Local
Ruby Corado resigns as head of Casa Ruby
Abrupt decision comes after loss of $850K D.C. grant
Ruby Corado, the founder and executive director of the D.C. LGBTQ community services center Casa Ruby, announced in a Facebook live video message that she had resigned from her position as leader of Casa Ruby effective on Friday.
Joining Corado in the Facebook broadcast was Casa Ruby Government Affairs Director Alexis Blackmon, who Corado said would immediately assume the position of interim executive director until the completion of a search for a permanent director.
Last year, Corado disclosed she planned to step down as Casa Ruby’s executive director sometime in 2022 to work full time on an LGBTQ-related consulting practice that she said she had begun part-time while continuing her role as Casa Ruby executive director.
In her Facebook announcement, Corado said she decided to step down at this time in response to an ongoing dispute with the D.C. government which resulted in a decision last week by the D.C. Department of Human Services to discontinue its $850,000 annual grant that has funded Casa Ruby’s emergency “low barrier” shelter for homeless LGBTQ youth and adults.
DHS has declined to disclose its reason for terminating the Casa Ruby grant, saying only that it will continue its full funding for services for LGBTQ youth who experience homelessness through grants to other organizations.
DHS informed Corado of its decision to discontinue the grant less than a week before the end of the fiscal year, with the funding set to stop on Sept. 30. At Corado’s initiative, Casa Ruby launched a GoFundMe fundraising campaign that had raised just over $100,000 as of Friday, a development that Corado says highlights the community’s support for Casa Ruby and its numerous programs, many of which support transgender people and LGBTQ immigrants.
Corado stated in her Facebook announcement that officials at the DHS, who she did not identify, were attempting to use her as a “distraction” to divert attention from the harm Corado said would come from the city agency’s decision to defund the Casa Ruby homeless services program.
Earlier this week, Corado said she believes the defunding of the Casa Ruby homeless program allegedly came in retaliation for a Casa Ruby complaint filed against the DHS by Casa Ruby earlier this year. The complaint charges that a DHS official had acted in a hostile and abusive way toward Corado and Casa Ruby staffers who were operating the homeless shelter.
Corado said she also believes the defunding may be in response to her refusal to agree to a DHS request that she move the Casa Ruby homeless facility to a location in Northeast D.C. that Corado believed to be an unsafe neighborhood for her clients, especially those who are trans. DHS declined a request from the Washington Blade for comment on the Casa Ruby complaint, saying it was under investigation.
In response to a question from the Blade at an Oct. 4 press conference on an unrelated subject, Mayor Muriel Bowser said she would “make the Department of Human Services available” to address the Blade’s question of why Casa Ruby’s funding was not renewed for its LGBTQ shelter program.
“We do business with organizations all the time,” the mayor said. “And sometimes we continue our relationship and other times we don’t. Largely it is based on an evaluation of the effectiveness of the program. So, I can say that.”
“And I can also say there are opportunities all the time for organizations to work with us,” Bowser continued. “And in some rounds or contract rounds it doesn’t work out and in subsequent rounds it might. And that may be the case with Casa Ruby.”
A DHS spokesperson did not respond to a Blade follow-up question this week asking for the reason the agency terminated the Casa Ruby funding.
Corado couldn’t immediately be reached on Friday to determine whether Casa Ruby had raised enough private funds to keep its main shelter open that has operated out of its headquarters building at 7530 Georgia Ave., N.W. In its GoFundMe appeal, Corado said the shelter might be forced to close on Friday.
Blackmon, an African American trans woman, recently received a degree from Georgetown University in the field of nonprofit management, according to Corado, who called Blackmon a highly committed and knowledgeable Casa Ruby team member “who everybody loves.”
Corado also stated in her Facebook broadcast that she will take a three-month sabbatical after which she will return to develop a stepped up private fundraising program for Casa Ruby so that the organization will no longer be dependent on D.C. government funding.
On the same day Corado announced her resignation, the local nonprofit homeless services organization Covenant House Greater Washington announced it was opening on Friday a homeless facility for LGBTQ youth in the city’s Deanwood neighborhood in Ward 7.
“Covenant House Greater Washington is pleased to announce SHINE — a new safe space initiative created for LGBTQ+ populations,” the group said in a statement. “The program will provide emergency shelter, crisis stabilization and short-term housing options to young people in the greater Washington region.”
The statement says the facility, a three-story building, consists of 24 beds, case management services, and “an array of support from various community-based organizations currently working with LGBTQ+ youth.”
The new Covenant House facility adds to the LGBTQ youth homeless facilities currently being operated by Casa Ruby and two other LGBTQ organizations for more than a decade — the Wanda Alston Foundation and SMYAL, the D.C. LGBTQ youth advocacy and services organization.
The Washington Post reports that the DHS awarded Covenant House a $648,000 grant to create and operate its new LGBTQ youth homeless facility.
In its statement announcing the opening of the new facility, Covenant House said the facility will be led by its newly hired program director, Taylor Chandler Walker, a trans woman who has been involved with local LGBTQ organizations; including Capital Pride Alliance, Us Helping Us, and the LGBT Budget Coalition.
