Pride Center of Vermont (PCVT), the state’s leading LGBTQ+ health and community center, is urgently calling on the Vermont Legislature to provide emergency bridge funding after being notified of a devastating 80% cut to its HIV prevention and health equity funding. The cut, stemming from changes in federal funding priorities at the CDC level, and reallocations of funding by the Vermont Department of Health, will shrink PCVT’s long-standing grant through the Vermont Department of Health from $250K to just $50K. Without legislative action, this $200K reduction, set to take effect in June 2025, will jeopardize lifesaving services for LGBTQ+ Vermonters across the state.
“We’ve been a trusted partner in Vermont’s HIV prevention and LGBTQ+ health efforts for decades,” said Phoebe Zorn, Executive Director of Pride Center of Vermont. “This unexpected and drastic cut puts essential services—and queer and trans lives—at risk.”
Without restored funding, PCVT will be forced to eliminate or drastically scale back core health equity services that thousands of LGBTQ+ Vermonters across the state rely on, including:
- Free HIV testing and outreach programming
- Transgender health navigation and peer support
- Culturally responsive services for rural, BIPOC, and low-income LGBTQ+ Vermonters
These services are delivered by a small but highly skilled team whose positions are now at risk. Health & Wellness Director and Health & Wellness Manager positions could be eliminated entirely, and two other roles, the Trans Program Manager and Operations & Outreach Coordinator, will lose partial funding. These staff provide statewide HIV testing and prevention, trans health navigation, and vital health and safety programming for thousands of LGBTQ+ Vermonters annually. Two of the affected staff are certified HIV testers; the other two are currently completing certification training.
Pride Center of Vermont is calling on the Vermont Legislature to allocate a minimum of $200,000 in bridge funding by July 1, 2025, to stabilize staffing, maintain essential programs, and provide time to develop a sustainable path forward.
“This is a public health issue and an equity issue, and is deeply harmful in a time when queer —and especially trans — rights are under attack in almost every state and at the federal level,” said Kell Arbor, Health & Wellness Director at Pride Center of Vermont. “We are urging lawmakers in Vermont to act now to protect the health and dignity of LGBTQ+ Vermonters.”
— from a Pride Center of Vermont press release
More: pridecentervt.org
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