Lawrence, Ron, 1944-
Description
Ron Lawrence was born in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania on May 23, 1944. He worked in the engineering field for 22 years and also worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He is a prominent member of the Las Vegas, Nevada gay community and a counselor. Lawrence moved to Las Vegas, Nevada from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1979 with his husband, Ernie Egyed. Lawrence received his bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 1982 and his master’s degree in marriage and family therapy from California Lutheran University in 1987. hE has been an active member of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community in Las Vegas since 1979. Lawrence worked as a clinical director for Bridge Counseling in Las Vegas BEGINNING in 1987 where he created programs specifically for the LGBTQ community and support groups for HIV-positive individuals. In 1989, Lawrence created the Community AIDS Intervention Project (CAIP) as a division of Bridge Counseling. CAIP supported LGBTQ-specific outreach programs funded by the Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Abuse and the Centers for Disease Control. Programs under CAIP included an HIV support group, the Gay Men’s Health Project, Significant Others, and a survivors group comprised of individuals who had lost loved ones due to AIDS. Lawrence later created his own agency to support the LGBTQ community in Las Vegas, establishing the Community Counseling Center in 1990 to provide mental health care services to the LGBTQ community, and in particular the HIV and AIDS population. As of 2019, the Community Counseling Center offers mental health care services for all populations in Las Vegas. Lawrence remains actively involved with the Community Counseling Center and serves as a staff member and executive director.
Sources:
McBride, Dennis. “Community Counseling Center.” OutHistory.org, Accessed December 12, 2019. http://outhistory.org/exhibits/show/las-vegas/articles/ccc.
Sodoma, Brian. “Mental health workers a much-needed field in Nevada.”
