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Non-profit

The Spahr Center

Website:

www.thespahrcenter.org
Location:

Corte Madera, CA
Tax ID:

68-0072470
Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)

Budget (2020):

Revenue: $1,071,713
Expenses: $1,104,318
Assets: $651,085
Founded:

2015
Executive Director:

Adrian Shanker
Type:

HIV/AIDS support services

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The Spahr Center provides support programs and services to LGBT youth, LGBT seniors, and their families and to individuals affected by HIV/AIDS in Marin County, California. 1  According to its 2020 tax return, it is “Marin County’s only non-profit community agency devoted to serving, supporting, and empowering the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community and everyone in the county living with and affected by HIV.” 2

The center was formed by the merger of the Spectrum LGBT Center and Marin AIDS Project in 2015. 3

Programs include LGBT support groups as well as counseling, medical, and financial support to those living with HIV/AIDS. 4

Background

The Spahr Center was created in 2015 to provide services and support to the LGBTQ community and to individuals affected by HIV/AIDS in Marin County, California. It was the result of the merger of the Spectrum LGBT Center (Spectrum) and the Marin AIDS Project (MAP), which was concluded to streamline costs and processes. Spectrum programs focused on LGBT youth and senior support groups. MAP focused on providing support services to individuals with HIV/AIDS. It was originally housed at MAP’s location in San Rafael, California, then moved to Corte Madera, California. The Spahr Center was named after Janie Spahr, who founded Spectrum in 1982 and MAP in 1984. 1

Programs

The Spahr Center offers targeted support groups and social events for LGBT youth and for LGBT seniors. Support groups are available to parents and to grandparents of LGBT youth. 4

The center works with Marin County schools to educate teachers and administrators on working with and supporting LGBT students. 5

The Spahr Center continues the work of the Marin AIDS Project which was founded in the 1980s in response to the HIV epidemic in Marin County and provides HIV testing, a county-wide needle exchange program, benefits counseling, home health care, medical case management, emergency financial assistance, and a food pantry. 1

Financial assistance includes financial support for utility payments, rent, health insurance premiums and copayments, prescriptions, and medical transportation. 4

The center has become a major distributor of naloxone, which is used to reverse an opioid overdose. It also provides information about HIV PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) and PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis). 5

Financials and Donors

The Spahr Center’s 2020 tax returns reported $1,071,713 total revenue and $1,104,318 total expenses. Employee compensation made up $729,298 of expenses. 2

The group’s 2020 donors included Horizons Foundation, “the world’s first community foundation of, by, and for LGBTQ people”; 6 United Way of the Bay Area, a local chapter of United Way Worldwide; the County of Marin; and community-focused foundations San Francisco Foundation and Marin Community Foundation. 7

Leadership

Janie Spahr was the original founder of the Spectrum LGBT Center and Marin AIDS Project that merged into The Spahr Center. Spahr was an assistant pastor of First Presbyterian Church in San Rafael from 1975 to 1979, then executive director of the Oakland Council of Presbyterian Churches before founding Spectrum and MAP. 8

Jennifer Malone became the executive director of the Spahr Center when Spectrum and MAP merged in 2015. 9 Previously she was executive director of MAP from 2004 to 2015. 10

Dana Van Gorder became executive director in 2019. 1 From 2007 to 2018 Van Gorder was executive director of Project Inform, a research, patient education, and public policy advocacy organization for HIV/AIDS in California. 11 He served as a legislative aide to California state Sen. Carole Migden (D) and San Francisco Supervisor Harry Britt (D), was a state lobbyist for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, and founded San Francisco’s LGBT Community Center. 1 Van Gorder retired in February 2022. 12

In April 2022 Adrian Shanker became executive director of The Spahr Center. 5 He is on the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS in the Biden administration and previously founded and managed the Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center in Allentown Pennsylvania. 13 While executive director of the Community Center in Allentown, he sued the Trump administration multiple times due to its alleged anti-LGBTQ policies. 14

