The Colours Organization was created in 1991 to fill a void in services for LGBT people of color and, 20 years later, provides needed resources to 5,000 clients annually.
Colours will celebrate its 20th anniversary from 5:30-8 p.m. Oct. 21 at the Mayor’s Conversation Room in City Hall.
Colours’ current programs include comprehensive HIV and STD counseling and testing, prevention initiatives, health education and support and social groups for LGBT people of color.
When the organization launched, the HIV/AIDS epidemic looked vastly different than it does today. Colours has had to grapple with rising HIV rates among people of color in the past two decades, said executive director Robert Burns.
“The most significant change Colours has seen has been the HIV disease burden for African-American men who have sex with men,” Burns said. “Despite availability of life-saving drugs that are now available, the disease burden continues to increase, and the resources decrease.”
Colours has worked to meet that challenge, Burns said, and to “maintain a constant presence in the African-American community and ensure our greater connection to the African-American and LGBT [communities] abroad.”
The agency, which currently has four staffers, has 150 volunteers, a number that has grown over the past two decades, Burns said, noting their efforts are integral to the organization’s myriad off-site activities.
Burns took over as executive director in 2010 and said he and the other Colours leaders have invested the past year in elevating the organization’s visibility and accountability to its constituent communities.
“Much of the work during my tenure as executive director has been about rebuilding bridges, closing old business and bringing the agency back into a good standing with the community,” Burns said. “Our board, which consists of six strongly committed members to the work of Colours, has been tremendously helpful at rebuilding the integrity of the organization.”
While the organization’s mission hasn’t changed, all facets of the agency will be reexamined when it embarks on developing a new three- to five-year strategic plan.
For more information, call 215-496-0330 or email [email protected].