Pasadena Pride Center, which has been involved in an acrimonious split with its founder and former president, has found itself a new home.
Liz Schiller, the interim president of Pasadena Pride, announced yesterday that the organization will be located at 150 S. Arroyo Parkway, #102, in Pasadena. With the signing of a lease Pasadena Pride becomes the first LGBT center to have an official location in the San Gabriel Valley.
The Center will be located a block from the Del Mar Gold Line Station, making it easily accessible to those who rely on public transit. The lease was underwritten by Land Home Financial Services, Pasadena Pride said in a post on Facebook.
“Having a location is a crucial step in the Pasadena Pride Center’s growth,” Schiller said. The Center has provided referrals to LGBT people seeking various forms of help or services for the past two years. It also has held one-time special events at various locations. An affiliated men’s group has been meeting since 2012 for social and service activities.
With a physical location, the Pasadena Pride Center can begin to offer or host programs and services. One plan is to host the Rainbow Connections Youth Group, currently meeting at Neighborhood Unitarian Universalist Church on Orange Grove. Over the next few months, the Pasadena Pride Center board will meet with other community organizations and to create a network of services that can be housed at the new location.
In February, the Center sued its founder and then president, Rev. Rick Eisenlord, alleging he misappropriated the Center’s website address and email contact list to create his own LGBT center. The Center also alleged that he slandered the Center’s board of directors and misappropriated its funds by using its ATM card to pay personal expenses.
The board had asked for the resignations of Eisenlord and co-founder Paulette Hunnewell last October. According to the lawsuit, Eisenlord demanded the Center pay him $10,000 for his services to the non-profit LGBT advocacy and service organization.
Eisenlord has successfully argued that the suit, which was filed in L.A. County Superior Court, be heard in federal court. The pastor of Pasadena’s Good Shepherd Church, an LGBT congregation, Eisenlord has now established the San Gabriel Valley Gay and Lesbian Center.
