Rik Kutcher moved to Minnesota three decades ago from a part of the country he says provided almost no support for people living with HIV — a diagnosis that, at the time, felt like a death sentence while being shrouded with stigma.
Kutcher credits his longevity to the help he found in the Twin Cities from groups like Rainbow Health, a nonprofit agency in Minneapolis providing health and social services for LGBTQ clients. Rainbow Health abruptly shut down last week.
The agency connected Kutcher with everything from addiction treatment and housing assistance to temporary financial help, all critical to his long-term recovery.
He also found employment at Rainbow Health, which means Kutcher is among dozens of former workers who say they can’t understand what drove the financial meltdown at the nonprofit.
“That moment when they told us that there was nothing — and we were finished by the end of the day — was shocking,” Kutcher said.
Rainbow Health was created about six years ago in the merger of two nonprofits, including the Minnesota AIDS Project, which dates back to the early 1980s.
It wasn’t a clinic where patients would go to see their doctor, Kutcher said, but home to a variety of health and social service programs — everything from HIV testing and a preventive medicine pharmacy to financial assistance and case management. The nonprofit added behavioral and mental health services, as well, with some 20 practicing psychotherapists when Rainbow Health closed.
“We, as a community of folks affected by HIV, often are dealing with poverty, addiction, isolation,” Kutcher said. “It doesn’t affect everyone this way, but it affects many.”