On Jan. 24, the Center on Halsted (the Center) laid off seven employees in five departments without severance pay. The Center also informed the employees that their health care coverage would end Jan. 31 and provided only vague language in their separation letter about future COBRA healthcare benefits.
CEO Joli Robinson, attributed the Center’s layoffs to “increased costs, reduced funding and an uncertain future under the current administration.”
These layoffs affect five departments—two in Development, two in Youth Programming and one each in Pride in Aging, HIV/AIDS and STI Services and People and Culture.
Three of the employees who were laid off—Pride in Aging Manager Todd Williams, Director of HIV Testing, Prevention Erica Gafford and Events and Volunteers Manager Joey McDonald—each told Windy City Times that they were brought into CEO Joli Robinson’s office separately on Jan. 24 and informed them that their positions had been eliminated effective immediately.
The employees were each given the option to pack their things up themselves then or or have the Center’s operations would do it for them. Additionally, they were locked out of their work email accounts so they were unable to get access to their contacts.
The layoffs were the result of financial pressures, according to a statement provided by the Center’s Marketing and Communications Manager Mason Miner.
In that statement, CEO Joli Robinson said, “We have had to make the tough decision to reduce the size of our staff. This decision was not made lightly and comes after careful consideration of a variety of options. We deeply value the contributions of every team member. These changes reflect the financial realities we face and our responsibility to steward resources in a way that preserves our long-term work and impact. I value the tremendous contributions the affected employees made to our organization and am appreciative of all the ways they’ve served our community, our team, and helped further our mission.’”
She added, “I understand that people are upset with the very tough decision we had to make as an organization. … [We] tried our best to ensure that the impact to our program clients and participants would be minimal. We had been working diligently for several months to review our budget, revenue and expenses, and take into account the options we had before us to ensure both financial and programmatic stability. We continue exploring options that allow us to provide critical services and programs to our community across Chicagoland. We are faced with the stark reality of increased costs, reduced funding and an uncertain future under the current administration.”
Williams said there had been financial issues ever since former CEO Modesto Tico Valle left, but “never to this extent, and never without staff being involved with the conversation. I knew that we had some negative cash flow. However, in one of the last couple of all-staff meetings, we were told that, ‘We are in a good place financially.’”
McDonald said, “I feel disrespected. I have been invested since the day I was hired, always willing to go the extra step, taking on the projects presented to the best of my ability. To be let go without an umbrella is simply bullshit. If all of that thought went into letting us go, then just a bit more thought could have figured out a way to do it humanely.”
Gafford said, “This action illustrates that the Center’s mission statement does not apply to staff.”
When Windy City Times asked Robinson about the abrupt nature of these layoffs, and why none of these employees were given severance pay and only minimal COBRA benefits, she said, “The decision was not made in haste. As we continuously analyzed our budget and conducted a re-forecast of our revenue and expenses, we were left with having to make this difficult decision. We are covering one month of medical, dental and vision benefits through COBRA for impacted employees, and we ensured 100% payout of paid time off.”
In a response to this publication’s queries about the terms of their layoffs which included no severance and only one month of COBRA benefits, McDonald said, “We have heard a lot of talk about transparency, and yet there has been none. If things were so dire, why hadn’t this issue led every staff meeting for the past several months? Why did we continue to do events that cost us money and brought none in?”
Williams added that “What happened to being human and understanding that we all need to survive? … One of the frustrating pieces about this is that we were laid off on the 24th and health insurance ends the last day of January. I am on several meds and would have liked to have seen my primary care physician. I could have with advanced notice.”
As for why Robinson and other higher paid staffers didn’t take a pay cut to keep these people employed, she said in that same statement to Windy City Times that “a variety of options were reviewed. When we aren’t seeing the same levels of giving, we have to continue to make even tougher decisions. For me specifically, I’ve already been operating in dual and often multiple roles and functions since joining the organization in January 2024, to mitigate staffing and personnel expenses and overall impact to our budget. We have been delaying some of our organizational needs like software system upgrades until we are able to find the necessary funding, and we are continuously keeping an eye on senior level positions to ensure we aren’t top-heavy in position and in pay.”
Williams said, “If these conversations about budget constraints were discussed for ‘several months’ then they should have planned severance for a very involved staff that worked tirelessly for the organization for the patrons. It just exemplifies the lack of care companies and organization have for staff. The organization professes transparency, well-being, work-life balance and taking care of oneself. How are you supposed to do that in situations like this when you are cut off instantly from your own cash flow? Some people will be put in financial jeopardy.”
He added, “I definitely do not feel appreciated other than by seniors, my director and the volunteers I worked with all eight years. I will miss them. I felt love from them and I will treasure the time I had with them.”
Gafford maintained that the Center is “more top-heavy than it has ever been.”
“There have been expensive consultants on the payroll for a while,” she explained. “The current leadership didn’t necessarily hire them but has done nothing to terminate those contracts—even after staffing the departments the consultants had been filling in for. Additionally, programs really needed program staff and not Senior Directors.”
An original Center on Halsted donor whose name is on the glass wall at the entrance, Terence Pfaff shared his email to Robinson in response to these layoffs. He also posted a notification of his intentions about this on his Facebook page, where he wrote, “I can no longer support an organization that treats its members in this way. I will no longer be volunteering my time at [Center on Addison] every month for free Reiki treatments. I would also request that you remove the names of myself and my husband from the glass wall in the entryway of the [Center on Halsted]. We no longer wish to be associated with the organization.”
As news about the layoffs became public, other community members expressed their displeasure. Greg Storm, a former employee of the Center, wrote that he was “disgusted” by the layoffs and the Center’s handling of the matter.
“Our community deserves an honest and transparent response,” Storm added. “Those impacted by this decision deserve a severance package. And current [Center on Halsted] staff need to unionize. We as a community should withhold financial and volunteer support until this matter is appropriately and adequately addressed.”
UPDATE: The Center’s Board Chair and Bravo Hospitality Group CEO and Co-Founder Victor Ravago sent an email statement on Feb. 25 where he spoke of the recent layoffs: “Like many organizations in Chicagoland and across our country, Center on Halsted is facing financial challenges in light of the national political environment. We’ve seen corporate support pull back and we’ve seen grant resources disappear. When the Center on Halsted Board of Directors hired Joli to lead the organization a little over a year ago, we knew we needed a leader to ensure we were prepared to meet the evolving needs and challenges facing the LGBTQ+ community, but the recent challenges are unlike anything we expected.
“The Center on Halsted board takes seriously our responsibility to be stewards of the organization’s resources to ensure we’re serving our community. We’ve worked closely with Joli in monitoring our financial position and ensuring we can safeguard critical programs and services. As tough as these decisions were to make, we trust that Joli has been thoughtful and has prioritized long-term sustainability to meet the needs of our community. The board is closely monitoring our financial position and is working to support the staff with development efforts to ensure we can continue to provide essential services and programming for our community.”