Local
Restructuring credited with Whitman-Walker revenue gains
Agency in the black for first time in a decade
Whitman-Walker executive director Don Blanchon (Blade file photo by Michael Key)
Whitman-Walker Clinic’s ability to operate with a positive cash flow last year for the first time in nearly 10 years – and its expectation of remaining in good financial shape for the foreseeable future – is due to its transformation from a volunteer-based AIDS service group to a full-service community health center, according to executive director Don Blanchon.
In a briefing for the Washington Blade, Blanchon displayed charts and graphs showing what he called a dramatic change in the Clinic’s sources of revenue.
At a time when other community clinics providing services to the LGBT community and other communities are facing financial hardship due to diminishing government funding and a drop in private donations, Whitman-Walker has become far less reliant on both government funds and revenue from private donors, Blanchon said.
He noted that in 2005, Whitman-Walker received 51.5 percent of its total revenue from government grants. That same year, the Clinic received 38.4 percent of its revenue from fundraising efforts seeking contributions from the public or businesses. Just 8.7 percent of its revenue came from third-party entities such as patient health insurance carriers or patients covered by Medicaid, Blanchon said.
In 2010, after the Clinic completed its transformation into a health center, 21.1 percent of its revenue came from third-party entities, with many more clients covered by private health insurance or Medicaid. He noted that 31.5 percent of the Clinic’s revenue in 2010 came from its operation of a pharmacy on its premises.
At the same time, its revenue from government grants dropped to 15.8 percent of total revenue, and revenue from private fundraising dropped to 15.8 percent of total revenue.
According to Blanchon, Whitman-Walker continues to rely on private donors and looks forward to its annual D.C. AIDS Walk fundraiser in October. But he said the new structure decreases the Clinic’s reliance on government and private donor revenue at a time when the national recession has forced government agencies and many donors to drastically cut back on giving money to charitable groups like Whitman-Walker.
As a financially stable institution, compared to its near financial collapse five years ago, the Clinic is now taking on more patients in need, especially low-income patients with HIV, Blanchon said. At the same time, it is seeing a growing number of LGBT patients who don’t have HIV but prefer to use Whitman-Walker as their primary care provider, he said.
Data that Blanchon pointed to for 2010 show that the Clinic saw about 13,000 patients that year, 22 percent of whom were HIV positive. Although the total number of HIV patients appears to be dropping, he noted that 60 percent of all medical visits to the Clinic in 2010 were HIV-related, showing that HIV remains the main area of service for the Clinic.
The 2010 data show that 49 percent of all patients self-identify as being LGBT; 69 percent were male, 29 percent female, and 3 percent transgender. In terms of ethnicity, 47 percent were black, 35 percent white, 15 percent Latino, and 3 percent falling into another category.
“We began this journey a little more than five years ago and it has not been without its hardship, sacrifice or public debate,” Blanchon said. “Through it all our board of directors, employees, volunteers, donors and public and private funders remained steadfast to our mission of caring, especially our longstanding commitment to the LGBT community and persons living with HIV/AIDS.”
Rehoboth Beach
BLUF leather social set for April 10 in Rehoboth
Attendees encouraged to wear appropriate gear
Diego’s in Rehoboth Beach hosts a monthly leather happy hour. April’s edition is scheduled for Friday, April 10, 5-7 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to wear appropriate gear. The event is billed as an official event of BLUF, the free community group for men interested in leather. After happy hour, the attendees are encouraged to reconvene at Local Bootlegging Company for dinner, which allows cigar smoking. There’s no cover charge for either event.
District of Columbia
Celebrations of life planned for Sean Bartel
Two memorial events scheduled in D.C.
Two celebrations of life are planned for Sean Christopher Bartel, 48, who was found deceased on a hiking trail in Argentina on or around March 15. Bartel began his career as a television news reporter and news anchor at stations in Louisville, Ky., and Evansville, Ind., before serving as Senior Video Producer for the D.C.-based International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union from 2013 to 2024.
