FY2019 Grantees
Twenty-Eight Grants Totaling $165,000
HIV/AIDS Services - $45,600 (28%)
AIDS Leadership Foothills-area Alliance (ALFA), Hickory, NC; Grant - $5,000
The project will allow ALFA to increase our organization capacity to provide more food resources and expand our delivery of direct services to our most needy clients and their families. ALFA is requesting funding to upgrade our food pantry and funding to assist clients with non-medical transportation needs.
AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod, Provincetown, MA; Grant - $5,000
The Drop-In Center represents a bolder, much more visible approach to HIV/HCV/STI prevention. Previously housed in a second-floor office space on Commercial Street and known as Unit 10, ASGCC's prevention and testing services remained out of view and disconnected from life on the busy street below. Many visitors and even residents did not know about Unit 10, and many felt its isolated location reinforced the stigma surrounding HIV/HCV/STI testing and PrEP.
Bradbury Sullivan LGBT Community Center, Allentown, PA; Grant – $6,000
Support from Gamma Mu Foundation again this year will lead to another year of a robust HIV-testing campaign in our region of Pennsylvania. Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center seeks financial support from Gamma Mu Foundation to continue to promote HIV testing and education intentionally and strategically to ensure that LGBT community members in our multi-county region of PA are aware of the availability, importance, and access to regular HIV testing.
Colorado ManREACH, Nederland, CO; Grant – $9,600
Since 2004, Colorado ManREACH (COMR) has been building heart-centered connections and community for gay, bisexual, transgender and queer men. The Regenerate 2.0 Project is built on a growing body of recent research demonstrating that social disconnection results in multiple health issues, including mental illness, substance use, physical illness, and vulnerability to HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. For no group is this truer than for gay men, particularly rural gay men, who must continuously confront social stigma, alienation, and violence related to their orientation. Colorado ManREACH was this year’s recipient of “The Gamma Mu 50th Anniversary Award”.
Food for Thought, Forestville, CA; Grant – $2,500
The AIDS Nutrient Bank (ANB) provides free and low-cost vitamins and supplements to low-income people affected by HIV/AIDS in Sonoma County, California. We currently serve approximately 300 clients, primarily gay men over age 50, the majority of whom live in rural areas of our county. We provide each of these at-risk clients with nutrition counseling and appropriate vitamins and supplements for their individual concerns and conditions. Through these services, which are expensive and not otherwise available in our community, our goal is to help meet the complex nutrition needs of our clients, and to improve their health and well-being.
LGBTQ Grant County, Silver City, NM – Grant $2,000
LGBTQ Grant County will promote the display of “Names Project” Quilts with providing "field trips" to view quilts and involvement in discussions about safe sex. This requested funding will also provide for banners at local practice fields to provide resources to promote safe sex practices. In addition, LGBTQ Grant County will continue their involvement in local GSA (Gay Straight Alliance) chapters in two local high schools.
South Central Educational Development, Inc., Bluefield, WV; Grant - $7,500
LGBTQ Connects is a Pilot community-building project targeting West Virginia, and Southwestern Virginia’s LGBTQ Communities. This program targeting LGBTQ's living in rural Appalachia with capacity building, while providing HIV Testing. SCED’s director was approached to help create a safe space and bring the LGBTQ community together. This project will utilize social media to organize the LGBTQ community and provide the following; prevention messages, HIV testing, LGBTQ Health information, Perp and Pep information, Suicide prevention hotline, Trans Health information, and other LGBTQ specific information. The messenger app has been utilized to field question pertaining to HIV testing, access to resources, and appointment scheduling. We will also utilize Messenger to begin recruiting LGBTQ leaders living in rural locations.
The Source LGBT+ Center, Visalia, CA; Grant - $8,000
Tulare County does not currently have a community-based organization providing free rapid HIV testing and counselling. The County offers free testing, but not a rapid test; nor LGBT+ culturally sensitive test counselling. Our community surveys reveal a strong interest in rapid results without a blood draw with an LGBT+ culturally sensitive counselor. Our area is struggling with new cases of HIV every year and especially in the outlying areas of the County. The Source would offer free, confidential, rapid testing monthly. We would rotate locations each month. Additionally, The Source has an established HIV peer support group for LGBT+ people living with HIV/AIDS. Thus, our project will test, educate, and if need be, support people diagnosed with HIV in an area that is 10 years behind in those categories.
Community Services - $104,400 (63%)
All Under One Roof, Pocatello, ID; Grant - $10,100
This proposal recognizes, as the LGBTQ community ages, many challenges face our community’s seniors. Many senior members of the LGBTQ community are simply being forgotten by both society and the LGBTQ community. Today’s LGBTQ seniors are finding themselves going back into the closet in order to be safe in care facilities. Many who are the survivor of an LGBT relationship are forgotten and live a lonely and solitary existence. This project will attempt to provide social opportunities for the single mature LGBTQ community. AUOR already has a small group of senior members of the LGBTQ community consisting of retired business people, artists, senior-level employees, and are ready to share their many career and life talents. We propose to put these invaluable talents to use for all members of the LGBTQ community in Southeastern Idaho while focusing on the unique challenges of seniors. AUOR was this year’s recipient of the “Jones/Kahle Award in honor of Martin Culbreth”.
