Pride Foundation is proud to announce funding for 81 new projects supporting the LGBTQ and allied community. These grants, totaling $283,000, reflect the diversity of our region and community—addressing existing and emerging needs.
To learn more about Pride Foundation’s grants program or to receive notice of future grant and scholarship application deadlines via our eNewsletter please visit www.pridefoundation.org.
In Support of Arts and Recreation
Associated Recreation Council (ARC) Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center (Seattle, WA) $2,500 toengage at least four peer youth organizers and 30 LGBTQ youth of color, with an emphasis on trans-youth where possible, in four performing arts activities from January to June 2013. The project will create a pathway through the arts for them to have a safe and supported space to name, explore, express, and celebrate who they are as youth, persons of color, and LGBTQ persons.
Bethel Actors Guild (Bethel, AK) $4,000 to help the volunteer-run community theater group produce their fourth and largest musical theater production aimed at students in grades 7-12. The selected show, “Disco Inferno,” is their most ambitious project to date both in the anticipated cast size, and the number and complexity of musical numbers. Bethel, Alaska is a rural community not connected to the road system, which has limited access to resources and community space. The community is predominantly Yupik Eskimo, and many people live well below the poverty line. As in many rural towns, there is no defined or organized LGBTQ community or official “safe space” like a Gay-Straight Alliance or LGBTQ community center. There are also few opportunities for artistic expression for the young people in this community, as the schools have very limited funds for the arts. The Bethel Actors Guild operates the youth production in an attempt to create that safe space with the understanding that theater arts are vital to giving marginalized young people a voice, especially in an impoverished rural community.
Gay City Health Project (Seattle, WA) $2,500 to support the finalbuild outphase oftheGay City Community Auditorium, a 750 square foot multipurpose performance space that will provide an organizing center for LGBTQ artists and queer arts in Seattle. Surprisingly, no such space currently exists. Gay City has convened the Queer Arts Roundtable, a group of more than 20 representatives from Seattle’s queer arts community, to advise them on this project.
Interchange: A Festival of Humanity (Bozeman, MT) $1,000 to build the Bozeman LGBTQ Festival. After hosting the most successful Montana Pride Celebration in Montana history, with more than 5,000 attendees, a group of volunteers partnered with a professional music festival promoter, Tate Chamberlin, and decided that while the Montana Pride Festival’s mission is to move locations each year, Bozeman could and should sustain an LGBTQ festival. Interchange will not compete directly with the Montana Pride Celebration, and though it will highlight the struggle for LGBTQ rights, it will be all-inclusive in keeping with their social justice focus. Organizers plan to bring nationally-known acts and draw thousands of attendees from the intermountain region. Interchange organizers also hope the festival will serve as a platform for organizing around Bozeman’s non-discrimination ordinance.
Museum of History and Industry (Seattle, WA) $5,000 to support MOHAI in developing an exhibit exploring icons of “Queer Seattle” history over the last 40 years. The exhibit will showcase 8-10 icons that have shaped and defined queer culture in Seattle, and will address the following themes: Pride Celebration, Laws, Nightlife, Individuals, Families, and Language. Perhaps the most significant impact of the project is the fact that the exhibit will be taking place within the region’s preeminent history museum. This will expand the exposure of this story beyond the LGBTQ community and bring it into mainstream life.
In Support of Education, Advocacy and Outreach
American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho Foundation (Boise, ID) $2,000 to provide education to key stakeholders, developing leaders within the LGBTQ and straight ally community, and engaging in a public education campaign to build support for citywide ordinances in Idaho to protect LGBTQ Idahoans from discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations—building on progress currently being made in this effort in the cities of Boise and Pocatello.
Causa (Salem, OR) $3,000 to support an LGBTQ Spanish-language radio show, “La Voz de Todos.” The show airs weekly on KPCN, a community radio station reaching thousands of rural Latino families in the greater Woodburn area who have little to no access to information about LGBTQ issues in Spanish. “La Voz de Todos” is the only Spanish-language radio show dedicated exclusively to LGBTQ issues in Oregon. The goals of the show are to decrease the isolation felt by LGBTQ Latinos, and to provide positive and accurate information to the broader Latino community.
Centralia College Gay-Straight Alliance (Centralia, WA) $1,500 to support a Gay-Straight Alliance Pride Festival event bringing together other LGBTQ and ally organizations to share information on resources and support available to the LGBTQ community. The celebration serves the LGBTQ and allied communities in Lewis, Cowlitz, and Thurston Counties. The annual Pride Festival event draws up to 200 people. Centralia Pride is the most visible event that celebrates the community without fear, judgment, or shame.
Family Services Alliance of Southeast Idaho (Pocatello, ID) $4,000 to provide outreach and enhanced services to LGBTQ victims of domestic/dating violence, sexual assault, and/or stalking. Services will take the form of population-specific support groups for abuse survivors within the LGBTQ community, likely starting with one tailored to lesbian survivors of abuse. The group anticipates serving 70 lesbian women and 20 gay men with counseling and support services as well as 500 individuals with educational/outreach presentations.
Flathead Reservation Human Rights Coalition (Flathead Reservation-Ronan, MT) $1,000 to help them continue their Hate-Free Zone project with businesses, local city councils, school districts, and organizations in the community and to conduct community workshops in partnership with the National Coalition Building Institute of Missoula. The Flathead Reservation Human Rights Coalition exists to affirm the rights of all people and support communities free from racism, violence, and all forms of discrimination. The workshops will train 30-50 participants to: understand their cultural lenses and the lenses of others, identify and explore each other’s roles in perpetuating and interrupting oppression, and connect with others and listen to first-hand experiences to increase commitment to ending mistreatment and violence.
Friendly House (Portland, OR) $4000 to develop a Friendly Visitor/Telephone Reassurance program to match housebound, isolated LGBTQ older adults in person and over the phone with volunteers in the community. Matches will be made based on mutual interests, proximity, preferences, and schedules. Their goal is to reduce loneliness, isolation, and depression among older adults while giving allies an important role in supporting them and gaining understanding of the issues impacting the elder LGBTQ community.
