Pride Foundation awards grants to 56 organizations—advancing equality and supporting LGBTQ people in their home communities across the Northwest.
It is with a full heart and much excitement that I share with you Pride Foundation’s 2014-2015 community grants award winners.
Pride Foundation’s supporters fuel our work and help create lasting change—allowing us to have a tangible impact on our community, while telling an important story about our shared values and hopes for the future.
The dynamics within the LGBTQ community are shifting rapidly. Given the recent marriage equality victories in our region, I am constantly being asked “What’s next?” for our movement and work.
The stark reality is that the daily lives of many are still filled with fear, uncertainty, and isolation. Pride Foundation is committed to changing that reality—focusing our resources and grant dollars on those that remain most invisible and vulnerable despite our progress.
This year our community grants program awarded more than $300,000 to 56 organizations throughout the Northwest. When looked at collectively, these investments paint a comprehensive picture of the work that lies ahead—from safe schools, to workplace equality, to culturally-competent healthcare and social services, to food and housing security, to elder care.
We encourage you to read more about our grantees—15 of which are first-time grantees—who are working tirelessly to transform the lives of LGBTQ people across our region.
Highlights include:
- International Rescue Committee (Seattle, WA): $5,000 to support expanded orientation and education about the LGBTQ community for all newly-arrived refugees, and to provide direct case management support for refugees who identify as LGBTQ.
- TransActive Gender Center (Portland, OR): $10,000 to support TransActive—an organization providing a holistic range of services and expertise (client services, education, and advocacy) to empower transgender and gender non-conforming children, youth, and their families to live healthy lives, free of discrimination.
- North Idaho AIDS Coalition (Coeur d’Alene, ID): $5,000 to support the organization’s new HIV/AIDS prevention program—an adaption of the “Mpowerment project model,” which has been successfully used in many states. Geared toward young gay and bisexual HIV-negative men ages 18 to 35 in rural settings, the program focuses on empowering individuals and promoting safer sex and HIV testing.
Our grantees reflect the diversity within our community and address the breadth of issues impacting LGBTQ people throughout their lives. For a full list of project descriptions and information about our current grantees, please click here.
In addition to our community grants program, Pride Foundation also makes investments in LGBTQ youth, adults, and families through our scholarship program, donor-advised, and donor-designated funds. In total, we’ve invested nearly $7.1 million this year to support our community and eliminate long-standing barriers to equality.
Thanks to your support, our work is bridging the gap between recent legal victories and the ability for all LGBTQ people to be who they are, where they are.