Campus Pride, Charlotte, NC; Grant - $5,000
Camp Pride is a pre-established summer leadership academy for LGBTQ college students; the only one of its kind, Camp Pride educates, enlightens and empowers youth on college campuses across the United States. The requested funding will allow Campus Pride to continue to increase long-term social change impact by providing accessibility for LGBTQ and ally student leaders from rural, under-served and two-year/community colleges in the South and Midwest regions to attend Camp Pride to build a diverse movement of youth leaders and provide meaningful engagement opportunities with LGBTQ and ally student leaders.
CenterLink: The Community of LGBT Centers, Fort Lauderdale, FL; Grant - $6,000
Q Chat Space is a digital LGBTQ center where teens can join live, chat-based, professionally facilitated, online support groups. The program gives youth safe opportunities to connect with each other, in spaces moderated by trusted adults, within a structure that encourages compassionate interactions and discourages bullying and harassment. By providing access to online support groups, Q Chat Space addresses the social and emotional needs of teens who lack access to services at in-person LGBTQ centers due to distance, age, disability, social anxieties, or other barriers. Rural youth have less access to LGBT-supportive resources, and research indicates that youth in rural areas are more likely than youth in suburban and urban areas to say they are more out online than offline.
Coastal Bend Wellness Foundation, Corpus Christi, TX; Grant - $6,000
An LGBT Senior Program operated by the Coastal Bend Wellness Foundation (CBWF) will offer outreach and weekly activities for LGBT persons aged 55 and up from throughout the Coastal Bend of South Texas, an area spanning 12 counties. Such activities will offer the following in an LGBT culturally competent and inclusive way: social connection to peers to reduce isolation and build community; linkage to primary healthcare, LGBT-specific healthcare, and HIV-specific healthcare, mental healthcare and related services; education on healthful aging; linkage to aging-related programs and services; linkage to other needed programs and services as those needs arise.
Covenant House, Charleston, WV; Grant - $6,000
The purpose of the Healthy Homes project is to assist high needs persons living with HIV/AIDS as they move from homelessness or risk of homelessness into stable, permanent housing. We will ease this often-challenging transition by providing basic furniture and household items for unfurnished apartments. Building on relationships developed during this move-in phase, Covenant House staff will provide supportive services to help participants connect and remain compliant with needed medical and social services.
Four Corners Rainbow Youth Center, Durango, CO; Grant - $8,000
LGBTQ youth are at severe risk for suicide, school dropout, the juvenile justice system, drug and alcohol abuse, homelessness and physical and emotional abuse. LGBTQ youth are taking their lives at alarming rates and their community is asking for help. When they tell their stories of oppression, violence, and discrimination, we respond. Our response comes in the form of trainings or one-on-one support and feedback to an individual. In La Plata county alone, we have seen the suicide rate skyrocket and we have the highest in the State of Colorado. Support from the Gamma Mu Foundation will enable us to respond to this direct call to action from our youth.
FREE2LUV, Seattle, WA; Grant - $3,500
The effects of low self-esteem in teens – depression, hostility/acting out, self-harm, feelings of isolation, and poor social skills – are devastating. LGBT youth are particularly vulnerable. In response to this issue, Free2Luv has created innovative and interactive art programming designed to serve LGBT youth in rural communities. Through art and inclusive, open conversations around sensitive topics, we change hearts and minds as we take youth on a journey of self-discovery where they explore their identity and find the commonality in our humanity in our Free2BeME empowerment workshops. Free2BeMe project allows for freedom of expression and opens the door to introspection that helps youth to turn toward, rather than away from their authentic unique selves. Confidence is increased while building artistic and expressive skills.
LGBT Center of Raleigh, Raleigh, NC; Grant - $3,500
The LGBT Center of Raleigh is requesting funding for the support of three of our Youth and Family Services programs, Queer NC, Youth Drop In, and S.E.A.R.C.H. (Safe Environment for the Acceptance of Rainbow Children). Queer NC provides a virtual safe, supported, and moderated space for LGBTQ youth across the state of North Carolina. This is especially important for youth who live in rural parts of the state and are unable to join us in a physical space. We educate teens on current LGBTQ community issues and empower youth to create change in their own communities. We also hold monthly meetups in the Triangle area and are working to expand statewide. Youth Drop In offers a facilitated weekly opportunity for LGBTQ identifying junior high and high school age students to engage with peers in an affirming space.
Lucie’s Place, Little Rock, AR; Grant - $7,800
The Lucie’s Place Assistance Network (LPAN) is the only program of its kind in Arkansas helping this disproportionate sub-population of underserved of LGBT young adults (ages 18 - 25). Young adults are victimized when they lose their home, during their homelessness, and while seeking help from traditional, religious-based shelters. Lucie’s Place embodies the Gamma Mu Foundation’s mission of making a positive difference in the LGBT community.
