$2.5 million gift will buy building for LGBTQ+ coalition

Eugene’s LGBTQ+ community center is moving to a new home, thanks to a $2.5 million donation from a local resident.

The Lavender Network — a coalition of five nonprofit groups serving queer and trans people in Eugene and Lane County — opened in fall 2024 inside the Maxwell Community Hub at 440 Maxwell Road, using grant funding to rent the shared space. Through its partners, the network offers services like free food, clothing and health care. 

One of those partners, HIV Alliance, recently received the largest donation in its history from community member Helen Shepard.

The group will use the money to buy a new building for the Lavender Network at 1590 Willamette St. The building formerly housed Eugene Ballet before the company moved to Midtown Arts Center in 2021. 

Shepard was the owner of queer bar Spectrum, which closed in 2024, and they serve as secretary of Eugene Pride.

Lavender Network Manager Laura Henry said the purchase secures the network’s long term future and expands its ability to serve people across the region. The Lavender Network is the only LGBTQ+ resource center in Eugene, according to its website. 

“The way that owning a space feels is entirely different and a lot more exciting,” Henry said. “It feels like something that you can plan to be real for a long time.”

Henry said Shepard initially offered Spectrum’s former building on W. Broadway early in 2024, but the space didn’t fit the center’s needs. Staff then embarked on a monthslong search for an affordable property.

Shepard’s donation ultimately covered the Willamette Street purchase plus about $200,000 in renovations, Henry said. The nonprofit received the keys last week.

“It is important to me that the transgender and queer community in the Eugene area have a dedicated space that is owned and operated for the community, by the community,” Shepard said in a press release.

In addition to HIV Alliance, the Lavender Network includes transgender resource organization TransPonder; Queer Eugene, which facilitates local events; Eugene Pride, which runs the annual pride festival; and the Authentic Movement Project, an inclusivity-focused dance group.

TransPonder and HIV Alliance first partnered to form the Queer Resource Center in 2021, and demand for services exceeded the size of the space.

In 2023, the HIV Alliance received a $470,000 grant from Trillium Community Health Plan to expand and renamed the resource center the Lavender Network after a ’90s-era Eugene queer newspaper.

Henry said HIV Alliance received the $2.5 million donation on behalf of the Lavender Network because of the agency’s long term stability and experience owning and managing its own office on City View Street, as well as its history as a recipient of the Trillium grant funding. 

The Lavender Network’s new space on Willamette Street marks the beginning of another chapter for the partner organizations. TransPonder and Queer Eugene will continue to operate Sylvia’s Closet — free gender-affirming products and clothing — in the building. 

Eugene Pride will also have office space at the Willamette Street site. TransPonder will split its programming between the Maxwell Hub and the new building.

For HIV Alliance, the new space will host medical services including assistance with PrEP, a medication that reduces chances of getting HIV, hormone replacement syringe exchange, primary care and behavioral health.

Providers from the nonprofit’s City View Street clinic will staff the facility a few days a week, though Henry said the building could house unaffiliated LGBTQ+ health providers in the future. She added that medical care can be inconsistent for LGBTQ+ people, who may risk being misgendered or encounter assumptions about their identities at the doctor.

“You get enough word of mouth together and you hear, ‘Oh, hey, I heard this provider at this space has affirmed my gender, and they’re cool, so I’m going to tell my friends who are looking for a doctor that that’s a safe person to go to,'” Henry said.

Before opening in late 2025, the building will undergo cosmetic upgrades and possibly an HVAC replacement, Henry said. Shepard’s donation covers those improvements, but the Lavender Network will continue fundraising to support staffing and long-term operations.

Henry added that she hopes the location of the building will help alleviate transportation barriers some patrons have faced at the Maxwell site, which has limited bus access. 

She also envisions the new building serving as a “central point” for the LGBTQ+ community, where people can make friends, seek care and get the information they need to feel safe. 

“Having these services in a space that is essentially branded as specifically for LGBTQ populations can be a source of comfort for a lot of people,” Henry said.