References

  1. Richard Halstead. “Activists: Marin should do more to support LGBTQ+ community.” Marin Independent Journal. June 22, 2019. Accessed June 14, 2022. https://www.marinij.com/2019/06/22/activists-say-marin-should-do-more-to-support-lgbtq-community/
  2. The Spahr Center. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990). 2020.
  3. Josh Manuel. “Spectrum LGBT Center and Marin AIDS Project to Merge.” Spectrum LGBT Center. Accessed June 18, 2022. https://www.spectrumlgbtcenter.org/spectrum-lgbt-center-and-marin-aids-project-to-merge/
  4. “Programs and Services.” The Spahr Center. Accessed June 18, 2022. https://thespahrcenter.org/programs-services/
  5. Nikki Silverstein. “Marin County LGBTQ Center Names New Executive Director.” Pacific Sun. March 8, 2022. Accessed June 17, 2022. https://pacificsun.com/spahr-center-adrian-shanker/
  6. “Our Work.” Horizons Foundation. Accessed June 17, 2022. https://www.horizonsfoundation.org/our-work/
  7. ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer search – The Spahr Center. Bio – Adrian Shankerhttps://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/full_text_search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=the+spahr+center
  8. David Templeton. “Feature: Spahr Center rising.” Pacific Sun. June 1, 2016. Accessed June 13, 2022. https://pacificsun.com/feature-spahr-center-rising/
  9. Richard Halstead. “Marin’s LGBT groups merge.” Marin Independent Journal. February 6, 2015. Updated July 19, 2018. Accessed June 13, 2022. https://www.marinij.com/2015/02/06/marins-lgbt-groups-merge/
  10. Josh Manuel. “Spectrum LGBT Center and Marin AIDS Project to Merge.” Spectrum LGBT Center. January 8, 2020. Accessed June 13, 2022. https://www.spectrumlgbtcenter.org/spectrum-lgbt-center-and-marin-aids-project-to-merge/
  11. “Dana Van Gorder.” LinkedIn. Accessed June 17, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/dana-van-gorder-041932167/
  12. [1] Nikki Silverstein. “Marin County LGBTQ Center Names New Executive Director.” Pacific Sun. March 8, 2022. Accessed June 17, 2022. https://pacificsun.com/spahr-center-adrian-shanker/
  13. Adrian Shanker – Bio. Accessed June 17, 2022. https://adrianshanker.com/bio
  14. Michele Zipkin. “Adrian Shanker set for new role at California LGBTQ org.” Philadelphia Gay News. February 16, 2022. Accessed June 17, 2022. https://epgn.com/2022/02/16/adrian-shanker-set-for-new-role-at-california-lgbtq-org/
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Nonprofit Information

  • Accounting Period: June - May
  • Tax Exemption Received: December 1, 1985

    • Available Filings

    Period Form Type Total revenue Total functional expenses Total assets (EOY) Total liabilities (EOY) Unrelated business income? Total contributions Program service revenue Investment income Comp. of current officers, directors, etc. Form 990
    2020 Jun Form 990 $1,071,713 $1,104,318 $651,085 $154,176 N $1,068,652 $1,675 $141 $110,531 PDF
    2019 Jun Form 990 $905,208 $908,026 $561,809 $32,295 N $886,934 $0 $71 $60,677 PDF
    2018 Jun Form 990 $854,798 $991,877 $585,938 $53,606 N $823,300 $0 $153 $91,200 PDF
    2017 Jun Form 990 $897,657 $901,202 $714,726 $45,315 N $857,715 $0 $138 $91,200
    2016 Jun Form 990 $998,643 $842,566 $715,622 $42,666 N $971,506 $0 $166 $90,400
    2015 Jun Form 990 $0 $1,430 $0 $0 N $0 $0 $0 $0 PDF
    2014 Jun Form 990 $726,258 $795,019 $642,742 $34,694 N $703,194 $0 $3,899 $96,000 PDF
    2013 Jun Form 990 $814,127 $883,179 $708,300 $31,491 N $795,908 $0 $2,875 $96,000 PDF
    2012 Jun Form 990 $768,137 $848,684 $784,391 $38,530 N $755,740 $0 $5,815 $96,000 PDF
    2011 Jun Form 990 $733,990 $880,644 $869,271 $42,863 N $727,961 $0 $5,304 $96,000 PDF

    Additional Filings (PDFs)

    The Spahr Center


    Corte Madera, CA