Make Beautiful Tribe, Penobscot, ME; Grant - $1,500
This project is to help support two three-day weekend retreats for gay, bisexual and trans men in Maine. The tribe has been providing these retreats for 28 years.
North County LGBTQ Resource Center, Oceanside, CA; Grant – $4,000
Too many youth face pervasive harassment and violence at school and with their families because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. This is a reality in the rural area of North San Diego County and is particularly relevant to the experiences of transgender youth. Many LGBTQ youth ultimately experience homelessness as a result of the isolation, stigma, discrimination, shame, and family rejection that they have experienced. North San Diego County do not have any organized institutions that openly encourage LGBTQ youth to educate, organize and thrive. Unfortunately, the North County LGBTQ Resource Center and its youth activities are the only groups in the region that nurture a deeper understanding of the complexities of anti-LGBTQ bullying and harassment.
One Iowa, Des Moines, IA; Grant - $4,000
One Iowa recently hired a program coordinator whose job duties include implementing and expanding our organization’s healthcare programming. Part of this expansion will include building a patient navigation program for LGBTQ Iowans. Through the patient navigation program, LGBTQ Iowans will receive direct, one-on-one guidance to navigate the healthcare system, promoting access to essential cancer screenings and care. This project’s overarching goal is to enable more LGBTQ Iowans to access essential healthcare safely and consistently, including cancer prevention and treatment.
Outright Vermont, Burlington, VT; Grant - $7,000
The Vermont GSA Network is the statewide web of Gender and Sexuality Alliances (GSAs) that are school-based, extracurricular support systems where LGBT youth and their allies can find community and positive adult role models. We remain committed to improving school climate through education, peer support, access to healthy role models, and youth leadership. Research shows that GSAs make schools safer and play a role in mitigating the negative effects of bullying and harassment. GSAs increase connection and belonging, which directly impacts educational aspirations and access. As we hear from youth, the need for these services is great. While some youth have access to GSAs in their schools, many do not. The stigma attached to GSAs is still a barrier for many individuals and schools. As one rural youth stated, “it would be scary to start or attend a GSA where we live in our community.”
TransAction South Dakota, Sioux Falls, SD; Grant - $4,500
In a society that stigmatizes and denigrates transgender people, finding supportive others can be life-saving. That said, finding those connections and supports can be difficult. Finding support is further complicated in South Dakota given the rural nature of the state. TransAction South Dakota (TASD) is developing a network of transgender support groups across the state. We host a peer-facilitated support group in Sioux Falls, but there are many people who are not able to attend given the size of the state. For this local support group, we developed and implemented a facilitator training program. TASD will actively recruit to establish support group leaders in 5 additional areas of the state. The new support group leaders will be responsible for sharing information and publicizing their new support groups and TASD will assist with this given our state-wide presence.
WAVES AHEAD, Corp., St. Just, PR; Grant - $10,000
These funds will help us in the main objective of supporting in the development of stronger segments of LGBT Aging communities (55+) located in the remote areas and communities most affected by the hurricanes; these include: Humacao’s Candelero Arriba (and Abajo), Carolina, San Juan's Caimito and Santurce, Toa Baja and other surrounding communities. We will be working with the LGBT families, households led by mothers, seniors and LGBT seniors who live by themselves (or bed-bound), and with LGBT individuals living in remote areas. Ninety percent of our LGBT population live in remote areas and all are LGBT individuals. We will be able to provide short-term home-based mental health counseling to work through their PTSD as well as assist them with case management in order for them to feel stabilize and transform their quality of living.
Wyoming Equality, Cheyenne WY; Grant - $6,000
Wyoming Equality has started the Wyoming GSA Network, which seeks to educate, empower, and organize young LGBTQ students across the state of Wyoming. We provide financial and technical support to existing GSAs, help to create new GSAs, and work to connect all Wyoming GSAs with events that foster leadership skills. We have helped to bring students to the annual Shepard Symposium on Social Justice in Laramie, have facilitated a GSA Lobby Day at the State Capitol in Cheyenne, and this school year will organize and host a unique, multi-day, statewide conference for all Wyoming high school GSA students. Gamma Mu Foundation funds will help us to continue to provide on-site visits and financial support to students who face hostility from their classmates, administration, and elected officials, but who find resources to foster resiliency and self-esteem in their GSA clubs and in their connections made with GSAs across the state.
Youth Outlook, Naperville, IL; Grant - $4,500
Youth Outlook seeks support for direct services to LGBTQ youth in Whiteside and LaSalle counties of Illinois. Our drop-in centers serve youth ages 12-20 and include wellness programming, HIV and STI education and prevention, and leadership development.
