After more than 16 years of providing free HIV and STD screenings, prevention services, community resources, and a safe and affirming space for young Black gay men, PowerHouse Charlotte will be closing as federal HIV prevention funding shifts away from directly funding community-based organizations. A program of Quality Comprehensive Health Center (QCHC) previously supported through funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it will cease operation at the end of September.
The closure follows a national change in how federal HIV prevention resources are distributed. Rather than continuing the funding mechanism that directly supported community-based organizations conducting HIV prevention work, CDC funding is now being routed through state and local health departments.
For PowerHouse, the consequences of that national policy decision are immediate and run deeply local. As a result of the funding loss, Charlotte will lose a trusted community institution, an important source of HIV and STD testing capacity and a safe space that a multitude of young Black gay men have called their own.
PowerHouse Charlotte was established with a particular focus on reaching young Black gay men and communities disproportionately impacted by HIV. Clients had access to free rapid HIV and STD screenings, prevention education, referrals and connections to healthcare and supportive services.
Over the years, the organization offered much more: computer access to search for employment, community resources, showering facilities, counseling and an environment where they could relax and feel safe.
Until closing, PowerHouse will operate through Quality Comprehensive Health Center at 1401 Beatties Ford Road in Charlotte’s Historic West End, an area in zip code 28216, identified by Mecklenburg County Public Health as one of its priority zip codes for initiatives aimed at improving health outcomes in historically under-resourced communities.
“Location matters,” says Dr. Ra’Shawn D. Flournoy, CEO of Quality Comprehensive Health Center. “PowerHouse is rooted in Charlotte’s Historic West End, in a zip code where access to healthcare and other resources can be limited for some of the very people we serve. We believe people should not have to leave their community or navigate complicated systems just to receive basic prevention services.
“When you place services inside communities that have historically experienced barriers to care, you are saying to those residents: ‘You should not have to leave your community to find help,’” Flournoy continues. “That has always been part of what PowerHouse represented.”
For QCHC, the ability to offer rapid response testing and care represented what community-based HIV prevention can accomplish when testing, medical care, case management and pharmacy services are connected.
“We didn’t want to give someone a diagnosis and a phone number,” Flournoy offers. “We wanted to give them a pathway forward. When somebody learns they are living with HIV, those next few hours matter. They need to know that HIV is treatable, that they can live a full life, and most importantly, that they are not going through this alone. Our goal was to make sure that when we identified someone newly living with HIV, there was no gap between knowing their status and knowing where their care would come from.”
A national funding decision with local consequences
The PowerHouse closure comes amid a significant change in the federal government’s approach to funding community-based HIV prevention. Rather than continuing a funding mechanism that directly supported community organizations conducting HIV prevention work, federal resources are being redirected through state and local health departments. For Quality Comprehensive Health Center and PowerHouse, the issue extends far beyond the loss of a grant.
“People will hear ‘federal funding change’ or ‘grant ended,’ but those words do not tell the whole story,” Flournoy explains. “The real story is what happens here in Charlotte when those dollars disappear. A door closes. Testing capacity is reduced. Staff positions are affected. And a community loses a place it has trusted for more than 16 years.”
The mission does not end here
Although PowerHouse will close, Quality Comprehensive Health Center remains committed to serving Charlotte and continuing the fight against HIV, sexually transmitted infections, health disparities and barriers to care.
But QCHC believes the closure of PowerHouse should serve as a call to action.
The organization is calling upon healthcare systems, corporations, philanthropic organizations, foundations, elected officials, government partners and community leaders to consider investing in the next chapter of this work, including opportunities to support QCHC’s mobile clinic — an ambulance purchased and converted for neighborhood outreach — and to preserve the community-centered services that made PowerHouse successful.
“We already have the vehicle. We already have the experience. We already have the community relationships. And unfortunately, the need has not disappeared,” Flournoy said. “What we need now are partners who believe that accessible HIV prevention and community healthcare are worth sustaining.
“Maybe the next chapter doesn’t look exactly like the last 16 years,” Flournoy says. “Maybe PowerHouse doesn’t have to be defined only by four walls. With the right partners, we can take that same spirit — the testing, the education, the trust, the safety, and the commitment to meeting people where they are — and bring it directly into communities across Charlotte.
“Sixteen years of impact deserves more than a goodbye. It deserves a next chapter.”
For additional information about Quality Comprehensive Health Center, visit www.qchealth.org or call 704-394-8968.
This story is brought to you by Rosedale Health and Wellness and Dudley’s Place.
