San Francisco LGBT Center asking city for $1M bailout

Update: San Francisco LGBT Center has tweeted to Equalitopia, posting a link to this PDF which states that the loan was for $157,500. Following this, the Executive Director and the two Co-Chairs of the Center issued a statement to the contrary, exclaiming they did not ask for a $1 million dollar bailout for the Center and are not in foreclosure. The letter states that the Center isn’t seeking bailout at all, but rather requesting a loan in the sum of $157,000, a great deal less than the $1 million figure reported.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that San Francisco’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center is asking the city for big financial help to stay afloat.

Since opening in 2002, the $12.3 million, city-subsidized center has struggled to pay its mortgage and is now on the verge of foreclosure.

Officials are now asking the city for a $1 million line of credit.

The LGBT Center’s staff of 24 provides counseling, job training, HIV prevention and other programs. Center officials had expected to rely on income from community room rentals and donations, but both have dropped off in the recession.

Supervisor Bevan Dufty says it’s a tough time for cash-strapped San Francisco but says keeping the center alive would be a “tremendous benefit” for the city.

(Full story: San Francisco Chronicle / Photo ’Gregoreeeeezy’ on DeviantART)