GLBT Bar Association of Washington Foundation (Seattle, WA) $5,000 to support the Legal Clinic as the first paid staff member is hired. The Clinic provides thirty minutes of free one-on-one legal help from attorneys trained in LGBTQ legal issues to clients in King County. The Program Manager will engage in ongoing project-related administrative support, such as coordinating the Clinic’s 50+ volunteers and managing Clinic publicity. This crucial help will ensure the sustainability of the Clinic program and provide additional agility and training, allowing the Clinic to respond quickly to the LGBTQ community’s constantly emerging legal needs. Additionally, the Program Manager will perform ongoing fundraising with the goal of making the position self-funded.
Idaho Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence (Boise, ID) $3,500 to enable the Coalition, in collaboration with the Northwest Network, to build the capacity of its domestic and sexual violence programs on healthy adolescent relationships to more effectively reach LGBTQ youth. The Coalition plans to provide: web-based trainings to help its prevention staff create strategies and build organizational capacity to reach LGBTQ youth, consultation time with the Northwest Network to adapt existing curricula and materials, an Idaho-specific booklet with strategies on meeting the needs of LGBTQ youth, an online community sharing ideas and promising practices, and quarterly web-based discussions to develop strategies to ensure sustainable change in preventing abuse in adolescent relationships.
Ingersoll Gender Center (Seattle, WA) $5,000 in general operating support for their ongoing work on behalf of King County’s transgender, gender queer, and gender non-conforming communities. Next year Ingersoll will be rolling out a new program called STEEP (Seattle Transgender Economic Empowerment Project) which will work to empower unemployed and underemployed Transgender people to obtain gainful employment through support, community referrals, and connections with the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation. And, thanks to their new office space, additional programming will be added including movie nights, discussion groups, and a lecture series. Finally, Ingersoll will be engaging in ongoing education and trainings with community service providers, physicians, educational institutions, and government agencies to increase cultural competence in working with their community.
Klamath Basin Lambdas (Klamath Falls, OR) $4,000 to promote diversity and tolerance in their community by reaching out to existing Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) and helping establish GSAs in as many local high schools and local colleges where there are none. This will include Chiloquin, Mazama, Klamath Union, Henley, Lost River, Bonanza, and Eagle Ridge high schools as well as Oregon institute of Technology and Klamath Community College. The goal is to gain the support of the students and faculty, as well as the parents and schools boards of both Klamath County and the city.
Lutheran Community Services Northwest (Spokane, WA) $2,500 will increase community awareness regarding sexual assault and violence as it affects LGBTQ people in the Spokane area, and will increase the number of LGBTQ people who access their advocacy, therapy and support services. They will make weekly education and support visits as well as six evening presentations for LGBTQ youth ages 14-21 at the Odyssey Youth Center. Discussion topics will include: what is safe; what is healthy; individuals’ rights and responsibilities; how to avoid danger; and how to get help for past or current abuse. They will also launch Spokane’s Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) program to teach nurses and law enforcement to preserve LGBTQ sexual assault victims’ dignity, reduce psychological trauma, and collect evidence for more effective investigations and better prosecutions.
Montana Pride Network (Helena, MT) $1,250 to plan, promote, and host the June 20–23, 2013, Montana Pride Celebration in Butte. This event will be the most rural Pride Celebration in Montana to date and will celebrate and serve the local LGBTQ communities of Montana, with a special emphasis on youth and suicide prevention. The classic Pride events will be held – public parade, rally, drag show—in addition to a number of workshops and literary programs. PFLAG-Butte and the Pride Celebration Committee will co-host a major workshop on the current epidemic of abusive relationships and domestic violence faced by LGBTQ youth and families.
Montana Human Rights Network (Helena, MT) $5,000 will support a campaign to pass a local non-discrimination ordinance in Bozeman during 2013. State law denies basic legal protections to members of the LGBTQ community. The clearest way to address the problem is by changing Montana Code. However, because the state legislature has been unwilling to do so, the Network and its allies have taken efforts to the city level through local campaigns in Missoula and Helena. Passage of a Bozeman ordinance will provide LGBTQ community members and visitors legal protections in the areas of housing, employment and public accommodations. The Network also participates in the Safe Schools Coalition, exposes the right-wing’s campaign to marginalize LGBTQ Montanans, is a resource for people who experience anti-LGBTQ discrimination and responds to anti-LGBTQ violence should it occur.
North Idaho College Foundation (Coeur d’Alene, ID) $2,700 to send eight North Idaho College Gay-Straight Alliance students and one faculty advisor to “The Power of One: Becoming Inclusive Leaders” LGBTA regional student conference being hosted at Boise State University April 26-28, 2013. Power of One is an annual Northwest student leadership conference that encourages and empowers LGBTQ and questioning students, and their allies, faculty and staff who support them, promoting healthy and safe communities. The grant will fund travel and registration costs.
PFLAG Benton Franklin (Richland, WA) $2,500 will allow this PFLAG chapter to continue providing care packages to all local Gay-Straight Alliances as well as start care packages for members in need. The packages will include (but are not limited to): books, DVD’s, publications from PFLAG national, a booklet containing local known resources, along with various other resource materials, and guidance on how to be a straight ally. They will continue to provide safe space kits and training to surrounding school districts as well as our local school staff and administrators. They will also purchase DVD documentaries and books to be used for support meetings, community outreach events, and as training tools for mentors of LGBTQ youth. Further growth this year includes a brochure created and translated for the Latino community as well as funding transportation costs for youth who are trying to get to the local youth center or the homeless teen shelter.
PFLAG Portland Black Chapter (Portland, OR) $2,000 in general operating support primarily focused on their Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) campaign at predominately Black high schools. It is incredibly important to provide culturally specific support and spaces where LGBTQ youth of color, who are not reflected in mainstream discussions, can be their full selves. They have partnered with Oregon Safe Schools and Communities Coalition to create a GSA/Youth grant to fund small projects supported by GSAs and youth oriented organizations. Their youth outreach also includes building a strong relationship with GSAs by attending meetings, organizing school assemblies, educating students/faculty, and offering youth leadership opportunities.
