We are all in the middle of a paradigm-shifting storm. The world as we know it is going to be a very different place when we get through this. How we respond right now, individually and collectively, will shape that future.
I hope that when we look back on this devastating time, we remember it as a sea change.
The time when, in the face of profound fear and uncertainty, our response was to love and care for one another even more deeply.
The time when we prioritized our community’s well-being and the health of the most vulnerable over our individual comfort and ease.
The time when our distance, isolation, and solitude made us recognize our interdependence and more closely connected us in our shared purpose.
The time when, as a community, we shared our abundance because our collective survival was more important than self-preservation.
It is my profound hope that this is how we will be able to remember our response in this time, and that our responses and actions today will be practice for creating a future grounded in these values.
A Support to Our Communities in Crisis
As the only LGBTQ+ community foundation in the Northwest, we know that our focus and priority right now must be on keeping our communities safe and meeting emerging needs, while building systems of support that we will need for the future.
Today, we are launching the Crisis Community Care Fund as part of our response efforts to the COVID-19 crisis.
Our intention for the Crisis Community Care Fund is simple: to provide support to LGBTQ+ community groups and organizations responding to this crisis in whatever ways they need it most—fast, and with no strings attached.
We have seeded this fund with a portion of our discretionary resources, but we know it will take a lot more to support our community through this. We will continue to mobilize support for our response efforts in the coming weeks and months from our dedicated network of individual, institutional, and corporate supporters whose generosity has fueled our work for decades.
To learn more about these efforts, we invite you to join us for a Supporter Briefing this coming Tuesday, March 24th, from 12:00pm-12:30pm PST—please RSVP here.
Who and What We Will Fund
We have heard from grantees and community partners that they are going to need a lot of support through this crisis. Without additional resources, some know they may not have the reserves to weather this storm.
But they are not in this alone.
The Crisis Community Care Fund will support current and previous Pride Foundation grantees who are responding to the epidemic or who are facing budget crises as a result of COVID-19 and are in need of emergency bridge funding to continue their operations – or both.
We will be prioritizing support for communities who we know are and will continue to be disproportionately impacted by the epidemic, including Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC), people living with HIV/AIDS, women of color, older adults and elders, people with disabilities, people experiencing homelessness, and East Asian communities who are targets for violence and discrimination.
Investing in Justice and Community Care, Together
When we say that we can overcome this by working together, we mean all of us—individuals, organizations, corporations, and government. You. Me. All of us. Together.
This is the moment to boldly invest in the organizations that help make our community and our world beautiful—who work day in and day out to meet the critical needs of LGBTQ+ people and our families, and that move us further along the path toward justice.
Because none of us should have to weather this storm alone.
Support the Crisis Community Care Fund