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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.
The council argues that the HERC must be closed to comply with the city’s zero waste policy, which was passed back in 2017.
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minneapolis City Council unanimously approved a plan to shut down the Hennepin Energy Recovery Center (HERC) on Thursday.
The resolution comes after decades of protests against the massive North Loop trash incinerator that burns roughly 365,000 tons of garbage a year.
“Today is a big step towards protecting the health of our communities and addressing longstanding environmental injustices that disproportionately impact communities of color,” said councilmember Robin Wonsley, in a statement.
The resolution calls for the incinerator to be permanently closed by Dec 31, 2027 and for the entire facility to be shut down by Dec 31, 2033.
The council argues that the HERC must be closed to comply with the city’s zero waste policy, which was passed back in 2017.
In October 2023, the Hennepin County Board signed off on a plan to close the HERC between 2028 and 2040, depending on how quickly the county can transition into a zero-waste system.
Of the garbage burned at the HERC, 75% comes from the city of Minneapolis. The other 25% comes from a dozen other cities in the area. The HERC produces enough energy to power more than 25,000 homes and half the buildings in downtown Minneapolis.
At a City Council Meeting on Oct. 10, Jenni Lansing with the City of Minneapolis Health Department provided analysis on the air pollution impacts of HERC. She said the health department supports working towards a zero-waste future and the ultimate closure of HERC, but said closing it now is not the solution.
“Overall emissions in Hennepin County are dominated by on-road and non-road, mobile and nonpoint sources, and these sources drive the cancer and non-cancer risks to health in Minneapolis,” Lansing said.
Hennepin County defines zero waste as preventing 90% or more of all discarded materials from being landfilled or incinerated.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
The snow is really coming down in some places with Maple Lake getting 3.5″ so far.
GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. — The wettest Halloween storm ever — is making mischief before little trick-or-treaters hit their neighborhood’s slushy streets.
Officials are reporting several power outages and car spin-outs.
There have been over 14,000 power outages, according to Xcel Energy.
The Minnesota State Patrol has responded to 169 crashes and 94 vehicles off the road, as of 2. pm. Thursday.
Meteorologist Beny Dery said an additional 1 to 2″ of snow is possible before things taper off this evening.
So far some of the totals around town are: 3.5″ Maple Lake, 3.0″ Buffalo, 2.5″ Dassel, 2.4″ Windom, 2.0″ St. Bonifacious, 1.5″ Maple Plain and 1.5″ in Bethel.
The snow is expected to let up from west to east and should wrap up for the metro between 5 to 6 p.m.
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.”
