At the Persad Center’s 50 Years of Celebration and Community Gala, the room felt equal parts reunion and recommitment. As a proud event sponsor, JHF joined partners, advocates, and friends to honor Persad Center’s five decades of LGBTQ-affirming mental health services and LGBTQ-affirming drug and alcohol treatment.
Dr. Feinstein was featured in two short films Persad produced to mark the milestone—Persad: The Past and Persad: The Future—and also joined the celebration in person.
Her reflections, including personal memories of Persad’s late co-founder Randy Forrester, were especially meaningful to those who have built and sustained this work across generations.
Founded in 1972 as the nation’s second licensed LGBTQ+ counseling center, Persad has been a national leader in culturally competent mental health care. Today, Persad offers a wide continuum, including individual and group therapy, psychiatric care, and peer support.
“Persad’s relationship with the Jewish Healthcare Foundation is long and deeply meaningful. Having Karen Feinstein at our gala to share her personal memories of our co-founder Randy Forrester gave everyone a powerful reminder of the courage and vision that he and Dr. Jim Huggins had when they founded Persad in 1972,” said Marty Healy, CEO, Persad Center. “The event was a beautiful opportunity to honor that legacy, celebrate the incredible work our team continues to do, and express our heartfelt gratitude for JHF’s continued partnership.”
Recent innovations include Phoenix Fitness, Pennsylvania’s first nonprofit trans gym, which recently celebrated its first year in operation and provides a welcoming space for health, strength, and connection.
JHF has been honored to partner with Persad for more than two decades through its HIV/AIDS program, supporting access to culturally competent mental health services that help people living with and affected by HIV to thrive. This long‑standing relationship extends to systems‑level initiatives like AIDS Free Pittsburgh, where Persad’s expertise in community‑based care complements the initiative’s goals to prevent new infections and support long‑term survivors.
The gala underscored what makes Persad singular: an ability to evolve with the community while modeling a sustainable way forward for nonprofit behavioral health.
“I think that Persad is needed now as much as when it was founded,” Dr. Feinstein said. “I think Randy would say the same. Persad is a tent and lots of people are welcome.”