Pride Day Equality Project (Eugene and Springfield, OR) $1,500 to operate a fundraising event in the winter, near Valentine’s Day, as a fundraiser and community organizer for the summer Pride Day. The event will bring community partners who participate in Pride Day together to continue building connections and increasing awareness of their organizations. This social event would attract members of the community through music, entertainment, light snacks and beverages, and a short program for organizations to present who they are in a three-minute format. The fundraiser will be donation only to increase access and to have an inclusive and free event for LGBTQ people and their allies, friends, and family.
Rainbow Center (Tacoma, WA) $4,500 to maintain a robust operating budget allowing them to continue the current level of service and delivery without any reductions. Currently, the Rainbow Center is open six days a week for community drop in hours which include: entertainment, resources, public access computers, and staff one-on-one time. There are also ten partner organizations that the Center provides with a low-cost centralized meeting location, in downtown Tacoma, with easy bus access and an already vetted, safe, venue that community members know and trust. In addition, the Center provides LGBTQ training to ally organizations and businesses around the region. The Center is the lead organizing partner in the Tacoma Pride Festival, growing in popularity, with over 8,000 attendees in 2012. The Rainbow Center serves as the point of access to the South Sound LGBTQ and straight ally population, providing resources, information, and connection opportunities.
Revelry – Reteaching Gender and Sexuality (Seattle, WA) $2,500 to produce two new original videos and educational toolkits focused on gender and sexual diversity with the aims to shift and deepen public discourse about gender and sexuality in order to reduce disparities and improve outcomes in education and health for LGBTQ communities. Their educational tools have been reaching traditional and grassroots educators across the country, from high school teachers, university faculty and student leaders, to non-profit advocacy groups and grassroots organizations, to professional trainers in mental health, social work, medical, and other fields. They’ve recognized some common deficiencies in the resources available to these educators. Presentation materials with outdated ideas about bodies and biology, oversimplified Kinseyan charts and glossary-of-terms, and a sweeping failure to discuss structural oppression may actually have an adverse impact on the LGBTQ communities these educational models aim to serve. The group hopes to fill some gaps with easy-to-use tools that help people facilitate more complex dialogue with a focus on root causes and systemic solutions.
Spokane PFLAG (Spokane, WA) $2,500 to support general operating for its many active programs in the community. The monthly membership meetings are averaging about 25-30 people, up by over 50% from last year’s attendance. Word is continuing to spread about their hotline, which is active and more people are being trained to man it. Spokane PFLAG’s outreach expands beyond Eastern Washington into Northern Idaho and Western Montana.
YWCA Clark County (Vancouver, WA) $2,900 to sustain their LGBTQ specific outreach and advocacy services, through the group’s SafeChoice Program. SafeChoice’s goals are to increase awareness of domestic violence as it relates to the LGBTQ community, and to increase knowledge of LGBTQ-friendly resources in Clark County to serve victims of domestic violence.SafeChoice provides presentations and discussions about healthy relationships, red flags and warning signs, dating violence, and barriers that the LGBTQ community faces when involved in abusive relationships. In particular, these funds will support visits to Triple Point Youth Program, to Gay-Straight Alliances in Clark County and to participate in the Gender Positive Systems Accessibility Committee.
In Support of Health and Community Services
Blue Mountain Clinic (Missoula, MT) $4,250 will help them train physicians and staff to serve the transgender community through the entire continuum of care. About 850 transgender people live in the Missoula area (population, 67,000), but few have a doctor who understands their needs or whom they can trust. The two full-time staff physicians want to pursue further training to better serve trans youth and elders. Few physicians in Montana have this expertise, so Pride Foundation’s grant will help fund bringing in experts from Seattle or Portland to lead continuing education training for all interested practitioners in Western Montana during MontanaTDOR’s spring 2013 Transgender Health Conference. Through this grant, the group will create gender inclusive medical forms, transgender health language on the group’s website/outreach materials, and Montana TDOR-led trans sensitivity training for the entire staff. This will help legitimize gender non conformity in mainstream spaces, which has the power to ultimately shift culture in more inclusive manner. Blue Mountain Clinic is best known as an abortion provider, but they aim to become a fully trans-inclusive family practice.
LifeWire (Seattle, WA) $5,000 to provide safe shelter and housing services for LGBTQ victims of domestic violence. Their 24-Hour Help Line is the gateway to all of their services. Once a victim’s immediate safety is established, an advocate listens and helps explore available options and services. LifeWire operates two safe, confidential, emergency shelters with on-site staff and supportive services. LifeWire’s confidential apartment unit model, My Sister’s Home, is ideal to serve the needs of the LGBTQ community. Providing safe confidential housing for the male LGBTQ domestic violence victim can be extremely challenging. In addition, LifeWire provides a Hotel-Motel Voucher Program for short stays in hotels and motels, rental assistance, long-term housing placement for victims and families facing multiple barriers, and flexible financial assistance to obtain/maintain housing and prevent future homelessness.
MontanaTDOR (Missoula, MT) $2,500 to support a Transgender Healthcare Conference in the spring of 2013 in Missoula.What began as the Montana Transgender Day of Recognition is now a full-fledged organization committed to serving those of gender diversity throughout the state by providing resources, inclusive programs and events, as well as direct support for individuals of gender diversity and their families. MontanaTDOR’s Montana Gender Alliance chapters in Kalispell, Missoula, Helena, and Bozeman help directly support those of gender diversity. MontanaTDOR provides professional trainings for healthcare and mental health providers, as well as organizations and businesses which facilitate trans-inclusive policy and treatment protocols.
Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho (Yakima, WA) $3,000 to implement Latino-focused, culturally-appropriate outreach to LGBTQ and straight ally populations in Yakima County, WA. The group will also provide 20 free HIV tests to individual contacts facilitated by this outreach. Made up of a group of approximately ten Latinos, the “Promotores” are grassroots health promoters who participate in a minimum of 20 hours of reproductive health-related education training. Upon completion of training, Promotores reach out into their communities to provide formal and informal reproductive health education in a culturally appropriate manner.
In Support of HIV/AIDS Service Delivery and Prevention
AIDS Housing Association of Tacoma (Tacoma, WA) $4,000 to support general operating expenses. These costs include maintenance and upkeep, insurance, utilities, and furnishings for the three homes as well as client services needs, including food and personal care items.
