Over the last month, many of us have ventured back out into the world and reconnected with our friends, family, and loved ones. For our team and folks in our communities, this meant finding meaningful ways to celebrate Pride month safely and creatively.
We’ve also used the natural slowing down of summer to reflect on all we have witnessed and learned in that journey back out into the world. Whether in-person or virtual, near or far, the needs of our communities and our region continue to drive us in our purpose.
Here are 3 cool things from the last month for all of our community to celebrate:
- LGBTQ+ organizations continue to show up for our communities in creative, innovative, and caring ways, and we were honored to award 7 more Crisis Community Care Fund grants this past month. These grants supported a wide range of needs across the region—from increased COVID-19 safety measures for an LGBTQ+ youth space, to helping replace stolen office belongings after a break-in, to safety planning for organizers of Taking B(l)ack Pride. Learn more about all of our CCCF grantees here and apply for this monthly, rolling grant fund here.
- Our supporters really showed up this Pride Month, and we are still buzzing from the generosity that poured out to Pride Foundation. Folks came out of the woodwork, hosting Facebook birthday fundraisers, sponsoring our Tend! event, even donating proceeds from their apparel lines—and we are so grateful for our communities’ ongoing commitment to creatively supporting our work.
- There are some pretty groundbreaking conversations happening in philanthropy right now, and we couldn’t be more excited to be a part of them. Last month I had the opportunity to speak on a panel about how leaders are working to build supportive organizations where everyone on our teams can show up as their whole selves, explicitly centering the needs and experiences of BIPOC staff folks. You can read about the panel and these efforts on our latest blog.
In the midst of the emails, Zoom calls, spreadsheets, and strategic plans that fill our days, we are also working to pause, to stop and smell the just-blooming dahlias and summer lilacs—and we hope you have moments to do the same. Thank you for being alongside us in this work (and in the rest and reflection too).
Katie Carter is Pride Foundation CEO.