Maryland
Layoffs and confusion at Pride Center of Maryland after federal grants cut, reinstated
Trump administration move panicked addiction and mental health programs
By ALISSA ZHU | After learning it had abruptly lost $2 million in federal funding, the Pride Center of Maryland moved to lay off a dozen employees, or about a third of its workforce, the Baltimore nonprofit’s leader said Thursday.
The group is one of thousands nationwide that reportedly received letters late Tuesday from the Trump administration. Their mental health and addiction grants had been terminated, effective immediately, the letters said.
By Wednesday night, federal officials moved to reverse the funding cuts by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, estimated to total $2 billion, according to national media reports. But the Pride Center of Maryland’s CEO Cleo Manago said as of Thursday morning he had not heard anything from the federal government confirming those reports.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at [email protected].
Congratulations to Vida Rangel, JD/MPP on her promotion to Deputy Director of the Mayor’s Office of Talent and Appointments. Rangel is now the highest-ranking transgender official in the history of District government. On accepting the position Rangel said, “I am proud to step into this leadership role and to continue serving my communities. Our District is full of passionate and knowledgeable people who are committed to public service, and it is an honor to help them explore opportunities to serve their neighbors.”
Rangel has previously served in this office as Director of Operations. Prior to this as Bargaining Committee Chair, Organizing Committee, NCTE United, Nonprofit Professional Employees Union IFTPE Local 70. As Policy Counsel, National Center for Transgender Equality; and Elizabeth Warren for President, lead organizer, Illinois 4th Congressional District. She has worked with, and served on boards of, The Black & Pink National, Federal City Performing Arts Assoc., and LAGBAC.
Rangel earned her bachelor’s in sociology from Sam Houston State University; master’s of Public Policy from Loyola University, Chicago; and Juris Doctor, Loyola University, Chicago.
Congratulations also to James Conlon new PFLAG vice president of Development & Philanthropic Partnerships. Upon his appointment Conlon said, “It is an absolute privilege to join PFLAG National and lead their Development & Philanthropic Partner team into a new era. Right now, LGBTQ+ people and their families are terrified of what the future might bring, and PFLAG must continue to be there. My job is to ensure PFLAG strongly endures and thrives, because never has there been a clearer time for our community to unite in fighting for the dignity and well-being of every LGBTQ+ person.”
Brian Bond, CEO, PFLAG National, said, “At a time when PFLAG National programs and participation in them have grown significantly, even as corporate giving has left a $1.3M gap in our funding, James is a critical new addition to the team. With his vast expertise, James will drive our growth and ensure that PFLAG continues meeting the needs of families and communities across the country.”
Conlon is a seasoned fundraiser who has spent extensive time working with advocates, supporters, and leaders, of the LGBTQ+ movement to understand how to effectively support the community. He began his career as an intern in the Massachusetts State House. He has helped raise more than $60 million for critical causes and candidates. Prior to joining PFLAG James oversaw LGBTQ+ investments and fundraising, with the Democratic National Committee (DNC). Prior to that he served in the same role for Harris-Walz 2024, and additionally served in senior fundraising positions for the Senate Majority PAC, as well as for Representatives Josh Gottheimer, and Conor Lamb.
Conlon earned his bachelor’s degree in political science and government from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
District of Columbia
D.C.’s annual MLK Peace Walk and Parade set for Jan. 19
LGBTQ participants expected to join mayor’s contingent
Similar to past years, members of the LGBTQ community were expected to participate in D.C.’s 21st annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Peace Walk and Parade scheduled to take place Monday, Jan. 19.
Organizers announced this year’s Peace Walk, which takes place ahead of the parade, was scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. at the site of a Peace Rally set to begin at 9:30 a.m. at the intersection of Firth Sterling Avenue and Sumner Road, S.E., a short distance from Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue.
The Peace Walk and the parade, which is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. at the same location, will each travel along Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue a little over a half mile to Marion Barry Avenue near the 11th Street Bridge where they will end.
Japer Bowles, director of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, said he and members of his staff would be marching in the parade as part of the mayor’s parade contingent. In past years, LGBTQ community members have also joined the mayor’s parade contingent.
Stuart Anderson, one of the MLK Day parade organizers, said he was not aware of any specific LGBTQ organizations that had signed up as a parade contingent for this year’s parade. LGBTQ group contingents have joined the parade in past years.
Denise Rolark Barnes, one of the lead D.C. MLK Day event organizers, said LGBTQ participants often join parade contingents associated with other organizations.
Barnes said a Health and Wellness Fair was scheduled to take place on the day of the parade along the parade route in a PNC Bank parking lot at 2031 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave., S.E.
A statement on the D.C. MLK Day website describes the parade’s history and impact on the community.
“Established to honor the life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the parade united residents of Ward 8, the District, and the entire region in the national movement to make Dr. King’s birthday a federal holiday,” the statement says. “Today, the parade not only celebrates its historic roots but also promotes peace and non-violence, spotlights organizations that serve the community, and showcases the talent and pride of school-aged children performing for family, friends, and community members.”
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