Celebrating 50 Years of Howard Brown Health
Following two years of service to the community beginning in 1974, Howard Brown Health was officially incorporated as a non-profit organization in the State of Illinois. In that document, our founders laid out our core purpose:
“To provide health care and related services
without regard to affectional or sexual preference”
We’ve come a very long way in the decades since then, maturing from a tiny office above a market to a network of healthcare centers across Chicago. From the very beginning, our community members have turned to Howard Brown for compassionate, high-quality care when urgent health needs arise.
In good times and in bad, Howard Brown’s doors have always been open, ready to serve the unmet needs of our patients with our focused approach to medicine. As the needs of our community have grown and changed, so have we. We’ve grown to support our community by ensuring an inclusive, comforting healthcare experience for all. Howard Brown is turning 50, but our story is only just beginning.
After decades in the fight for our lives, we know what it’s like for the people we love to be lost too soon, and we don’t take growing old for granted. The concept of growing old was revolutionary when we helped develop the first hepatitis B vaccine. And during the AIDS epidemic, many of the youngest and most vibrant among us were not given the chance to reach old age.
Today, we continue to fight for the legacy of those we’ve lost, redefining what it means to live extensive, healthy lives, free to be ourselves and free from fear. We recognize that even today it is revolutionary to grow and age healthfully, especially for those most marginalized. Together, we stand by our commitment to grow older together – with our community, with our providers, and with our patients.
Whether your friends are your family, you’re newly married, or you’re putting kids through college, we all want to grow old alongside the people we love most. As we celebrate 50 years of liberated healthcare that empowers patients and ignites social justice from a place of wellness and health equity, Howard Brown keeps getting better with age — and you can, too. Let’s Grow Old Together.
As we begin our 50th Anniversary, we have a lot planned to celebrate our past, present, and future alongside our patients, staff, and broader community. This year, we will do just that by sharing our histories, highlighting community stories, and forging a path forward into the next 50 years of Howard Brown Health. We can’t wait for you to join us.
