The Lesbian Community Cancer Project is becoming a program of Howard Brown Health Center with the new name of Lesbian Community Care Project, still with the initials LCCP.
The original LCCP, which has been housed within Howard Brown since 2004, announced Oct. 24 that it will join forces with the agency. The heads of both organizations described the decision as a logical next step toward the continuation of a symbiotic relationship.
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Michael Cook ( left, at Saturday's HBHC gala ) heads Howard Brown. Photo by Mel Ferrand
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'We will serve our community better together than we are doing separately,' said LCCP Board Chair Dominique Leonardi, who will now become a Howard Brown board member while the remaining board members form an advisory committee. Leonardi and others feel the merger will help expand lesbian healthcare in the area.
LCCP was founded in 1990 to address the healthcare needs of lesbian and bisexual women. Howard Brown has been serving the needs of the LGBT community since 1974, and is one of the nation's largest agencies.
'This is a good day for Howard Brown, this is a good day for LCCP and this is a good day for the community,' Howard Brown President and CEO Michael Cook said. Cook said the two agencies decided after a few years of dating to 'finally get married,' describing the relationship as 'love at first sight.'
Over the past few years, while housed at Howard Brown, the organization has 'achieved more than we thought possible,' said LCCP Interim Executive Director Catherine Jefcoat.
Jefcoat will join Howard Brown's senior management team as Director of the Lesbian Community Care Project.
The lesbian healthcare organization has walked hundreds of women through cancer screenings, created a smoking cessation program, conducted studies, trained more than 1,000 healthcare workers and reached out to thousands of women since it moved in to Howard Brown.
Both Jefcoat and Cook are confident the new relationship will expand lesbian healthcare in the area. Since LCCP has moved into the agency, the number of women served at Howard Brown Health Center has doubled, Jefcoat said. The organization also plans to build and expand programs.
Cook believes both organizations will become stronger because of the merger. When asked if the merger speaks to lesbian agencies not being able to stand alone, he replied, 'This is and should be one community.'
Community leader Art Johnston was in attendance at the announcement, and expressed concern over whether or not the organization will continue its focus on cancer. Jefcoat promised that the focus on cancer would continue, and that the name was changed to reflect LCCP's opportunity to expand its services and programs.
'We aren't abandoning the cancer issue,' Cook said, adding that the only change is the expansion of care.
Cook told Windy City Times that as funding sources become tighter, the merger allows both Howard Brown and LCCP to reach out to more women, and only strengthens them both.
Former LCCP Executive Director Jessica Halem was around for the agency's move into Howard Brown's building in 2004, and said the ultimate goal at the time, if all went well, was a merger. She told Windy City Times she has 'zero concerns' about the new relationship, and is 'thrilled' to hear the news.
'I think it's a great day for people in the community,' Halem said, adding that it would be 'unethical' for LCCP to not take advantage of the large, holistic healthcare environment Howard Brown has to offer. She hopes that the merger will bring in trans individuals and women by the droves.
Former board member Renae Ogletree also said the news didn't surprise her. 'I predicted that [ they would merge ] three years ago' when LCCP moved into Howard Brown Health Center, she said.
Ogletree expressed some concern over how much LCCP might change as an organization in the long run, and whether or not Howard Brown will include more women on its board in order to account for the merger.
