Seven years after it first opened, the Kissimmee office of the Center Orlando, also known as the LGBT+ Center, will officially close its doors, the nonprofit shared in a news release Friday.
The office closure comes after “significant funding cuts,” according to the nonprofit, which has served Central Florida’s LGBTQ community since 1978. Chief executive officer George Wallace told Orlando Weekly that, due to federal funding cuts and higher operational costs, the Center was forced to shift things around in their budget, including grant money from the Contigo Fund that helped finance the Kissimmee office.
The nonprofit’s main locations on Mills Avenue and Hillcrest Street in Orlando will remain open. Services, including mental health counseling and HIV testing, will now be centralized at their Mills 50 locations.
“The decision to close our Kissimmee office was incredibly difficult,” said Wallace. “For the past seven years, this office has been operating as a safe haven for thousands of Osceola County residents. We are immensely proud of the impact we’ve had and the lives we’ve touched.”
The Kissimmee office, located at 901 E. Oak St., first opened in 2018 to help support the LGBTQ community in Osceola County following the mass shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando. Most of the victims of the 2016 massacre were young, LGBTQ and Latinx. Since its opening, the nonprofit says the Kissimmee office has served as a “critical hub” for mental health counseling, support groups, HIV testing and prevention, and generally as a safe and supportive space for people who identify as LGBTQ.
Wallace said all staff at the Kissimmee office will remain employed and be moved to the Orlando locations, save for one employee who decided to take a job elsewhere.
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“While our physical presence is changing, our dedication to the Osceola County community is not,” Wallace confirmed. The Center will continue to provide mobile services, including HIV testing and outreach. “We are also committed to partnering with local organizations to ensure that no one is left behind,” he added.
The nonprofit cited the current political climate and funding cuts as inciting factors for the Kissimmee location’s closure, according to their news release. Many nonprofits locally and across the country have faced cuts to federal grant money under the Trump administration, which has been hostile to LGBTQ+ rights. President Trump signed an executive order in January to eliminate federal grants for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and according to Slate, federal funding cuts are affecting LGBTQ+ groups nationwide.
“We’re planning for all scenarios, but most nonprofits don’t have a ton of financial reserves to tide them over for years on end,” Emily Wheeland, executive director of the Denver-based shelter nonprofit The Dolores Project, told Slate. “A healthy nonprofit has six months of operating reserves, and that’s not very long.”
The Center kicked off a fundraising campaign in April to help offset real or anticipated cuts to federal funding. In the past, the nonprofit has received federal, state and local government funding for programs such as free HIV testing and counseling for Pulse survivors. The nonprofit launched the Journey Forward fundraising campaign with the goal of raising $250,000 to “fund our future.” The campaign includes a Journey Forward Donor Wall that will display the names of individuals or organizations who contribute to their continued sustainability.
According to a 2024 tax filing, the most recent one publicly available through ProPublica, the Center reported $1.72 million in revenue in 2023, and $1.71 million in total expenses, meaning they’re making use of the money that comes in. Roughly half of its revenue came from government grants and contributions.
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This article appears in Aug 13-18, 2025.