LAS VEGAS—Las Vegas Sands announced it will contribute $163,000 through Sands Cares to close out phase one of The LGBTQ Center of Southern Nevada’s $400,000 capital campaign to expand the Arlene Cooper Community Health Center in Downtown Las Vegas. Funding enables The Center to move forward with plans to provide full onsite health and wellness care for LGBTQIA+ and low-income downtown residents and supports the organization’s long-term goal of generating recurring revenue through the clinic to sustain its LGBTQIA+ programming in Southern Nevada.
“The generous support of Sands Cares and all of our capital campaign partners will deliver tremendous impact on the wellbeing of vulnerable and marginalized people throughout our community as we are able to meet their healthcare needs,” said John Waldron, CEO of The Center. “Sands’ closeout of our phase one funding brings us closer to realizing our vision of creating a full-service medical clinic that addresses our clients’ unique needs and overcomes the many challenges experienced by the LGBTQIA+ community in obtaining medical care.”
According to The Center, LGBTQIA+ people are often unable to find healthcare services in their area, encounter discrimination or refusals of service in healthcare settings, and may delay or forego care because of mistreatment concerns. In addition to meeting the needs of LGBTQIA+ people, the clinic will provide vital medical care for low-income downtown residents, veterans, people with disabilities and the transient homeless population.
Pharmacy to Open in 2022
With the closeout of the capital campaign’s first phase, The Center plans to launch a comprehensive program of services in 2022, which initially entails delivering primary medical care to complement the clinic’s existing HIV and STI testing and mental health services. In phase two, The Center is soliciting funding to add a pharmacy, which is also targeted to open in 2022, to complement the clinic’s medical treatment services. The capital campaign’s final phase will raise funds to upgrade the clinic to be a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC).
Beyond better serving the LGBTQIA+ community and downtown low-income residents, the clinic’s expansion with additional services and federal-designation will create a new revenue stream to aid The Center in providing programming and better delivering on its mission to serve as the heart and home of the LGBTQIA+ community.
“The opportunity to help The Center reach its funding goal for a full-service medical clinic is squarely in line with two of our primary Sands Cares strategies—removing systemic barriers faced by diverse groups and investing in capacity building for nonprofits to help them deliver greater community impact,” said Ron Reese, Senior Vice President of Global Communications and Corporate Affairs at Sands. “The Center’s vision for the clinic’s multi-faceted impact is a vital necessity for Southern Nevada. Our intention with the Sands Cares investment is not only to cap this first funding phase, but to stimulate momentum and rally community support for the campaign’s next phase focusing on the pharmacy addition.”
Sands’ donation to The Center follows the recently announced Sands Cares funding for the Asian Community Development Council (ACDC) to establish a language bank and hotline to assist Asian American Pacific Islander community members who face hurdles in accessing critical social services. The partnerships with The Center and ACDC are strategic investments in line with Sands’ mission to empower nonprofits serving diverse communities by strengthening their core offerings and helping them better address systemic issues. Combined, the $238,000 in funding to these two groups follows the company’s $400,000 investment in nonprofits serving diverse populations announced at the end of 2020 and represents Sands’ accelerated focus on better addressing the needs of ethnic and minority communities.