Youth Outright, WNC, Asheville, NC; Grant - $7,000
Youth OUTright WNC, Inc. (YO) continues to be the only organization in the 18 western-most counties of North Carolina focused solely on education, advocacy, support, and empowerment of LGBTQIA+ and allied youth ages 11-20. YO continues to be mission-driven in striving to provide opportunities for LGBTQIA+ youth to be resilient and confident members of our community. We currently provide safe space programming multiple days per week at our new, permanent location in Asheville (Buncombe County), educational resource materials, comprehensive LGBTQIA+ curriculum including "Herstory" lessons, consent focused activities, HIV prevention and safer sex education, hot meals and regular healthy snacks, referrals to outside supportive and therapeutic agencies, a free closet for community members to have access to clothing that aligns with their gender identity, and other resources as needed. As an agency of community education and advocacy we provide information, support and resources to schools, community members and leaders, faith organizations, and families. YO has steadily increased its numbers of youth they support through GSA engagement and outreach efforts over the last three years .
Research and Public Education - $15,000 (9%)
EqualityMaine Foundation, Portland, ME; Grant - $5,000
Gamma Mu Foundation support will help fund two Safe Schools Conferences in 2018/19 - one in the fall on the campus of the University of Maine-Orono and one in the spring at another location still to be determined. Our past experience with University of Maine-Orono was so positive that we are hoping to expand our Safe Schools Conference to be a multi-day event that includes both 101 and 201 level workshops, with the goal of making it an annual event that continues to grow and attract attendees from all over Maine, particularly from Northern and Central Maine. As for the second conference, we hope to host it in another rural/underserved area, such as Western Maine or Downeast Maine. Between the two Safe Schools conferences, we expect to have more than 200 attendees from across Maine.
Safe Schools South Florida, Fort Lauderdale, FL; Grant - $10,000
Safe Schools South Florida (SSSF) respectfully requests $10,000 to support the expansion of its Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning (LGBTQ) Youth Speaker Training Program (YSTP) to small and/or rural school districts in Florida utilizing a Training of Teachers (ToT) approach. In our Youth Speaker Training Program, trained facilitators work with small groups of LGBTQ students to build individual communication and advocacy skills and achieve enhanced self-perception and self-esteem. Facilitators do this by helping students explore, process, craft, and share their K-12 personal journey in a well-organized and compelling manor. These stories encompass family and cultural background, the process of individual self-discovery and identification (coming out), positive and negative experiences within the K-12 educational system and hopes for the future. Each Youth Speaker appearance includes individual/group pre-event preparation and post-event check-in and debriefing to eliminate/minimize re-traumatization and to share feedback on their performance. SSSF was this year’s recipient of the “The Richard Karpowich Award for Research & Public Education”.
FISCAL YEAR 2018 – GRANTS DESCRIPTIONS – TOTAL $145,000
HIV/AIDS Services - $51,400 (36%)
AIDS Leadership Foothills-area Alliance (ALFA), Hickory, NC; Grant Amount - $6,500
ALFA will distribute a total of 36,000 condoms over nine counties in the North Carolina Appalachian Mountains and Foothills in a 12-month period. “Operation Condom Drop” will expand our condom distribution program to reach rural communities in our service area. Findings of this project will be disseminated through our website, newsletters, social media, the Rural Health Information Hub (ruralhealthinfo.org), and presentations at HIV/AIDS conferences as appropriate. For more information, please visit their website at www.alfainfo.org.
Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center, Allentown, PA; Grant Amount - $6,000
As the result of a tremendous growth in the local LGBT population, there is an increased need for targeted resources to serve our community. Bradbury-Sullivan’s project will raise awareness of the need for regular HIV testing, increase knowledge that free HIV and STI testing is available regularly at a trusted LGBT community-based organization in the region, and reduce stigma in the region associated with regular HIV and STI testing, overall increasing the number of people who use our testing services and receive quarterly HIV tests. For more information, please visit their website at www.bradburysullivancenter.org.
Colorado ManREACH, Nederland, CO; Grant Amount - $9,600
Colorado ManREACH programs immerse GBT men in a unique HIV prevention and education experience that challenges our perceptions of ourselves and explores our motivations behind our relationships with other men. A grant from the Gamma Mu Foundation would help Colorado ManREACH continue serving the unmet needs of Colorado’s rural GBT men while it leverages its savings and transitions from a publicly funded to a financially self-sustaining organization. It is hoped that up to 70 participants will benefit from two different programs. For more information, please visit their website at www.manreach.org.
Covenant House, Charleston, WV; Grant Amount - $7,800
The purpose of the Healthy Homes Project is to assist high needs persons living with HIV/AIDS as they move from homelessness or risk of homelessness into stable, permanent housing. We will ease this often-challenging transition by providing basic furniture and household items for unfurnished apartments. Building on relationships developed during the move-in phase, Covenant House staff will provide supportive services to help participants connect and remain compliant with needed medical and social services. For more information, please visit their website at www.wvcovenanthouse.org.