AIDS Outreach (Bozeman, MT) $2,500 to fund the creation of a part-time outreach worker for men who have sex with men (MSM) in Gallatin, Park and Madison Counties, Montana. The purpose is to promote awareness and encourage participation by MSM in the services and mission of AIDS Outreach. AIDS Outreach believes that fear and stigma can only be countered with hope and education. By providing identifiable outreach workers and creating age-specific and community specific outreach programs, they plan to more effectively reach to gay, bisexual, and closeted men in the area with the resources they need.
Alaskan AIDS Assistance Association (Juneau, AK) $5,000 to fund a part-time staff member in the Juneau office to provide much needed prevention services of HIV testing, condom distribution, bar outreach, and syringe exchange. Juneau hosts thousands of seasonal workers, cruise ship workers, and tourists each year. These groups form a bridge from HIV epicenters like Miami, New York, Atlanta, and foreign countries with higher burdens of HIV infection. This ultimately places the residents of Juneau at a uniquely high risk. The federal government has restricted funding for HIV prevention to the larger cities of Anchorage and Fairbanks for the foreseeable future, so this funding will help the group meet the immediate need for continued outreach in Juneau while allowing them additional time to work out a long-term solution for sustaining their programs in Southeast Alaska.
Blue Mountain Heart to Heart (Walla Walla, WA) $3,500 to continue HIV/AIDS outreach and education services to people living in the Tri-Cities, Walla Walla County, and Pendleton corridor. With increasing number of cases, this funding will also support hiring two outreach workers to expand field work into new locations and to target additional at-risk communities, namely Native Americans, LGBTQ youth, and poor rural individuals.
Butte AIDS Support Services (Butte, MT) $1,000 will provide financial assistance and community support to individuals infected and affected by HIV/AIDS, including medical co-pays, pharmacy co-pays, food cards, and gas cards. Southwest Montana has recently has lost one of the doctors who takes HIV+ clients. Without this doctor 80% of the group’s clients are going out of town for doctor visits. With no support from Butte-Silver Bow’s Ryan White Program for any of these services the responsibility has fallen on the group to support them.
Camp and Retreat Ministry/Strength through the Journey (Portland, OR) $2,000 for a four-day retreat for adults living with HIV/AIDS. Participants build a safe and supportive community at camp and choose from a wide array of activity options as well as opportunities for rest, small group sharing, and reflection. The project seeks to relieve isolation and reduce the stress of everyday challenges by changing the pace, place, and face of routine days at home. Past participants design the next years’ experience. Every opportunity is given for campers to join the Leadership Team that meets year-round as well as share their gifts and talents onsite during the event. Everyone makes choices during the camp appropriate for their energies and interests. Activities may include: walks, group-building initiatives, canoeing and kayaking, arts workshops, choral group, movies, and of course, lots of conversations. Volunteers support participants at all times and assist with special all-camp features like a variety show, campfires, and Night Owl Cafe.
Center for Multicultural Health (Seattle, WA) $5,000 to expand their support young gay, bisexual, and queer men of color. Through a one-day summit for young gay, bisexual, and queer men of color, CMCH proposes to create a supportive and engaging environment for gay, bi and queer men of color across the age spectrum to connect, share their vision for the future, and identify ways to build a stronger sense of community and provide mutual support. They will accomplish this with collaborations with other minority community-based organizations such as Entre Hermanos. In addition, they will continue our work on Emerald City Black Pride, an initiative to foster pride and strengthen the sense of community among LGBTQ people of color.
Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon (Portland, OR) $2,100 for free bus passes for their clients who are Portland’s most vulnerable, underserved population living with HIV/AIDS. Transportation to and from the center is crucial, as is the use of public transit to access other services as well as while carrying out the tasks of daily living. The Center meets the critical needs of their clients for shelter, nutrition, personal services and peer support in a caring community. To qualify for a bus pass a client’s income cannot exceed $730 a month, he/she must have visited the Day Center at least nine days in the previous month and must certify that he/she does not have access to a vehicle.
Educate Ya (Portland, OR) $2,000 to recruit and train up to ten HIV Health Educators from SOMOS who will educate up to 600 high-risk LGBTQ Latinos ages 13-59 through community presentations in Spanish about the prevention and reduction of HIV/STI infections in the Latino community. HIV Health Educators will engage them at the street level, during outreach at fairs and conferences, and in small group prevention education workshops. In addition, this project addresses an important need that is not being met by any other organization in the county. Specifically, Latino parents and their children are not able to communicate effectively with one another because the parents do not speak English and the children do not speak Spanish effectively. When issues such as sexuality and safe sex come up in the lives of the children, the parents are not able to communicate with their children limiting the necessary components of parent-child communication and development.
Friendship Dinners (Tulalip, WA) $2,400 to be used for the purchase of food and supplies necessary for the preparation of a home-style dinner served once a month to People With HIV/AIDS and a few friends who support them. In partnership with Evergreen AIDS Foundation attendance at Friendship Dinners has grown to an average of 50, up from 30, prior to their involvement. The group also brings many volunteers to help with this project.
Inland Oasis (Moscow, ID) $1,400 for the purchase of up to 200 HIV test kits, the installation of electrical outlets in Inland Oasis’ Moscow community center, and the purchase of a community center projector. In 2013, Inland Oasis expects to serve 300 to 400 individuals with its HIV/AIDS services, and 50 to 100 people through its community center.
Jefferson AIDS Services (Quilcene, WA) $5,000 to support the Client Emergency Living Expense Program (CELEP). Through CELEP, they have been able to help their clients over the years with everything from housing to help with a sick pet. Clients utilize this program by making direct calls to their client advocate and making a request. Clients are given a monetary cap in which to work with over the year. Requests are approved for housing, food, utilities, transportation, medical and dental care as well as other items pertaining to quality of life issues.
