Meet Tracy Hall, Affirmations' New Executive Director
The longtime Kalamazoo LGBTQ+ advocate discusses reconnecting with Metro Detroit, mental health gaps and navigating turbulent times
Tracy Hall has spent more than 20 years building LGBTQ+ community in Michigan. As the former executive director of OutFront Kalamazoo and a former Kalamazoo County Commissioner, she brought extensive experience when she joined Ferndale's LGBTQ+ community center, Affirmations, as deputy director last year. Now serving as executive director, Hall is focused on expanding mental health services, preparing the organization for an uncertain political landscape and working with other Michigan community centers to share Affirmations' unique resources statewide.
We caught up with Hall recently to discuss her return to Southeast Michigan, what keeps her grounded and her vision for strengthening LGBTQ+ community connections across Michigan during turbulent times.
You're originally from Metro Detroit and now you're spending more time here again. What's it been like reconnecting with Southeast Michigan?
It very much feels like a homecoming. In my first few months, I've gone to places my mom and grandparents used to live. Sometimes when I leave work, I'll visit different stomping grounds just because it feels like I'm home. I'll stop at Bates’ Burgers in Livonia or go to downtown Detroit's Coney Islands. My nana loved to do that, and she participated in the great debate of Michigan — which is better, Lafayette or “the other one.”
What do you do to recharge outside of your work at Affirmations?
I listen to audiobooks during my commute and love music. But my favorite way to recharge is spending time with my wife Christine and our three dogs — two huskies named Maddie and Gretchen, plus Kennedy, a pit bull and basset hound mix. Christine and I try quarterly to go up to the Frankfort area. There's a woman who owns four cabins on an inland lake called Labrys. It's lesbian-owned, and it's a real wonderful space to recharge. I also love to garden and kayak.
What's something about you that might surprise people who only know you in your professional role?
I am very anxious and I'm actually an introvert, despite work that has me in contact with people constantly. I love those connections despite my introversion. I think I got this commitment to service from my grandparents and from my mom, who was a bartender. Everybody loved my mom. The other thing is I was in a short film called "In Cognito" that I didn't really tell anybody about because it's not typically my thing. It was kind of a murder mystery, and I was the detective.
What gaps are you seeing in mental health care for Michigan's LGBTQ+ community that Affirmations is focused on overcoming?
Two of the bigger gaps are a lack of providers and a lack of providers that are competent in LGBTQ+ care. We're growing our LGBTQ+ competency trainings for clinicians and contracting with more therapists so we can provide more diversity in hours. We're also making sure we can provide services on a sliding scale or help cover deductibles. We offer telehealth throughout Michigan, allowing us to reach people even in rural areas that may not be as well resourced.
You've called this a "turbulent time" for the LGBTQ+ community. What challenges are you preparing Affirmations to face?
Now more than ever we really need community. We're trying to build programs and services to draw folks to the center so they know Affirmations is a safe space. But I'm worried about violence. OutFront was targeted a couple of years ago. I'm worried about us putting something on social media and some blogger or creator gets wind of it, and then you start getting phone calls and backlash. I'm concerned about ICE. We're working on security plans to keep our team and community safe.
The reality of this turbulent time is also the funding. People are nervous and anxious because of the threats they may be hearing about supporting LGBTQ+ organizations. We're figuring out how to bring in resources so we can expand services like behavioral health and peer support. We're going to start quarterly community conversations, both in-person and virtual, so folks from around the state can attend and we can build community that way.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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