' Sloan recalled. "There are the big moments, but the actual moments that count most are those that allow you to go to bed thinking about a life that has been changed, because of the incredible work that our staff does. Those are the moments of which I'm most proud."