Food for Thought, Forestville, CA; Grant Amount - $3,000
The AIDS Nutrient Bank (ANB) provides free and low-cost vitamins and supplements to low-income people affected by HIV/AIDS in Sonoma County, California. We currently serve approximately 300 clients, primarily gay men over age 50, the majority of whom live in rural areas of our county. We provide each of these at-risk clients with nutrition counseling and appropriate vitamins and supplements for their individual concerns and conditions. Through these services, which are expensive and not otherwise available in our community, our goal is to help meet the complex nutrition needs of our clients, and to improve their well-being. For more information, please visit their website at www.fftfoodbank.org.
Fraternity House, Escondido, CA; Grant Amount - $5,100
Our two homes are both located in rural, unincorporated San Diego County, and have a combined 18 beds, provide transitional, long-term and hospice care all under one roof. Our target population is homeless women and men who are HIV-symptomatic, or have AIDS, and need daily care. 83% of our residents identify as gay male, and 58% cited that they contracted the disease via MSM contact. Our approach is palliative: encouraging highest functioning, managing symptoms, side-effects, and mental health, and providing educational opportunities. Specifically, Project MEND (Mental Health, Education, Nutrition, and a healthy Direction) is based on the County of San Diego Public Health Promotions motto “When we know better, we do better.” Project MEND supports efforts to rebuild our residents' health, regain personal independence, and move in a healthy direction. MEND helps build social connections and fosters feelings of well-being and purpose. Ultimately, the goal of Project MEND is return our residents to independent living where possible or to improve their quality of life in their final days. For more information, please visit their website at www.fraternityhouse-inc.org.
GLBT Center of Central Florida, Orlando, FL; Grant Amount - $6,400
The Mobile Testing Unit is road ready for HIV testing and education. The operational expenses and the additional HIV testing supplies required to create this outreach program is an additional funding piece to the overall budget. The mobile testing unit will provide a measurable outcome, with population areas most at risk, being provided HIV testing, education, and a pathway to treatment in those cases of a positive reactive. The unit has been purposely toned down in graphic and signage as not to be this commercial on wheels that roars into these neighborhoods. For more information, please visit their website at www.thecenterorlando.org.
Vermont CARES, Burlington, VT; Grant Amount - $10,000
Vermont CARES has recently launched a statewide campaign to lead Vermont to no new HIV infections. Our goal is to reduce HIV infections from our current roughly 10-15 infections annually to zero by 2020; we are already seeing a reduction from the initial 20 new cases in 2015 when we started this effort. With a robust network of HIV care and services, we will continue expanding on this to ensure all Vermonters with HIV are on medication to stay healthy and keep from further spreading the virus to others. We have successfully expanded HIV prevention - from syringe exchange to HIV testing to outreach about new medications (PrEP) which stops HIV infection in negative people - to reach each last pocket of our rural state. Our latest accomplishment was to purchase and up-fit a mobile HIV testing unit which will allow us to provide HIV prevention in even the most rural corners of Vermont, truly putting action to our campaign “On the Road to Zero.” For more information, please visit their website at www.vtcares.org.
Community Services - $74,100 (51%)
Easton Mountain, Greenwich, NY; Grant Amount - $7,000
The Gay Men of Color retreat will be entering its third year at Easton Mountain and they are looking to broaden their demographics. Recognizing the wonderful diversity of the LGBTQ community, Easton Mountain strives to include people of every sexual orientation, gender, race, ethnicity, difference of mobility, and socio-economic status. With this spirit in mind, recognizing that every person does not have the financial resources to attend all the retreats we produce, we offer a limited number of full and partial scholarships. We ask that each applicant attempt to make some sort of financial commitment according to their ability, no matter how small. For more information, please visit their website at www.eastonmountain.org.
Equality NC, Raleigh, NC; Grant Amount - $8,000
With the passage of HB2 in 2016, Equality NC recognized the need to support youth in schools and created the Youth Policy program in conjunction with Time Out Youth, a partner organization located in Charlotte. This program was developed to improve school climates for LGBTQ youth across the state of North Carolina through training and professional development for teachers, advocacy and leadership opportunities for youth, policy changes with school administrations, and support for youth-serving agencies. The position of Director of Youth Policy is shared between the two organizations, with 40% of time spent supporting Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, and 60% supporting school districts and organizations across the state. For more information, please visit their website at www.equalitync.org.
LGBT Center of Central Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, PA; Grant Amount - $7,000
The LGBT Center of Central PA seeks to increase and sustain services to the region’s LGBT senior population. Through the Aging with Pride initiative, the LGBT Center aims to promote a positive and healthy quality of life for LGBT individuals in central Pennsylvania by ensuring they continue to be supported, respected, and connected as they advance in age. Through this initiative, the Center will provide social and educational programming to LGBT seniors, including an annual LGBT Aging Conference. For more information, please visit their website at www.centralpalgbtcenter.org.