Martha’s Pantry (Vancouver, WA) $5,000 As the only non-governmental service for people living with HIV/AIDS in Clark County, Martha’s Pantry is a place people living with HIV/AIDS go for supplies, and for information about things going on in the community, job opportunities, other services in the area and discussion, games and social activities. They will spend 50% of the grant to buy non-food items and the balance to help pay for the facility where they serve clients. Martha’s is the central location for many of our clients’ social interactions. Clients/friends can volunteer at the pantry; work in the community garden, and/or work at the functions of organizations that raise money for the Pantry. With a focus on dignity and quality of life, there are many opportunities for individuals to engage.
North Idaho AIDS Coalition (Coeur d’Alene, ID) $1,400 to help the group provide up to 20 professional HIV 101 presentations in 2013 to north Idaho rehabilitation agencies, targeted groups in the region and health care facilities. The education is aimed at at-risk individuals, as well as health care providers to help them talk comfortably about HIV/AIDS, sexual orientation, risks, and drug use.
Palouse HIV Consortium (Pullman, WA) $3,000 to assist people living with HIV/AIDS in Whitman County with the costs of healthcare and social services needed to maximize their health, self-sufficiency, self-esteem, and quality of life. As a funding source of last resort, an HIV/AIDS case manager contacts Palouse HIV Consortium (PHC) when there is no other agency or insurance to provide the needed service. Although all clients enroll in the Washington Department of Health’s Early Intervention Program, it has been reduced to almost exclusively providing HIV medications, causing requests for their assistance to increase in number and cost. PHC remains the only agency in Whitman County providing financial assistance for HIV+ clients. (Washington Outside of King County)
Pierce County AIDS Foundation/MPowerment Olympia (Olympia, WA) $4,500 to support an evidence-based community-level HIV/AIDS prevention program developed to meet the needs of gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning men, ages 18-29. Mpowerment Olympia remains substantially underfunded by the CDC and Washington State Department of Health. Participants build community connections and self-worth while disseminating HIV/AIDS prevention knowledge, challenging substance abuse, and problem solving in order to provide relevant direct services to high-risk demographics.
Rosehedge/Multifaith Works (Seattle, WA) $2,500 to purchase unlimited-use bus passes for residents of their Enhanced Assisted Living Program, which serves individuals with AIDS plus at least one complicating diagnosis, such as mental illness or chemical dependency. Residents need assistance with activities of daily living and meals, and none are able to drive or work. Most have the ability to get around town on the bus, but with no income, even the reduced fares offered for people with disabilities are prohibitively expensive. Destinations include: medical and dental appointments; visits with social workers; visits with family members or friends; trips to the library; trips to parks; visits to favorite neighborhoods or shops; day treatment centers such as Bailey Boushay; and counseling appointments.
Sean Humphrey House (Bellingham, WA) $5,000 for residential services for very low-income adults living with HIV/AIDS. Sean Humphrey House provides safe housing and 24-hour personal and medical care for very low-income adults living with HIV/AIDS who often suffer from other diseases, disabilities, or mental illness. The facility has six single-occupancy units; residents have their own rooms with common kitchen and living areas. Residents come from hospitals, shelters, and often from the streets.
Seattle Area Support Groups (Seattle, WA) $5,000 in general operating support to meet the non-payroll, administrative costs of 1) facilities rental and 2) the cost of training the peer facilitators of the support groups. The primary constituencies of Seattle Area Support Groups are people who are affected by HIV/AIDS. This includes those directly afflicted with the HIV/AIDS virus, their partners, friends, and families. As the agency has grown, it has created support groups in response to the needs expressed by the community it serves and currently has over 70 support groups weekly. Groups meet daily, morning until late evening, providing a safe, supportive environment to share the complex issues of living with HIV/AIDS, dealing with addiction/recovery and the challenges of being a sexual minority. The agency serves over 12,000 clients served annually, with approximately 1,500 of those being unduplicated.
The Seattle Humane Society for Seattle/King County (Bellevue, WA) $2,500 to fund the Pet Project, designed to help low-income people disabled by AIDS keep their pets by matching volunteers one-on-one with clients to provide pet food, flea control, cat litter and other pet supplies on a monthly basis. With the generous support of volunteer veterinarians and technicians, Pet Project is able to provide free veterinary clinics where clients’ pets receive exams, vaccines, lab work, dental cleaning, routine care and medications every other month. Additionally, volunteer groomers allow us to also offer grooming services. For clients unable to drive, volunteers drive them to veterinary and grooming appointments and other service providers as needed. Seattle Humane Society also offers free spay or neuter surgeries, subsidized pet adoptions and free or subsidized dog training for participants in the Pet Project. The Project prevents clients from having to choose between self-care and care for their beloved companion animals. Clients’ pets provide them with regular routines and companionship that prompts them to also take care of themselves.
The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence – The Abbey of St. Joan (Seattle, WA) $2,500 for theirPlay Fair! safer sex outreach and condom ministry with funds being used to pay for supplies contained in safer sex outreach kits. The Abbey spreads a message of personal responsibility to community members and their sexual partners to Play Fair! and stay safe by distributing Play Fair! pamphlets (English and Spanish), “Condom Savior” packs containing a condom and foil pack of lube, and “Passion Packs” which contain a non-latex glove, dental dam, latex condom, and non-glycerin based lubricant. Their Spanish safer-sex pamphlet (“¡Juega Bien!”) is further distributed in digital form to our other chapters in cities with Spanish speaking communities.
Yellowstone AIDS Project (Billings, MT) $2,500will help support and empower Montanans living with HIV/AIDS. This includes helping clients meet basic needs, increasing their personal health and self-sufficiency, increasing their mental and/or physical health, and increasing confidence in their ability to be self-sufficient. Support activities include assistance with prescription co-pays, transportation to doctor appointments, utility bills, food, housing, and other basic needs. Empowerment activities will include support groups, counseling, educational events, skill building, one on one coaching and case management.
In Support of Lesbian Health
Cedar River Clinics (Renton, WA) $5,000 to offer lesbian, bisexual women, and transgendered people health care in a safe, culturally competent, and compassionate environment in their Renton Clinic. This funding will support training for medical staff in the latest medical protocols and best practices for lesbian, bisexual and transgender health care. It will also support general operating expenses including staffing, equipment and overhead for a year of health services, community education at health and community fairs.
