Transformative Grant Will Help Restore Sarasota AIDS Memorial

A leafy messenger pays tribute

For years, the live oak at the southeast corner of the church’s Lockwood Ridge Road campus served as both the visual centerpiece and emotional anchor of the AIDS Memorial Garden. It offered shade, presence, and symbolism in a place where the ashes of people who died from AIDS have been scattered since the early 1980s.

Like other AIDS memorials around the country, the memorial at Church of the Trinity MCC stands for remembrance and hope. It also reflects a painful chapter in history, one marked by stigma, loss, and the ways LGBTQ+ communities were too often left to care for one another when broader systems failed them.

The memorial’s message is quiet but powerful. It honors those who are remembered there. It acknowledges that they deserved better. And it reminds future generations that the fight for dignity, compassion, and justice did not happen by accident.

Church of the Trinity MCC has long been rooted in that work. The congregation held its first service in 1983 and later established its current campus in 1988. Throughout the 1990s, while many churches kept their distance from people living with AIDS, Church of the Trinity and other Metropolitan Community Churches embraced them, cared for them, and created space for belonging.

A young minister takes action

JT Priar, Trinity’s Young Adult Minister, joined the church staff in 2024, shortly after the storm. As he settled into a role shaped by ministry, community outreach, and social justice, he found himself drawn to the damaged memorial and the stories connected to it.

He understood it not only as a physical place, but as a final resting place for people whose lives and losses might otherwise go unmarked. In the aftermath of the storm, church leaders faced a difficult question: how could they clean up the site without disturbing the human remains there? Their solution was to remove the fallen limbs and trunk while leaving the stump intact.

Now, with support from a $25,000 Susan Terry Foundation grant awarded during the Foundation’s inaugural 2025 grant cycle, the church is moving forward with plans to rebuild and rededicate the memorial for future generations.

The goal is larger than restoration alone. The new memorial is intended to honor those lost to AIDS, tell the story of the epidemic and Trinity’s role in that history, and recognize the many LGBTQ+ individuals who stepped forward to care for men with AIDS when others would not.

Moving forward: A more permanent reminder

For longtime congregants like Jesse Clayton, the AIDS Memorial Garden represents decades of memory and service. After moving to Bradenton in 1989 and joining the congregation in 1991, Jesse found both a spiritual home and a community that embraced many gay men during the height of the AIDS crisis.

She remembers the memorial services, the people lost, and the deeply personal stories tied to the site. Among them is the memory of a close friend whose ashes were eventually scattered at the memorial along with others, reinforcing the garden’s role as a sacred place of collective remembrance.

For Jesse, the effort to rebuild the memorial is not simply about replacing what was lost. It is about creating something lasting, something that will continue to honor people whose lives were cut short and whose stories matter.

An ambitious timeline for the AIDS Memorial planning committee

A six-member volunteer committee representing HIV services, sexual and reproductive health, and spirituality will guide the planning and installation of the new memorial. The committee includes Priar, Trinity Senior Pastor Rev. Elder Lillie Brock, and leaders from Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida, Orenda Health and Wellness, and CAN Community Health.

The group plans to solicit artist proposals, make a selection, and finalize plans by August 2026. The projected dedication date for the new memorial is World AIDS Day, December 1, 2026.

As planning continues, the committee is considering not only what the memorial should look like, but what it should mean: to Sarasota, to the history of the AIDS epidemic, to the church, and to younger generations who may not have learned this history in full. The renewed site may include interpretive elements and improved seating for reflection, with the hope that it becomes a more permanent and resilient place of remembrance.