OutCenter, Benton Harbor, MI; Grant Amount - $8,000
The Teen Pride Program was re-deployed in 2017 with 4 key aligned components that, as a whole, provide a systems-wide approach to serving teens, and creating safe communities: (1) Gay-Straight Alliance of Southwest Michigan – staff, volunteers and teen leaders roll out monthly meetings at the OutCenter using curricula with ice-breakers, educational topics and leadership development activities; (2) Technical Assistance to Area Schools – staff, consultant, school counselors, and teens create at least 2 GSAs on school campuses; (3) Pop Ups – staff, consultants, partner organizations create a sense of belonging and celebration at other sites (Teen Pride Prom in May, Halloween in October); (4) LGBTQ+ Safe Schools Training – a 2.5 hour workshop with these modules is provided to at least 2 schools: history, science and facts of SOGI, understanding discrimination and it’s many forms, understanding impacts of discrimination, stigma, etc., on youth, exploring best practices, and working through school-based case studies. For more information, please visit their website at www.outcenter.org.
OUTright Youth of Catawba Valley, Hickory, NC; Grant Amount - $7,250
OUTright Youth is requesting project support to provide professional development training to educators, administrators, school counselors, social workers, nurses, and student resource officers at 39 middle and high schools in the Catawba Valley region. In partnership with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) we will offer a 4-hour program titled “How to be an Ally”. The program focuses on improving participants’ competence and confidence in working with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth; to provide support and advocacy for LGBTQ youth and for preventing suicide. For more information, please visit their website at www.outrightyouthcv.org.
Proud Theater, Monona, WI; Grant Amount - $6,000
Proud Theater fulfills our mission by offering mentoring, leadership training, community performances, and connecting events. Proud Theater is requesting funds for Proud Theater Performs, a program in which Proud Theater youth will create original performance work out of their own stories, develop artistic and leadership skills, and use theater as a tool for self-expression, community voice, and social change. The goal of Proud Theater Performs is to empower 100-125 young people (42% from rural areas) to express themselves creatively and speak their truth to power. For more information, please visit their website at www.proudtheater.org.
Sacramento LGBT Community Center, Sacramento, CA; Grant Amount - $6,400
The mobile unit supports our ability to take HIV testing and education programs to surrounding neighborhoods and better engage with people outside the city center. PrEP and PEP are effective HIV prevention interventions that could dramatically reduce new infections in California. PrEP is an HIV prevention strategy in which HIV-negative individuals take a daily medication to reduce their risk of becoming infected. PEP involves taking anti-HIV medications as soon as possible after a potential exposure to reduce the risk of becoming HIV-positive. PrEP and PEP are key components of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy as well as California’s response to the HIV epidemic. For more information, please visit their website at www.saccenter.org.
SAGE Maine, Portland, ME; Grant Amount - $10,000
The purpose of this proposal is to expand our outreach activities to additional areas of the state, utilizing the Drop-In programs and the telephone conference system in rural Maine, to enhance the connections among these older GLBT Mainers. The goal is to create additional networks of mutual support and encouragement during their life transitions. We have found these programs to be especially important for older GLBT persons who have never been "out" in the past, even while living in a same-sex relationship; for those who have been recently widowed and are experiencing "unrecognized bereavement"; those who are transitioning their gender identity, including those who are veterans; and those who are long-term survivors with HIV. Support is requested for staff time to oversee and expand these centers, to screen and train volunteer leaders of the centers, for light refreshments and rental fees for the sites, to subsidize meals and other outings for those participants who cannot afford to pay the full price, and for the cost of the telephone and video conference systems for the virtual drop-in centers. Funds are also needed for outreach to inform older GLBT Mainers of these programs and the services that they provide. For more information, please visit their website at www.sagemaine.org.
Stonewall Alliance of Chico, Inc., Chico, CA; Grant Amount - $5,950
Located in California’s North Valley and serving Butte and the surrounding rural counties of Glenn and Tehama, Stonewall reached over 8,000 people last year through an array of direct services and program offerings. Stonewall’s mission is to cultivate a safe, open, inclusive environment for all members of the LGBTQ and ally community. Stonewall Alliance unites, strengthens, and affirms the community through support, resources, education, advocacy, and celebration. This project will provide culturally competent, no-cost/low-cost individual and group counseling services to LGBTQ community members in the rural counties of far Northern CA. Funds are needed to maintain an expansion of the counseling program after some key funding sources changed funding priorities. For more information, please visit their website at www.stonewallchico.org.
Wyoming Equality, Cheyenne, WY; Grant Amount - $8,500
Wyoming Equality proposes to work with the National Association of GSA Networks to establish three additional high school GSAs where there is not currently a GSA group. Wyoming Equality will continue to provide financial support to the eight existing high school GSAs in the state and will also use funds to develop and launch a website dedicated to Wyoming GSA groups. Wyoming Equality has recently reorganized its board and staffing to better provide consistent service to the state of Wyoming and has been able to temporarily support the existing GSA groups but is unable to continue this without additional funding. For more information, please visit their website at www.wyomingequality.org.
