Updated at 11:22 p.m.
Pride Center of Vermont says it is closing its doors indefinitely while it embarks on an emergency fundraising campaign meant to address “critical funding shortfalls.”
In a press release on Thursday, the nonprofit’s board said that the center has been hit hard by a “wave of funding losses and shifting priorities at the state and federal level.”
The center says it responded to these financial challenges with leadership, programming and staffing changes, but the shortfall remained.
“We’ve reached a point where we can no longer continue operations in our current form,” the press release says. The “operational pause,” effective Friday, “is a step toward doing what’s responsible for our staff, partners, and community to ensure long-term, programmatic sustainability.”
The board says it will need to raise about $350,000 to resume providing the center’s full slate of services, which includes peer-led support groups, programs for transgender people and HIV testing.
The board of directors took responsibility for the financial challenges facing the nonprofit and apologized for the suddenness of the closure. Staff members only learned about the decision on Thursday.
“The speed and timing of this decision, including giving staff just one day’s notice of their final day, has caused real harm to our employees, program participants” and the broader communities served by the center, the press release says.
“We are deeply sorry for the fear, disruption, and pain this has caused,” the press release reads. “Our community deserves better.”
The center was founded in 1999 and originally called RU12? Aside from programs that serve thousands of people annually, the center puts on an annual Pride Parade & Festival each September in Burlington.
Got something to say?
Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!