Cedar River Clinics (Tacoma, WA) $4,000 to offer lesbian, bisexual women, and transgendered people health care in a safe, culturally competent, and compassionate environment in their Tacoma Clinic. This funding will support training for medical staff in the latest medical protocols and best practices for lesbian, bisexual and transgender health care. It will also support general operating expenses including staffing, equipment and overhead for a year of health services, community education at health and community fairs.
In Support of Youth and Families
Alaska Youth Development Coalition (AYDC) (Anchorage, AK) $5,000to fund the LGBT Youth Support Services Project, which will increase adult youth worker knowledge and skills on how to support LGBTQ youth in hopes of improving the quality of LGBTQ experiences in youth serving agencies. The project will include developing youth led listening circles to identify LGBTQ youth concerns and issues, assisting LGBT Peer Leaders in developing a comprehensive training, conducting youth-led agency and community-based trainings, and evaluating adult training outcomes. The group is a coalition of over 45 youth serving organizations in Anchorage that exists to provide evidence-based training and information to strengthen their services. Coalition members who have expressed interest in participating in the LGBT Youth Support Services Project include Anchorage Public Library, Boys & Girls Club, Anchorage School District, YWCA, Alaska Center for Pediatrics, and Covenant House.
Boise State University Women’s Center (Boise, ID) $4,000 to fund the cost of registration, hotel rooms and meals for 30 high school students to attend “The Power of One: Becoming Inclusive Leaders” LGBTQ and straight ally regional student conference being hosted at Boise State University April 26-28, 2013. Power of One is an annual Northwest student leadership conference that encourages and empowers LGBTQ and questioning students, and their allies, faculty and staff who support them, promoting healthy and safe communities.
Children’s Home Society of Washington (Vancouver, WA) $5,000 for staffing, food, and bus passes for the Triple Point LGBT Youth Support Group. Triple Point is one of the only programs for queer youth in Clark County, WA. They are actively engaged in providing support, education, resources and increasing the capacity of youth to succeed in their lives. Youth frequently talk about experiencing homelessness, rejection, bullying, drug use, and questions about sex and sexual orientation and gender. Some of their major goals for the year include providing leadership engagement and training for youth, assisting youth in being job and school ready, supporting the development of healthy sexual and gender knowledge, and improving communication strategies amongst youth.
Greater Maple Valley Community Center (Maple Valley, WA) $5,000 for the year-old LGBTQ Discussion Group for teens in partnership with the Maple Valley Library. The purpose of the group is to provide a safe space for the teen LGBTQ community to come together and share experiences, concerns, and goals, and to have access to reliable resources in Maple Valley. The group’s primary activities are to engage with guest speakers and discuss individual/queer/societal issues that the youth see as a problem. Other goals include networking with other LGBTQ-friendly organizations to promote collaboration, and to increase awareness of LGBTQ allies in Maple Valley and south King County; and to start building support for parents with LGBTQ youth and LGBTQ families by having the Renton PFLAG group introduce a discussion forum for families at the Maple Valley Days Festival.
Janus Youth (Portland, OR) $4,000 Janus Youth Programs’ Yellow Brick Road Washington Street Outreach Program and the Perch Drop-in Center will use funds to increase their ability to connect with LGBTQ street youth in Vancouver, Battle Ground, Washougal and Camas, WA through focused outreach, positive recreational activities and gender/sexual identity programs. Through partnership with Triple Point Services, Clark County’s LGBTQ youth will be helped with transportation options, completing paperwork to obtain documents for housing and job applications, addressing legal and medical issues, and attending educational workshops.
Kitsap County HIV/AIDS Foundation (Silverdale, WA) $4,500 will support existing Q programs including Drop-In, Youth Leadership Council (YLC), GSA Networking, and Q Tips. Drop-In meets weekly to provide youth with educational and social enrichment, artistic outlets, resistance skills, and healthy relationships. YLC meets to develop, plan, and facilitate youth programs. Q Tips meets monthly and is facilitated by a licensed mental health professional. In addition, funds will help the Q Center obtain new goals which include starting a transgender support group, exploring a partnership with the Reconnecting Youth CAST program, structuring Drop-In field trips at least twice a year, and increasing visibility and awareness of the Q Center. The Q Center serves youth between the ages of 13-20, the only youth center in Kitsap County focused on LGBTQ and allied youth. The Q Center will serve at least 400 youth and have at least 1000 contacts.
Kitsap Safe Schools Network (Paulsbo, WA) $1,000 to help fund the Kitsap Youth Rally for Human Rights where, on March 22, 2013, over 300 middle, junior and senior high school Kitsap peninsula students will gather at Olympic College to learn and celebrate the human rights of all students. Students attending the youth rally are members of schools clubs and groups that work to positively recognize and support all students, especially those targeted by bullying. Discussion topics include suicide prevention, racial and cultural identity, peer mediation, and Gay-Straight Alliance clubs. Many of this richly diverse group of 13-18 year old youth are marginalized at school because of their sexual orientations, their racial, cultural, and gender identities, and/or their abilities.
Lifelong AIDS Alliance (Seattle, WA) $5,000 for a school recruitment tour with Lifelong AIDS Alliance partner, Queer Teen Ensemble Theatre (QTET). Production and workshop costs will also be covered. This is part of Lifelong’s youth HIV/AIDS prevention and education outreach program, and allows them to reach a younger demographic. It will give LGBTQ youth a safe place to tell their stories using improvisation, games, dance, and writing to explore issues of identity, gender, and sexual orientation. The recruitment tour will visit at least 20 schools across Seattle to promote the summer intensive and offer in-school sexual health workshops: the QTET team will visit classrooms and attend Queer Youth Space and Gay Student Alliance (GSA) events to identify interested students. They will distribute applications and lead Q&A sessions or will give materials to GSA leaders, school counselors and theatre and classroom teachers and ask them to recommend specific students for the intensive. The culmination will be a summer theatre intensive and a performance of their original one-act play during the 2013 Seattle Pride Festival weekend.