Research & Public Education - $19,500 (13%)
One Iowa, Des Moines, IA; Grant Amount - $9,500
Last year, One Iowa began surveying healthcare providers in Iowa to better understand their policies and practices related to creating a safe and welcoming environment for their LGBTQ patients. Over eighty health care providers responded to the first round of this survey, and their answers are posted on our website in the LGBTQ Health Resource List. Many providers indicated they did not have inclusive intake forms, non-discrimination policies, and/or staff training practices. Rural healthcare providers were particularly likely to provide answers that were troubling for the LGBTQ Iowans they serve. Through this project, we will reach out to all rural health care providers who have completed the LGBTQ Health Resource survey thus far to offer support and assistance, especially to the providers who indicated they do not have inclusive policies or training programs. We will also continue distributing the survey to new health care providers across the state with a special focus on rural providers. The survey will be used as an entry point to build relationships with these providers and encourage them to utilize our training and advisory services. For more information, please visit their website at wwwoneiowa.org.
Safe Schools South Florida (SSSF), Fort Lauderdale, FL – Grant Amount - $10,000
Safe Schools South Florida (SSSF) respectfully requests $10,000 to support the development of an Online Learning Academy (OLA). This project encompasses cultural competency training for K-12 Florida educators on issues impacting Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning (LGBTQ) students via online learning modules. To date there has been no systematic approach to providing such education to Florida’s more than 207,000 public school administrators and educators. With online learning modules SSSF can offer recognized quality training that is accessible to educators throughout the state regardless of where the district or community stands in supporting LGBTQ youth. Focus will be given to school personnel in small or rural districts in the southern part of the state. For more information, please visit their website at www.safeschoolsouthflorida.org.
FISCAL YEAR 2017 GRANTS
Total $130,000
HIV/AIDS Services - $46,400 (36%)
AIDS Leadership Foothills-area Alliance (ALFA); Hickory, NC; Grant Amount - $7,000
The “Rapid Testing as An HIV Testing Strategy” project will lead to an expansion of ALFA’s HIV testing and outreach program. The goal is to access a greater number and variety of testing locations without stigma. By expanding the HCV testing access, there will be increased opportunity for HIV testing as including it as an “add on” while an individual is already being tested for the less stigmatized HCV. For more information, please check out ALFA’s website at www.alfainfo.org.
Colorado ManREACH; Nederland, CO; Grant Amount - $9.600
Colorado ManREACH gatherings immerse GBT men in an effective HIV prevention education/community-building experience that challenges our perceptions of ourselves and explores our motivations behind our relationships with other men. Since its founding, Colorado ManREACH has welcomed nearly 1,800 participants at 65 HIV events (referred to as “gatherings”) in 13 rural locations throughout Colorado. For more information, please check out their website at www.manreach.org.
Covenant House; Charleston, WV; Grant Amount - $5,200
The purpose of the “Healthy Hones” project is to assist high needs persons living with HIV/AIDS as they move from homelessness or risk of homelessness into stable, permanent housing. Covenant House provides basic furniture and household items for unfurnished apartments. Covenant House staff also provide support services to help participants connect and remain compliant with needed medical and social services. For more information, please check out their website at www.wvcovenanthouse.org.
Food for Thought; Forestville, CA; Grant Amount - $4,000
The AIDS Nutrient Bank (ANB) provides free and low-cost vitamins and supplements to low-income people affected by HIV/AIDS in Sonoma County. They current serve close to 300 clients, primarily gay men over the age of 50, most whom live in rural areas. Food for Thought provides each of these at-risk clients with nutrition counseling for their individual conditions and concerns. The goal is to help meet the nutrition needs of our clients and to improve their health and well-being. For more information, please check out their website at www.fftfoodbank.org.
The LGBT Center of Central Florida; Orlando, FL; Grant Amount – $3,600
The Center will use Foundation funding to take the HIV testing program to the next level by implementing phlebotomy services. This will allow selected testers the ability to take blood draws at the time a client has a reactive rapid test instead of collecting an oral specimen. This confirmatory test will serve as a client’s “proof of status”, a document required by the Ryan White Care Act for eligibility and access to case management, medical services, and overall care. Performing venipuncture on-site will drastically increase the possibility of identifying those in the acute stage of HIV and will provide a faster turnaround time for confirmatory results. For more information, check out their website at www.thecenterorlando.org.
Open Aid Alliance; Missoula, MT; Grant Amount - $7,000
Open Aid Alliance is committed to being at the forefront of HIV care and prevention services. In addition, Open Aid Alliance is focused on increasing Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) awareness and access in Montana. The project will identify high risk individuals and connect them to care – from Medicaid enrollment to a PrEP prescription and ongoing support to remain HIV negative. This project will be part of the larger effort to create “care coordination” for people who are at risk for HIV, STD, and HCV. For more information, check out their website at www.openaidalliance.org.
Vermont CARES; Burlington, VT; Grant Amount - $10,000
Vermont CARES recently launched a statewide campaign to lead the nation in becoming the first state with no new HIV infections. Funding from the Gamma Mu Foundation allows Vermont CARES to pursue goals related to rural LGBTQ and HIV services and program areas; setting up at least 300 testing clinics in a mix of Vermont’s most populous and most rural communities will allow Vermont CARES to provide at least 900 free HIV tests. For more information, please visit their website at www.vtcares.org.
