Equitas, Bayard Rustin Center unite array of Akron LGBTQ support services under one roof

Derek Kreider, Akron Beacon Journal
·3 min read
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Steve Arrington, chief administrator of the Bayard Rustin LGBTQ Resource Center/Akron AIDS Collaborative and Gregory Price, Northeast associate director of clinical operations hang a banner in the lobby of the Rustin Center in Akron.
Steve Arrington, chief administrator of the Bayard Rustin LGBTQ Resource Center/Akron AIDS Collaborative and Gregory Price, Northeast associate director of clinical operations hang a banner in the lobby of the Rustin Center in Akron.
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Two organizations under one roof are changing the health care landscape for Akron’s LGBTQ+ community.

In August, The Bayard Rustin Center, home of the Akron Aids Collaborative (AAC), moved its headquarters from West Market Street to a much larger space a little over a mile away at the Five Points plaza at 636 W. Exchange St.

There, the AAC and the Bayard Rustin Center have effectively become tenants of community partner Equitas, which is also moving into the space. The new facility opens Wednesday.

Founded in 1984, Columbus-based Equitas Health is a nonprofit community healthcare system touting itself to be “one of the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ and HIV/AIDS-serving organizations," serving tens of thousands of patients in Ohio, Texas, Kentucky and West Virginia.

Steve Arrington, chief administrator at the Bayard Rustin LGBTQ+ Resource Center and executive director of the AAC, said the need for these services in the area is “desperate.”

“We’re not just going to be outreaching to gay folks,” he said. “We’re going to be outreaching to the community in this neighborhood — because this is the ‘hood — and we’re going to do that at-large.”

Arrington said the center and the AAC are still in the midst of a capital campaign to finish paying for the move.

Equitas facility breaking new ground

Gregory Price, Northeast associate director of clinical operations talks about the mission of Equitas Health and the collaboration with Bayard Rustin Center/Akron AIDS Collaborative in Akron.
Gregory Price, Northeast associate director of clinical operations talks about the mission of Equitas Health and the collaboration with Bayard Rustin Center/Akron AIDS Collaborative in Akron.

All the amenities available at the Equitas location in Columbus will be offered at the Akron facility: mental health services, gender-affirming care, full pharmacy services, primary care, STD testing and more.

Its new Akron facility will include six exam rooms, a full pharmacy, two primary care physicians, two medical assistants, a psychiatric health nurse practitioner and a metal health and recovery therapist.

Gregory Price, Northeast associate director of clinical operations for Equitas, said that while the organization has had a client advocacy office in this part of the state, this the first time the organization has placed a medical team here.

"Also in this area, there's never been an agency of this magnitude to bring services to a community that is in dire need,” Price said. "Our partnership with the Bayard Rustin Center is the community piece that we need," Price said. The collaboration between Equitas, the Bayard Rustin LGBTQ+ Resource Center  and the AAC led directly to Equitas' expansion into Akron.

An assessment of the community's requirements revealed that what people needed was a welcoming, affirming environment in which to receive health care. The number one concern heard from the community, Price said, was that there wasn’t anywhere in the area providing care in an environment that felt safe or welcoming.

Symbiosis

Steve Arrington, chief administrator of the Bayard Rustin LGBTQ Resource Center/Akron AIDS Collaborative and Gregory Price, Northeast associate director of clinical operations talk about how the two organizations will collaborate in Akron.
Steve Arrington, chief administrator of the Bayard Rustin LGBTQ Resource Center/Akron AIDS Collaborative and Gregory Price, Northeast associate director of clinical operations talk about how the two organizations will collaborate in Akron.

The relationship between these organizations is more than that of a tenant to a landlord.

"Our partnership with the Bayard Rustin Center is the community piece that we need," said Price. It was that partnership that led directly to Equitas’ expansion into Akron, as well as informing Equitas about the needs of the area.

And it will help the Bayard Rustin Center expand its services by offering it the space it needs to grow.

Arrington talked specifically about now being able to expand access and availability to mental health resources, as well as eventually offering in-house HIV/AIDS testing and medical and dental services through Equitas, plus a larger community space and alternative therapy options including music and art therapy.

What the center offered at its old location — a free food pantry, housing assistance, testing for sexually transmitted diseases and COVID-19, and safety training for transgender people — will continue at the new location.

Five Points, owned by commercial real estate company Albrecht Inc., also houses a U.S. Postal Service station and Akron Summit County Community Action. The addition of the new tenants fills a large vacancy at the plaza, which opened in 1962 and originally served as a shopping center.

“This is going to be a wonderful place. I’m excited about it,” Arrington said.

Contact reporter Derek Kreider at DKreider@Gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Resources click into place at Five Points for Akron's LGBTQ community