Rainbow Health, which has been providing healthcare services to the Twin Cities LGBTQ community for just over 40 years, announced its closure to employees on Thursday, according to union members.

Employees were informed of the closure at a staff meeting that was announced in the morning and took place at 12:15 p.m.

“We had no idea this was coming,” said Michele Peterson, a benefits counselor for Rainbow Health who is also a union leader with Rainbow Health Workers Union, represented by SEIU Healthcare Minnesota & Iowa.

Peterson said that members of the board of directors at the meeting cited funding issues as a reason for the closure, and indicated that all locations would be closing down, including a behavior clinic that in St. Paul that opened in 2018.

Rainbow Health leadership did not respond to phone calls and emails Friday asking for a statement. Currently, the number for Rainbow’s primary office redirects to a recorded message that announces their closure, which also cites funding issues. Rainbow Health’s website (rainbowhealth.org) has also been updated to announce the closure.

Peterson said the union is currently discussing possible legal avenues, particularly because the union’s contract requires 30 days advance notice of layoff.

The Rainbow Health Workers Coordinating Committee released a statement expressing shock at the sudden closure and asking for information including about the status of funding the organization was receiving.

“How do you justify the lack of notice while knowing the harm this will cause to our highly marginalized clients that depend on our professional support?” the statement said. “As we demand answers to these questions from the organization’s Board of Directors, we are united and will keep fighting for our rights as workers and to find ways to ensure continuity of client care for the community members we serve.”

No-confidence vote

Peterson, who had just celebrated her fifth year working for Rainbow Health in June, said many of her clients were left in the dark by the sudden closure. Some of those people had been clients of Rainbow Health and its predecessor the Minnesota AIDS Project for over 30 years.

First started by volunteers in 1980, the Minnesota AIDS Project focused on providing a support network and information for gay and bisexual men in the midst of the AIDS epidemic. It eventually grew to include a formalized referral network in the early 2000s and merged with Rainbow Health Initiative in 2018, briefly becoming named JustUs Health before being renamed again to Rainbow Health in 2021.

Peterson said communication had been a frequent problem in recent years. Just days before the announcement of the nonprofits’ closure, CEO Jeremy Hanson Willis resigned following a unanimous vote of no confidence, according to the union statement. The lack of communication was cited as a major reason for the no confidence vote, Peterson said.

“We were never invited to discussions,” Peterson said. “This was the first time we had even seen the board.”

Peterson said that workers, some 60 of whom are represented by the union, had been vaguely aware the organization had been having funding issues, something they had been demanding more clarity about.

She said Thursday was their last paid day and many workers were volunteering their time with no guarantee of pay to help close up Rainbow and transition clients.

“This is going to leave a big hole,” Peterson said, adding that many of her clients would be without health services until other organizations could absorb them.

She encouraged clients to look into other organizations that might be able to supply information they need, such as the Aliveness Project.

“There’s just nothing more I can do to help.”

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The beginning of the Twins’ season was unlike any other. Good play followed poor play and the cycle kept repeating itself, the highlight being a 12-game winning streak and the low light a seven-game losing streak.

“I couldn’t take any more of that streaky stuff,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “It was more than a little bit. It was excessive.”

It sure was.

But the Twins eventually settled in, found some offensive consistency and started rattling off series wins. They finished the first half of the season with a 54-42 record, on pace to win 91 games and in line for a playoff berth.

Here are five questions facing the Twins as the second half of the season gets underway:

Will the Twins make a move at the trade deadline?

The trade deadline is fast approaching — it will fall on July 30 at 5 p.m. CT this year — and the Twins currently are in position to be buyers. Holding a Wild Card spot at the moment, the big question will be how much the Twins want to push to supplement this roster.

After a slow start, the offense has been among the best in the majors. It seems as if contending teams could always use bullpen help at the deadline, but the Twins’ group could be getting major reinforcements soon in the form of injured relievers Brock Stewart and Justin Topa.

But the status of the starting rotation is more of a question.

The Twins have Pablo López, Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober, Simeon Woods Richardson and Chris Paddack currently in the rotation. But their starting pitching depth is thin. And the Twins will need to continue carefully monitoring Paddack’s workload in his first full season since 2019.

Would they swing a trade for a starting pitcher? And how much would they have to part with to do so? They have a little over a week to figure that out.

How healthy will the Twins be?

The Twins limped into the all-star break, forced to play a catcher, Christian Vázquez, at third base last Saturday due to a string of injuries to their infielders.

After staying mostly healthy for much of the first half of the season, both Kyle Farmer (shoulder) and Jose Miranda (back) landed on the injured list and Carlos Correa (more on him below) was sidelined with a foot injury.

Austin Martin was already on the injured list at the time, though his return could be quite soon. Fellow infielder Royce Lewis, whom the Twins said early in July they would re-evaluate after the all-star break, was too. Lewis is dealing with an adductor strain that the Twins expected would keep him out for a few weeks.

Stewart appears to be near a return — which could provide a big boost to the bullpen —rehabbing with the Triple-A Saints last week after missing two months with shoulder tendinitis, and Topa (knee) could be moving toward making his season debut.

The Twins haven’t said much publicly about Alex Kirilloff’s status since he landed on the IL a little more than a month ago, though it’s hard to see how he fits into the picture at the current moment when he is healthy.

How big of a problem will Carlos Correa’s foot be?

Carlos Correa was scratched from the lineup on Saturday and imaging revealed plantar fasciitis in his right foot. The all-star break came at a good time for him, and if he does take the field on Saturday, he would have had seven days to rest.

But how serious is the injury?

The early word is that it is less serious than the plantar fasciitis he had in his left foot last season, but it still has to be a concern considering how much he was limited by his foot a season ago.

Correa said last Sunday if he could have done things differently last year, he would have taken more time off when the issue started to make sure that the pain doesn’t worsen.

But how much time is enough time? And how much will plantar fasciitis affect and limit Correa, who has been the Twins’ team MVP to this point?

What will the Twins do with Brooks Lee when Royce Lewis returns?

It’s a good problem to have, certainly, but what will the Twins do with their No. 2 prospect when Lewis makes his return?

Lee was called up from Triple-A when Lewis landed on the injured list, and his performance in a small sample size has impressed those around him.

Though he’s primarily played third base since he got called up, and was drafted as a shortstop, he had an very notable day in the field last weekend at second base, making multiple nice plays, which drew praise from manager Rocco Baldelli.

If Lee continues to perform, the Twins could opt to shift him over to second, letting him play a little bit of third and possibly even short, as well. That could free up super utilityman Willi Castro to move around the field as needed.

Can the Twins catch Cleveland?

The Twins hit the all-star break 4½ games behind the division-leading Cleveland Guardians in the American League Central division and they will spend the second half of the season trying to track them down.

Despite the ground to make up, FanGraphs gave them a 38.1 percent chance to win the division (behind Cleveland’s 53.3 percent).

The Twins will play seven games in the second half against the Guardians — they went 0-5 against them in the first half — and will have an opportunity to gain some games on Cleveland then.

If they are unable to catch the Guardians, they are still well positioned to make the playoffs currently. As it sat at the break, they held the second Wild Card spot — matching them up for a series in New York against a historically-dreaded playoff foe: the Yankees.

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