Finding Resilience & Community as Students
Eugene is often described as a place that values inclusion, creativity, and care. For local queer and trans communities, “care” has meant borrowed rooms, temporary spaces, and a continual effort to locate lifesaving care in a climate where those places are threatened.
The opening of The Lavender Network’s permanent LGBTQ+ service center changes that.
Beginning as a collaboration between HIV Alliance and TransPonder as the “Queer Resource Center”, The Lavender Network expanded in 2024 to include Authentic Movement Project, Eugene Pride, and Queer Eugene. In 2025, a generous donor allowed The Lavender Network to purchase a permanent home. The Lavender Network is not just a collaboration, not just a building. It is a statement that LGBTQ+ people in Eugene and Lane County deserve consistent, reliable access to community, health resources, and affirming care, and that we will persevere long term – because we have always and will always exist.
That statement is made real by the collaborating organizations of The Lavender Network, as well as the additional organizations housed within the center. Bringing these experienced groups together under one roof is intentional. It reflects a shared belief that LGBTQ+ people shouldn’t have to navigate a difficult maze of disconnected services to find support, and that collaboration is a vital part of building resilient communities.
This matters deeply for students at the University of Oregon.
Each year, thousands of students arrive in Eugene—many of them LGBTQ+, many away from home for the first time, and many still figuring out who they are and where they belong. For some, college is the first place where living openly feels possible. For others, it’s a time marked by isolation, stress, or uncertainty about where to ask for help.
Students don’t live their lives solely on campus. They work in town, seek healthcare locally, build relationships here, and often decide whether Eugene is a place they want to stay after graduation. A permanent LGBTQ+ center sends a clear message to students: your well-being matters beyond your student ID. Your safety, health, and dignity don’t expire at the end of the term.
That message matters even more right now.
Across the country, federal funding for HIV prevention, treatment, and related community health services is under threat. These cuts are often framed as abstract budget decisions, but their impact is anything but abstract. They mean fewer testing sites, reduced prevention programs, and less support for the people most affected by stigma and barriers to care—including LGBTQ+ young adults.
At HIV Alliance, we see the connection clearly: when HIV-related funding is cut, LGBTQ+ communities feel it first and hardest. Students, particularly those without stable healthcare or strong support systems, are often among the most vulnerable. In this context, a permanent, off-campus LGBTQ+ center isn’t just helpful—it’s necessary.
The Lavender Network exists because this community refused to allow our large and diverse community go unserved. It reflects years of organizing, advocacy, and mutual aid by people who understood that relying on systems that can disappear with a political shift was not enough. It also reflects extraordinary generosity, including the single largest private gift in HIV Alliance’s history, given with trust and a belief that permanence matters.
This center strengthens Eugene as a place to study, live, and for queer communities to imagine the city as a place in which they can build safe, queer, thriving futures. Communities that invest in public health and belonging retain talented people, they foster creativity, and are better equipped to respond when national systems fall short. For students, that translates into a city that feels safer, more connected, and more willing to stand with them.
As Manager of The Lavender Network, I know that a building alone will not solve every challenge LGBTQ+ students and community members face. But it does something powerful: it creates a visible, reliable space where people can show up without apology. It says that care will not be quietly withdrawn, and that this community is willing to invest in itself.
To LGBTQ+ students at the University of Oregon: this space is yours. To all students: this center reflects the kind of community you are part of—one that understands that health, dignity, and belonging are not optional.
The opening of The Lavender Network’s permanent home is a milestone. It is also a choice. In a time of uncertainty, Eugene chose to invest in care. That choice matters—for students, for the community, and for the future we are building together.
— Laura B. Henry, Lavender Network Manager
[With editing and initial drafting by Matt Mazur, HIV Alliance Development Manager]
Join us Tuesday, February 10th for a Ribbon Cutting and Grand Opening event in cooperation with Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce at our new location at 1590 Willamette St. in Eugene. Starting at 1pm with a Ribbon Cutting ceremony, the event continues into our large event space where each of our five Lavender Network partners will have tables to introduce their services to the community.
