Local

Restructuring credited with Whitman-Walker revenue gains

Agency in the black for first time in a decade

Published

15 years ago

February 17, 2011

Lou Chibbaro Jr.

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.”

Related Topics:Don Blanchon Whitman-Walker Clinic

Up Next

Local news in brief

Don't Miss

Park Police seek help in identifying body

FUND LGBTQ JOURNALISM

District of Columbia

D.C. journalist, video producer Sean Bartel dies at 37

Beloved member of Gay Flag Football League found deceased on hiking trail in Argentina

Published

1 hour ago

March 17, 2026

Lou Chibbaro Jr.

Sean Christopher Bartel, 37, played a key role in the D.C. Gay Flag Football League. The League posted this message to social media on Monday. (Image via Facebook)

Sean Christopher Bartel, 37, who 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, was found deceased on a hiking trail near a glacier in Argentina on or around March 15, according to a report by an Argentine newspaper.

The newspaper Clarín reports no foul play was suspected regarding his death, and other local media reports indicate authorities believe he suffered some sort of accident while on the hiking trail.

The Clarín report says Bartel arrived in Argentina on March 3 and visited Buenos Aires and the city of El Chaltén, which is near Argentina’s Los Glaciares National Park and a glacial lagoon popular with hikers. It says his body was found on the trail leading to the glacier.

“The D.C. Gay Flag Football League is heartbroken to learn of the passing of Sean Bartel, one of the most devoted members this league has ever known,” the organization said in a statement. “The story of DCGFFL could not be told without Sean.”

“He was not only a dedicated teammate and a model league member – he was our storyteller and our champion, honoring the competitive greatness, the radiant humor, and the beautiful bonds that make our community so special,” the statement says.

It adds that for years, Bartel served as “our man behind the camera, he drew our community tighter by portraying us with the skill of a professional and the care of a family member.”

Bartel’s LinkedIn page shows he most recently worked for 12 years as Senior Video Producer for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which is described as North America’s largest labor union.

Matt Spense, a spokesperson for the union, told the Washington Blade that Bartel resigned from his job there in 2024 to pursue other career endeavors, but he didn’t know what he did career wise after that time.

Bartel’s LinkedIn page shows he served as a video producer and account supervisor at the Edelman global communications firm based in D.C. from 2010-2013. Prior to that, he worked as a reporter for Sirius XM Radio, Inc. from 2007 to 2012. It shows that from a little over a year — from 2009 to 2010 — he worked as video producer and account executive for the firm North Ridge Communications, but it doesn’t give the company’s location.

He began his career in journalism, his LinkedIn page shows, as a reporter and news and sports anchor at the WHAS TV station in Louisville, Ky., from January 2005 through January 2008.

It says he received a bachelor’s degree in Sports Marketeing and Management in 1999 from Indiana University in Bloomington and a master’s degree from the School of Media and Public Affairs from D.C.’s George Washington University in 2010.

The Blade couldn’t immediately obtain information about surviving family members or funeral arrangements.

Cameroon

Gay Cameroonian immigrant will be freed from ICE detention — for now

Ludovic Mbock’s homeland criminalizes homosexuality

Published

4 days ago

March 13, 2026

Baltimore Banner

Competitive gamer Ludovic Mbock, left, with his sister, Diane Sohna. (Photo courtesy of Diane Sohna)

By ANTONIO PLANAS | An immigration judge on Friday issued a $4,000 bond for a Cameroonian immigrant and regional gaming champion held in federal immigration detention for the past three weeks.

The ruling will allow Ludovic Mbock, of Oxon Hill, to return to Maryland from a Georgia facility this weekend, his family and attorney said.

“Realistically, by tomorrow. Hopefully, by today,” said Mbock’s attorney, Edward Neufville. “We are one step closer to getting Ludovic justice.”

The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.

District of Columbia

Bowser appoints first nonbinary person to Cabinet-level position

Peter Stephan named Office of Disability Rights interim director

Published

5 days ago

March 12, 2026

Lou Chibbaro Jr.

The Wilson Building (Bigstock photo by Leonid Andronov)

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bower has named longtime disability rights advocate Peter L. Stephan, who identifies as nonbinary, as interim director of the D.C. Office of Disability Rights.

The local transgender and nonbinary advocacy group Our Trans Capital and the LGBTQ group Capital Stonewall Democrats issued a joint statement calling Stephan’s appointment an historic development as the first-ever appointment of a nonbinary person to a Cabinet-level D.C. government position.

“This milestone appointment recognizes Stephan’s extensive expertise in disability rights advocacy and marks a historic advancement for transgender and nonbinary representation in District government leadership,” the statement says.

The statement notes that Stephan, an attorney, held the position of general counsel at the Office of Disability Rights immediately prior to the mayor’s decision to name him interim director.

The mayor’s office didn’t immediately respond to a question from the Washington Blade asking if Bowser plans to name Stephan as the permanent director of the Office of Disability Rights. John Fanning, a spokesperson for D.C. Council member Anita Bonds (D-At-Large), said the office’s director position requires confirmation by the Council.

Stephan couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

“At a time when trans and nonbinary people ae under attack across the country, D.C. continues to lead by example,” said Stevie McCarty, president of Capital Stonewall Democrats. “This appointment reflects what we have always believed that our community is always strongest when every voice is represented in government,” he said.

“This is a historic step forward,” said Vida Rengel, founder of Our Trans Capital. “Interim Director Stephan’s career and accomplishments are a shining example of the positive impact that trans and nonbinary public servants can have on our communities,” according to Rangel.