Lotus Rising Project (Ashland, OR) $4000 for Not Straight Not Sure’s (NSNS) second decade of success. NSNS supports lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer youth and young adults ages 14-25. In the first decade of NSNS, youth founded the group and met consistently to support one another, often meeting in the facilitator’s living room because local agencies denied them access to meeting space. The volunteer facilitator of the first decade is retiring. She has recommended NSNS separate the counseling and program coordinator positions. Pride Foundation funds will move the program forward by allowing the Lotus Rising Project to follow her recommendation to separate the counseling and program coordinator positions. For the first time, both positions will be paid. Funds will also cover meeting materials, mileage to help youth get to meetings, educational speakers, social events, and marketing (event fliers, program brochure and website updates).
Multicare Good Samaritan Outreach Services (Puyallup, WA) $5,000 to the Teen Sexual Minority Support Group, recently renamed “Prism”. The support group has been in existence for the last 14 years and is facilitated by a Licensed Clinical Therapist. The group is a safe place for teens that identify on the LGBTQ spectrum. Once a week for two hours, participants can count on friendly support for their unique mental and emotional needs with other youth who may share similar experiences and challenges. Good Samaritan’s Prism group offers youth a place to talk about issues that matter to them, such as coming out to themselves or at school, dealing with family and friends, problems with family religious values and doctrine, depression, and drug use and abuse. The funding supports a Master’s level Mental Health therapist to facilitate the weekly support group, snacks, activities such as speakers and field trips and a small amount of time for educating the community.
Odyssey Youth Center (Spokane, WA) $5000 for ongoing work to develop Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) clubs and/or social justice clubs in all Spokane County high schools. They have made significant progress since our 2011 grant and are eager to push forward. Specifically, this 2012 request will enable Odyssey to continue working with an alliance of community organizations that was formed to promote GSA’s and to affect improvements in existing anti-bullying and harassment training in local schools. This funding will also help to keep the center operating through ongoing financial struggles.
Oregon Safe Schools and Communities Coalition (Portland, OR) $4500 to cultivate Oregon Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) to serve middle and high school, and community college youth by enhancing a statewide infrastructure. They will support existing GSAs, create new ones and help youth organize a statewide gathering for youth. Although OSSCC and Oregon GLSEN created the Oregon GSA Network in 2005, it has languished recently and needs to be revitalized. Youth want to communicate with one another, share ideas, and build on one another’s experiences, so interactivity will be added to the website, as well as adding an active Facebook component.
Partners in Prevention Education (Olympia, WA) $3,500 would help fund 114 hours of individual, family, and couples therapy for LGBTQ, questioning, intersex, and straight ally youth and young adults ensuring drop-in hours at the PiPE office are offered at times when other organizations are not open. The grant also pays for water and electric costs for homeless youth and young adults to access a safe shower and laundry facilities. Currently there is no safe location for homeless transgender individuals to access safe bathing facilities. While the YMCA (by voucher and photo ID) and Salvation Army (if an individual stays at their shelter) provide showers they are gender binary and do not recognize an individual’s gender identity. This means that accessing these shower facilities is inherently unsafe, and this basic need to bathe and have clean clothes impacts an individual’s self-esteem, ability to find employment, and to secure housing.
Peace and Justice Action League (Spokane, WA) $4,500 for their Young Activist Leaders Program (YALP). The intensive ten-month program develops the leadership, skills, analysis, and relationships of young activists, builds capacity of local youth-led campaigns, increases youth involvement in social justice campaigns, and builds a network of young leaders. Participants attend a monthly skills-building educational workshop and two retreats and volunteer with a group of their choice. Workshop topics include Planning & Coordinating Campaigns for Change;Checklist for a Powerful Event; Earning Media Coverage; Effective Meetings; Fundraising Fundamentals; Public Speaking; Identity, Privilege, Oppression & Making Change; Challenging Oppressive Statements; LGBTQ Equality & Liberation; Moving Racial Justice; Corporate Power: An Economic Reality Check; Keeping Our Activist Selves Strong; & Negotiating with People in Power.
Peace For The Streets By Kids From The Streets (Seattle, WA) $5,000 to hire Queer Youth Outreach (QYO) interns who will assist with street outreach, conduct community needs assessments, and make connections with a wide range of partners working with LGBTQ youth and their allies. Each QYO intern will participate in Lasting Employment Advancement Program workshops to improve job seeking, resume writing and personal presentation skills while establishing solid work experience and a credible reference. They are currently piloting the Queer Youth Fund (QYF). QYF provides a dedicated pool of funds available to support homeless LGBTQ youth to overcome the unique challenges they face in getting back on their feet. Use of these funds includes health/medical care, therapy, education, legal/court fees, clothing, and temporary shelter.
PFLAG Oregon Central Coast (Lincoln City, OR) $1,900 to provide a stipend for the LGBT Teen Support Group leader at Newport High School and to support the five Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) in Lincoln County and to help establish a sixth. The support group is badly needed in a rural community where awareness and understanding of LBGTQ persons is growing, but still has far to go. This was recently illustrated by a hateful, homophobic letter to the editor published in a local paper. This letter caused a great deal of fear for many LGBTQ persons in the county, including youth who are especially vulnerable. Just prior to this letter a gay teen attempted suicide and others were counseled. Funds will also allow students in the GSAs to travel to conferences held county and statewide. Attending these conferences last year was beneficial in many ways to the students who participated.
Pierce County AIDS Foundation/Oasis Youth Center (Tacoma, WA) $5,000 to support general operating expenses at Oasis Youth Center. Oasis Youth Center is the only drop-in resource and support center for LGBTQ youth ages 14 to 24 in Pierce County. Formed in 1988, Oasis has served over 4,000 youth and young adults throughout the Puget Sound region. The mission of Oasis is to enhance and sustain the health and well-being of LGBTQ youth by saving individual lives, building community and developing young leaders who can change the world. Oasis is a youth-adult partnership in which young people and adults come together for shared teaching, learning and action. The Oasis model pairs culturally specific prevention and advocacy services with youth leadership development to offer each youth member an individualized experience among a community of supportive peers and adults. To fulfill its mission, Oasis offers 21+ hours of weekly drop-in time in a fun, safe and welcoming environment.
