Table of Contents
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Archives and Special Collections Finding Aids
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| Collection |
| Title: | Fenway Community Health Center records |
| Dates: | n.d., 1972-2007 |
| Call Number: | M172 |
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Historical Note
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The Fenway Community Health Center was founded in 1971 by David Scondras, Linda Beane, and several nursing students from Northeastern University to fill a gap in local, free community health care for the elderly and gay community. Fenway's mission was described in its first slogan: ?We believe health care is a right, not a privilege.? In its early years, the Center operated out of space rented from the Christian Science Church. After clashes with the Church over the Center's medical policy and its interest in serving the lesbian and gay community of the Fenway, the Center moved into its own offices in 1973, renting rooms at 16 Haviland Street.
The Center originally operated on a part-time basis with individual health groups using the space at different times. The Elder Health Collective, the Gay Health Collective, and the Women's Health Collective worked separately to serve the local elder, gay, and lesbian populations of the Fenway. Original services included testing for sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancies, basic obstetric and gynecological services, and mental health counseling; pediatrics, podiatry, and primary care, were added as local need dictated. To provide more coverage for the services offered, volunteers were trained by professional staff members.
Because the medical services were free, the Center struggled with staffing and financial issues through the 1970s. The largely volunteer board of directors and staff worked to resolve the contradictions in wanting to offer the best free care to locals and LGBT residents while needing to keep the Center solvent and appropriately compensate staff for their time and skills. There were intense debates among board members about the imposition of the Center's first fees in the mid-1970s; the decision was eventually made to request, if the patient could afford the cost, a fee of 50 cents per visit.
In 1980, the board hired the Center's first executive director, Sally Deane, who immediately faced financial and staffing problems, including owing back taxes and fines to the IRS. Deane worked with the board to grant herself more independence and oversight of the Center's financial activity, to improve the Center's billing system, and to work with insurance providers to provide better coverage policies. She also oversaw the hiring of medical director Natalie Mariano and mental health practitioner Rhonda Linde to expand and professionalize medical and mental health services.
At the same time, the Center was seeing its first patients with HIV / AIDS-related infections. Medical staff was starting to realize the seriousness of the disease and position themselves to research the HIV / AIDS disease and its secondary ailments, and to assist patients with medical and psychological care. In 1981, the Center was responsible for making the first official diagnosis of AIDS in New England. Ken Mayer, a long-time volunteer and later Research Director, worked on the first research project related to HIV infection in 1983, studying T-helper cell populations in people with AIDS.
In 1982, Rhonda Linde worked with colleague Jim Fishman to organize AIDS Forums to discuss the medical and psychological issues surrounding AIDS and HIV infection. Attendees from the Forums began to meet regularly to continue the discussions, and in early 1983 this group became the AIDS Action Committee. Due to concerns over the Center's long-term financial stability and the Committee's desire to focus more closely on AIDS-related issues, the Committee split off from the Center and became an independent entity in 1986. .
In 1982, the Center developed the Alternative Insemination Program for single women and lesbians. The program operated under a veil of secrecy due to fears that the Center might be physically or verbally attacked by those opposed to the idea of gay couples having children. It thrived largely via word of mouth.
The Center continued its work on HIV and AIDS-related projects, partnering with other community organizations working on the same issues, sponsoring clinical drug trials, and providing data to national medical organizations. In 1986, the Center also actively collected data on anti-LGBT violence in Boston, eventually codifying this work as the Victim Recovery Program which worked with the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs to submit data to the national report and publish its own annual statistics on Boston-area hate crime. In the 1990s, the Program changed its name to the Violence Recovery Program.
In 1987, the Center accepted a donation from real estate developer Harold Brown for the construction of a new building on the 7 Haviland Street lot, across from the Center's original, now out-dated, building. In 1991, the Center moved into the new building.
During the 1990s, the Center worked to expand and publicize the Alternative Insemination Program as lesbian and gay parenting became more widely accepted. The Center began to present its research regularly at national and international HIV and AIDS conferences, keeping its place at the forefront of research into the disease. The Center also strengthened its alliances with local hospitals, including the Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital.
The Center increased fundraising efforts, throwing its first major fundraiser, the Women's Dinner Party, in 1992. The aim of the fundraiser was to publicize the work of the Center and acknowledge staff and community members who had been of particular assistance. The Color Me Healthy program began the same year with the aim of providing HIV education to Boston men of color. In 1995, riders from Boston and the Center joined in the first Boston to New York AIDSRide, one of the most successful AIDS fundraisers in the country.
In 2001, the Center launched The Fenway Institute, a center for research and support in building skilled, LGBT-friendly health care on a national level. In 2006, the Center broke ground on a new building in the West Fens, near Fenway Park, and in 2009 moved to the building at 1340 Boylston Street. The same year, the Center changed its name to Fenway Health. |
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| Chronology |
| 1971 | Center founded by David Scondras, Linda Beane, and Northeastern University students. |
| 1973 | Moves to 16 Haviland Street; Board of Directors imposes first fee. |
| 1980 | Hires first Executive Director, Sally Deane. |
| 1981 | Makes first official diagnosis of AIDS in New England. |
| 1982 | Begins its Alternative Insemination program. |
| 1983 | Begins its first HIV study. |
| 1986 | Founds Victim Recovery Program, later renamed the Violence Recovery Program. |
| 1987 | Accepts donation of new building from developer Harold Brown. |
| 1991 | Moves to new building at 7 Haviland Street. |
| 1992 | Holds first Women's Dinner Party fundraiser; Color Me Healthy program begins. |
| 1995 | First Boston to New York AIDSRide. |
| 2001 | Launches The Fenway Institute. |
| 2009 | Moves to new building at 1340 Boylston Street; changes name to Fenway Health. |
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| Bibliography |
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M172, Box 1, Folders 8-11, "Board of Directors."
M172, Box 2, Folder 13, "History and Fact Sheets."
M172, Box 5, Folder 7-39, "Publications."
M172, Box 7, Folder 40, "The Fenway Institute."
Fenway Health Website, http://www.fenwayhealth.org/site/PageServer (accessed April 2010).
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