A memorial gathering is planned for Friday, April 10, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at the IBEW International Office (900 7th St., N.W.), according to a statement by the DC Gay Flag Football League, where Bartel was a longtime member. A celebration of life is planned that same evening, 6-8 p.m. at Trade (1410 14th St., N.W.).
District of Columbia
D.C. Council member honored by LGBTQ homeless youth group
Doni Crawford receives inaugural Wanda Alston Legacy Award
About 100 people turned out Tuesday evening, April 7, for a presentation by D.C.’s Wanda Alston Foundation of its inaugural Wanda Alston Legacy Award to D.C. Council member Doni Crawford (I-At-Large) for her support for the foundation’s mission to support homeless LGBTQ youth.
Among those who attended the event was Japer Bowles, director of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, who delivered an official proclamation issued by Bowser declaring April 7, 2026 “A Day of Remembrance for Wanda Alston.”
Alston, a beloved women’s and LGBTQ rights activist, served as the city’s first director of the then newly created Office of LGBTQ Affairs under then-Mayor Anthony Williams from 2004 until her death by murder on March 16, 2005.
To the shock and dismay of fellow LGBTQ rights advocates, police and court records reported Alston, 45, was stabbed to death inside her Northeast D.C. house by a man high on crack cocaine who lived nearby and who stole her credit cards and car. The perpetrator, William Martin Parrott, 38, was arrested by D.C. police the next day and later pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. He was sentenced in July 2005 to 24 years in prison.
Crawford was among those attending the award event who reflected on Alston’s legacy and outspoken advocacy for LGBTQ and feminist causes.
“I am deeply humbled and honored to receive this inaugural award,” Crawford told the Washington Blade at the conclusion of the event. “I think the world of Wanda Alston. She has set such a great foundation for me and other Council members to build on,” she said.
“Her focus on inclusivity and intersectionality is really important as we approach this work,” Crawford added. “And it’s going to guide my work at the Council every day.”
Crawford was appointed to the D.C. Council in January of this year to replace then Council member Kenyan McDuffie (I-At-Large), who resigned to run for D.C. mayor as a Democrat. She is being challenged by four other independent candidates in a June 16 special election for the Council seat.
Under the city’s Home Rule Charter written and approved by Congress, the seat is one of two D.C. Council at-large seats that cannot be held by a “majority party” candidate, meaning a Democrat.
A statement released by the Alston Foundation last month announcing Crawford’s selection for the Wanda Alston Legacy Award praised Crawford’s record of support for its work on behalf of LGBTQ youth.
“From behind the scenes to now serving as an At-Large Council member, she has fought fearlessly for affordable housing, LGBTQ+ funding priorities, and racial justice,” the statement says. “Council member Crawford’s leadership reflects the same courage and conviction that defined Wanda’s legacy.”
Organizers of the event noted that it was held on what would have been Wanda Alston’s 67th birthday.
“Today’s legacy reception was a smashing success,” said Cesar Toledo, the Alston Foundation’s executive director. “Not only did we come together to celebrate Wanda Alston on her birthday, but we also were able to raise over $10,000 for our homeless LGBTQ youth here in D.C.,” Toledo told the Blade.
“In addition to that, we celebrated and we acknowledged a rising star in our community,” he said. “And that is At-Large Council member Doni Crawford, who we named the inaugural Wanda Alston Legacy Award recipient.”
At the request of D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson (D-At-Large) the Council voted unanimously on Jan. 20, 2026, to appoint Crawford to the Council seat being vacated by McDuffie.
Council records show she joined McDuffie’s Council staff in 2022 as a policy adviser and later became his legislative director before McDuffie appointed her as staff director for the Council’s Committee on Business and Economic Development for which McDuffie served as chair.
Calendar: April 10-16
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Celebrations of life planned for Sean Bartel
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