Pizza Klatch (Lacey, WA) $4,000 offers confidential, facilitated LGBTQ and Questioning youth support groups during the school lunch period at six Olympia area high schools. Straight allies are also invited, which not only adds more support but also allows a LGBTQ youth to use being a “straight ally” as a cover if they choose. Each group is led by two trained adult facilitators from the community, and free pizza is provided so that they can make full use of the 25 minute lunch period, provide an alibi for those who are not “out,” and draw allies who would otherwise not attend.
Seattle Public Schools Health Intervention Office (Seattle, WA) $5,000 for their gender and gender non-conforming programs, a growing issue in the school district as more students are openly identifying as transgender or gender nonconforming at all grade levels. Teachers and school administrators are requesting support, training, and resources for families and students.
Seattle will remain on the forefront of the LGBTQ work in schools by partnering with Gender Diversity and The Northwest Network to provide training and technical assistance to students, staff, and families regarding gender in schools. Additionally, age-appropriate LGBTQ-focused books, lesson plans, and DVDs will be purchased for use in the classroom; funds will support the continually-expanding Gay-Straight Alliances by providing facilitators and snacks for the weekly group meetings; and staff will get training and support around procedural guidelines for addressing transgender and gender nonconforming student issues in schools.
Skagit Valley Family YMCA/Oasis Teen Shelter (Mount Vernon, WA) will help fund the YMCA Oasis Teen Shelter and the Born This Way program. YMCA Oasis is the only state licensed emergency shelter in Skagit County for runaway and homeless youth ages 13-17. The shelter offers private meeting space, a sound studio, bathroom, shower, laundry facility, and multipurpose art/meeting/and computer space. The Born This Way program began in 2011, from a Pride Foundation grant. The Born This Way program offers once a week, a safe place for LGBTQ youth and allies to have access to social groups where there is no fear of outside retribution or discrimination. For youth who need the resource of our emergency shelter, the access will be direct and their safety and confidentiality will continue to be maintained.
Stonewall Youth (Olympia, WA) $5,000 to support general operating expenses for Stonewall Youth, Olympia’s LGBTQ Youth Center. In particular, these funds will support the group’s Speakers’ Bureau. This is a program that provides ongoing education and training. Speakers’ Bureau workshops focus on a variety of topics and cater to many audiences, from peers at local schools and social groups, to social service workers and administrators. Often this work leads to larger community conversations and sustained action. The Speakers’ Bureau program is an provides youth with skills, tools, and information to become active community organizers. The Speakers’ Bureau also organizes an annual Stonewall Activism Summer School, a week-long intensive of workshops and discussion for youth ages 21 and under from all over Washington and Oregon.
TAP 365 (Billings, MT) $2,000 will fund educational presentations provided by TAP 365 members to a variety of local schools and community groups with the goal of promoting diversity awareness and education on anti-bullying strategies. TAP 365 has partnered with the Montana State University anti-bullying program and will provide speakers and resources for programs they have planned. TAP 365’s signature event series, four pride festival events, offers activity-based gatherings to promote community building and awareness of diversity for the LGBTQ and straight allies within our community. They are planning on repeating the events organized last year, which include the “Sip for Pride,” “Slide for Pride” and “Stride for Pride,” with proceeds going to Pride Foundation scholarships.
TransActive Education and Advocacy (Portland, OR) $4,000 in general operating support to further their capacity to serve the counseling, case management, medical referral, education, and advocacy needs of transgender and gender nonconforming children, youth and their families. TransActive currently delivers these services to more than 100 transgender and gender nonconforming children, youth, and their families. Those numbers continue to grow. Thirty one of those children will receive clinical counseling services through their licensed staff counselor and their intern program. In addition to the services we provide through counseling and case management, monthly support groups now serve more than 50 people. Their school-based training this year will focus on continued assistance to schools in becoming compliant with the Oregon Safe Schools Act.
Vista Youth Center (Kennewick, WA) $1,000 for a new program called Glitter Grad. Through intensive year-long one-on-one and group mentoring Glitter Grad will serve clients at Vista Youth Center and help them reengage with school. Clients will be provided with bus passes, assistance with any applicable test or application fees, incentives for satisfactory academic progress and the opportunity to go on college visits. The Glitter Grad Program is specifically targeting youth who do not have a strong support system at home and/or young adults reengaging in school after a period of absence due to dropping out or taking time between high school and post-secondary education.
YouthCare (Seattle, WA) $5,000 for ISIS House, a transitional living program specifically for LGBTQ homeless young adults and their allies, ages 18-21 in King County, WA. The purpose of ISIS is to increase the safety, well-being, and self-sufficiency of LGBTQ homeless young adults and to support these young people in building and maintaining positive relationships with caring adults. Proposed project activities include: a 10-bed transitional housing program where youth can stay for up to two years. on-site case management including mental health and chemical dependency counseling, education and employment counseling, weekly service learning and leadership building opportunities, and independent living/life-skills curriculum, educational opportunities through YouthCare’s James W. Ray Orion Center and access to a specialized Seattle Public School, a structured GED program, and college counseling, and referrals and transportation to LGBTQ-friendly preventive care and primary health care.
Youth Eastside Services (Bellevue, WA) $5,000 for BGLAD (Bisexual-Gay-Lesbian Adolescent Drop-in), a free support group open to youth 13-19 who identify as LGBTQ or intersex or who may be questioning their gender and/or sexual identity. BGLAD enables youth to meet their peers and discuss life issues in a safe and confidential environment. In addition, they offer one-on-one counseling for youth and their families around sexual orientation and/or gender identity. A growing number of parents seek counseling to help children as young as pre-kindergarten with issues related to non-normative gender/sexuality. Youth Eastside Services offers a sliding fee scale based on family income.
Youth Suicide Prevention Program/OUTLoud Eastern WA (Seattle, WA) $4,200 for suicide and bias-based bullying prevention activities in Spokane and surrounding counties. The funds will help cover the costs of their Spokane OUTLoud Project Field Coordinator who will present 8-10 community-based “Safe from Bullies – Saving Lives” workshops for youth workers, social service providers, teachers, school counselors, nurses, and administrators.