Last week, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors approved a $1.5 million contract that will provide healthcare and mental health services to LGBTQ+ individuals across the county.
The Oakland LGBTQ Community Center, an organization that provides affirming programs and services — such as “gender-affirming care navigation” — to youth and community members, is tasked with leading the effort.
“This is a foundational county investment in more equitable services including access to gender-affirming healthcare, mental health support, crisis response and prevention services, and healthcare navigation for transgender, nonbinary, and LGBTQIA+ residents,” said Alameda County Supervisor Nikki Fortunato Bas in a statement.
To enhance supportive care for LGBTQ+ individuals in the future, the OLCC is partnering with a variety of organizations across the county including the Pacific Center for Human Growth, located in Downtown Berkeley, and LifeLong Medical Care, which has clinics throughout Berkeley.
The Pacific Center for Human Growth is an organization focused on mental health care for LGBTQ+ individuals in the Bay Area, and will be hosting Berkeley’s pride festival Aug. 30.
“The goal of this contract is to improve care coordination, navigation, and supportive services for LGBTQIA+ residents throughout Alameda County by increasing access to preventative care and wellness services,” said Austin Wingate, public information officer for the Alameda County Public Health Department, in an email.
Through the $1.5 million contract, the OLCC was enabled to support a coordinated countywide effort to expand healthcare access for LGBTQ+ individuals, with concentrated efforts on prioritizing youth, transgender nonbinary, queer, Black and Latine populations. These efforts would focus especially on communities in the South and East County.
Alameda County Health will collaborate with the center with “the intention to build sustainable systems of care through coalition participation,” according to Wingate.
“This contract is expected to fill gaps in services for LGBTQIA+ communities and address barriers in healthcare, mental health support, crisis response, prevention services,” Wingate said in the email.
Resources that may be provided through the OLCC and its partners include gender affirming health care, access to HIV and sexually transmitted infections testing as well as public information regarding Medi-Cal and CalFresh benefits.
The contract comes amid budget cuts across the country relating to LGBTQ+ services, including cuts to Medicaid funding for youth gender-affirming care, cuts to research grants for LGBTQ-related studies and more.
“As federal threats and attacks to queer and trans lives continue, it is our collective power that will keep our people safe, housed and healthy: cultivating ever-growing joy, resilience, and equity,” Fortunato Bas said in the statement.