CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Mecklenburg County Department of Health announced Tuesday it is moving its free weekly HIV and syphilis testing site to a new location. The move comes after several changes at its former testing site.
The county’s testing program had been held at the LGBT Community Center of Charlotte. It will be moving to the offices of the Regional AIDS Interfaith Network, 601 E. Fifth St. Testing will begin at RAIN’s offices next Wednesday, Sept. 17, 5-7 p.m. Testing will not be held at the LGBT center on Wednesday, Sept. 10.
The full statement from the health department below:
“The Mecklenburg County Health Department will temporarily suspend testing at the LGBT Community Center. This decision was made as a means of supporting the new LGBT board in their work to revitalize the Center and to locate a location that will better serve the community’s needs. We are honored to work with the Center over the last 10 years offering testing services to hundreds of community members. Our friends at RAIN have stepped up to assist as a temporary location until the new Center opens January of 2015. We wish the LGBT Community Center’s board the best of luck in their pursuits and hope to be one of the first programs to kick off things in the New Year. Testing at RAIN will begin Wednesday September 17th, located at 601 East 5th Street, from 5-7 pm. For more information on testing locations or accessing results from the LGBT Community Center testing please call Hannah Stutts at 704-432-5758.”
The county’s decision comes after the Charlotte LGBT center announced changes to its physical offices. The center has released its first-floor, multipurpose space to a local gym. The center still has access to a second floor with three meeting rooms. The center has also asked all its current programs to begin at 7:30 p.m. or later. The center will vacate their remaining space at the end of the year.
Read more about the center’s decision to drop its lease…
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