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Rainbow Health, a non-profit shuts down
Former employees are shocked and heartbroken by leadership’s decision to close the nonprofit organization.
MINNEAPOLIS — Thousands of Minnesotans are in limbo after Rainbow Health announced it was closing immediately.
Rainbow Health is a nonprofit that specializes in helping members of the LGBTQ+ community. They served 2,366 Minnesotans last year, and former employees said they work with tens of thousands of people within a marginalized community.
“I learned a few minutes before 1 o’clock that I had before 5 p.m. to terminate services with my almost 40 clients, cancel all of my sessions for the rest of the day. I was booked until 7 o’clock. I had a client in the waiting room while staff was sobbing,” said former Rainbow Health Psychotherapist Lee Stark.
Stark said the organization’s closure could traumatize some of their clients.
“Many of the clients that we see, this is the only safe place that they have, the only support that they have, we work with incredibly highly marginalized people,” they said.
Stark said they are working to figure out how to tell their clients about the closure. They said they can’t take client information with them, so they’re trying to figure out how to inform them.
Stark is also trying to figure out what to do next.
“I have two licensures with the state of Minnesota. I had to immediately call my boards to ask ‘how do I handle this, how do I stay in good standing’ when I’m forced to abandoned my clients in this incredibly unethical way,” they said.
Former Rainbow Health HIV and LGBTQ+ Aging Services Advocate Rick Kutcher doesn’t know where he would be without Rainbow Health. He walked through their doors as a client 13 years ago.
“Had I not had those services I don’t know if I would have gotten to a place in my life to elevate where I am today,” he said.
Kutcher has been working with Rainbow Health for the past four years.
“I am a long-term survivor of HIV. I’ve lived with HIV for 30 years,” he said. “Beyond the services, the support, the understanding of what it is to live with HIV, and I know firsthand how important these services are to the community.”
Some of the former employees said the non-profits closure can be traced back to money mismanagement by their leadership.
“We have been begging and demanding answers to the financial situation for months now to Uzo’s point going back to April when we had sudden layoffs, we demanded that we have financial transparency meetings,” said Ash Tifa, a former Rainbow Health employee.
“For the past two years, Rainbow Health did not raise enough funds to cover his paycheck (the former Rainbow Health CEO) and the board was still approving a lot of things for him, including his bonuses,” said Uzoamaka McLaughlin.
McLaughlin said part of the former’s CEO contract stated he would raise funds for part of his salary.
Stark said many of their colleagues have been working for free since the organization closed.
“I know that Friday, the day after the agency closed many, many staff members were working pro-bono, working to contact clients who had medical rides scheduled, rent assistance, food assistance planned in the upcoming weeks,” they said.
Stark said this closure caught them completely off-guard.
“As of a week ago, two weeks ago there was a huge push for us to start to see more clients. I know there were a lot of new clients on the books,” they said.
In a statement, a Rainbow Health said in part, “we deeply regret the abrupt nature of this closure and the distress it has caused. The decision to close Rainbow Health was made with heavy hearts after exhausting other options. Due to growing and insurmountable financial challenges, including decreased funding, grants that were not renewed or fully funded, and unforeseen cash flow issues, we reached a point where continuing operations were no longer possible. The Board chose to close the organization immediately to ensure employees receive compensation for the time they have worked since their last pay period.”
Tifa said during an emergency board meeting last week, she said the board told staff they were insolvent and unable to finish the pay period.
Last week, prosecutors charged John Sawchak with attempted 2nd-degree murder and other felony charges after he allegedly shot his neighbor Davis Moturi.
MINNEAPOLIS — Following the shooting between two neighbors, the Minneapolis City Council voted unanimously to request that the city’s auditor conduct an independent investigation into the incidents and cases between Davis Moturi and John Sawchak.
Moturi was allegedly shot by his neighbor, Sawchak, on Wednesday, Oct. 23 but Minneapolis police did not arrest Sawchak until days later.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara defended not arresting Sawchak sooner, calling it a “high-risk” situation. O’Hara later said the victim, who had complained about harassment from Sawchak for months, was failed by police. Sawchak was arrested this past weekend after an hours-long standoff.
Moturi suffered a fractured spine, two broken ribs, and a concussion in the shooting. “Mr. Moturi’s life matters and I’m sorry that for nearly a year, MPD did not treat it like it did,” said Council Member Robin Wonsley in a news release, “Today’s vote affirms that the City Council is committed to taking meaningful actions towards accountability and restoration, starting with this independent review.”
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey released this statement:
“Mayor Frey fully supports an independent review of this incident. The mayor and City are committed to always doing better, and this means closely examining past actions and finding where there may be ways to improve and grow. The mayor extends his condolences to Davis Moturi, his wife, Caroline, and their family and friends. The safety of our residents is a top priority and any form of violence or hate speech is completely unacceptable and does not align with who we are as a community. Brian O’Hara will continue to be the Minneapolis Police Chief.”
“This Valentine’s Day, 2025, will mark the five-year anniversary of the premiere of ‘Love is Blind,” Vanessa said on the Season 7 finale. “And, it is gonna be the launch of Season 8, which takes place in Minneapolis.”
The episode also revealed three of the new cast members, one of whom, “Alex,” told Lachey Minneapolis is “not like a major city, but it’s also not a small town,” which he said is just one of the obstacles in his way of finding the one.
“I just never found the right person that clicked for me,” he said.
Meantime, you can bone up on Seasons 1-7 streaming now on Netflix.
MINNEAPOLIS — How much do you know about your grandma’s upbringing?
“The Stories From My Grandmother’s Hands” is a book that aims to show young Black children how their grandmas lived through beautiful illustrations and descriptions.
KARE 11 News at Noon shared more on Thursday about the impact that this book will have.
