Petrelis Files

Brava! SF Lesbian
Clinic Holds Open Board Meeting

I'm sorry not to have known about this big ray of sunshine in my own backyard of an open-to-all board of directors meeting, before it happened because I would have attended.

Late in August, the new board members and executive staffers threw open the board of directors meeting to one and all. Lyon-Martin leaders made an announcement of the meeting on their blog and this is an excellent example of a community-based organization, engaging clients, donors and the general public.

The Lyon-Martin Health Clinic almost shut down in January 2011 over bad fiscal management practices, and failure to regular engage with the at-large community of lesbians and transgenders who accessed health care there. But that is thankfully in the past.

From the announcement:

We’ve been working hard for over a year to stabilize and strengthen the clinic. We have many successes to report and want to update the community on some of the upcoming challenges (paying back our debt, getting ready for healthcare reform, rebuilding the patient base). You’ll have the opportunity to ask questions, hear about the health of the clinic, and also attend a special presentation about healthcare reform and the effects it could have on Lyon-Martin. 

We need more of this kind of transparency and I am happy to offer belated congratulations to Lyon-Martin for their public forum. Let's all pat Lyon-Martin leaders on the back for this beautiful act of sunshine and use it to nudge other LGBT and HIV/AIDS organizations to do likewise.

Let the gay sun shine in!