Community Services $73,600 (57%)
ALSO Youth, Inc.; Sarasota, FL; Grant Amount - $6,500
To increase and improve training and education, ALSO Youth will be spending more time in schools and in the community. ALSO Youth will continue to aid and support to Gay Straight Alliances or Diversity Clubs in schools and to help create new ones as requested. The plan includes assisting the schools in the district to understand and improve their LGBT anti-discrimination obligations. ALSO Youth will increase the amount of training done in the adult community on LGBT sensitivity, diversity, tolerance, affirmation, and acceptance. For more information, please visit their website at www.alsoyouth.org.
Campus Pride; Charlotte, NC; Grant Amount - $7,000
Campus Pride believes in engaging young people as catalysts for positive change in their communities. Camp Pride LGBTQ Summer Leadership Academy (Camp Pride), an annual summer leadership camp for LGBTQ and ally college students, is integral to this mission. Approximately 60% of the LGBTQ youth who benefit from Camp Pride are from rural areas and under-served types of colleges and universities. Campus Pride is committed to rural America and looks to provide additional access to Camp Pride through scholarships for LGBTQ student leaders from rural, under-served and two-year/community colleges in the South and Midwest regions. For more information, please visit their website at www.campuspride.org.
Easton Mountain; Greenwich, NY; Grant Amount - $10,000
Easton Mountain’s objective is to empower Gay and Queer Identifying African American men so they can develop a consistent and positive self-image. This will be achieved through workshops that will address the Gay and Queer African American perspective. Recognizing the wonderful diversity of the LGBTQ community, Easton Mountain strives to include people of every sexual orientation, gender, race, ethnicity, difference of ability, and socio-economic status. The Gay Men of African Descent retreat series intends to offer a focused, communal time of community-building, discussion, rest, healing, spiritual growth, and mind & body integrating workshops. For more information, please check out their website at www.eastonmountain.org.
The GLBT Center of Central Florida; Orlando, FL; Grant Amount - $5,100
The OWL (Older, Wiser, Learning) Senior Program is an aggressive program of the GLBT Center of Central Florida. The OWL Senior Technical Workshop project is a new program designed to assist older adults learn and master some of the technological equipment they own and do not use. Workshops include cell phones through laptops. Additionally, the Center will offer a GED course. A senior questionnaire, promotion, timetable, evaluation tool, and flexibility to meet needs will all be hallmarks of this program. For more information, check out their website at www.thecenterorlando.org.
Hudson Pride Foundation; Hudson, NY; Grant Amount - $10,000
The Hudson Pride Foundation, through its “Elder Care Pride Programs”, wishes to provide educational programming and support services to the LGBTQ populations in rural Columbia County through increased community awareness and sensitivity to the experiences and needs of this oft forgotten and disempowered population. The aging LGBTQ community needs support and advocacy; this project will provide meaningful and sustainable programs for those 60 and older. Programs include social outreach, an educational speaker and movie series, seminars and workshops focused on advanced care planning, support in dealing with social service entitlements, such as social security and Medicare, etc. For more information, please check out their website at www.hudsonpridefoundation.org.
LGBT Center of Central Pennsylvania; Harrisburg, PA; Grant Amount - $7,000
The LGBT Center of Central PA seeks to increase services to the region’s LGBT senior population. Through the Aging with Pride initiative, the LGBT Center aims to promote a positive and healthy quality of life for LGBT individuals in central Pennsylvania by ensuring they continue to be supported, respected, and connected as they advance in age. Through this initiative, the Center will provide social and educational programming to LGBT seniors. The LGBT Center has been providing programs for LGBT seniors for three years; the Gamma Mu Foundation funding will help the LGBT Center maintain current programs and increase their breadth and depth. For more information, please visit their website at www.centralpalgbtcenter.org.
LGBT Grant County; Silver City, NM; Grant Amount - $1,500
Foundation funding will be applied towards three projects: a Pride Event in the fall of 2016. The goal of the event is to celebrate the diversity in Silver City and surrounding rural areas; a rapid testing program including delivery of the tests as well as providing education on both Pep and PrEP, advertising to raise awareness of the program, and ensuring the testing is available at any event in which LGBT Grant County participates; and LGBT Grant County seeks to publicize that it is part of the community of Silver City. This is being done by maintaining a presence at Western NM University athletic events via banners in the gym, as well as maintaining a highway median strip that is one of the first garden areas seen when entering the town. A sign proudly proclaims that the site is maintained by LGBT Grant County. For more information, check out their website at www.gaysilver.org.
One Iowa Education Fund; Des Moines, IA; Grant Amount - $6,000
One Iowa supports LGBT youth through its Iowa Pride Network which supports GSA and pride groups in middle and high schools as well as campuses across the state. To extend impact of the Iowa Pride Network to more rural regions, One Iowa will offer training to middle and high school GSA advisors, school counselors, student life coordinators, and other staff at two- and four-year colleges, as well as PFLAG leaders. One Iowa has identified three rural regions where both existing Iowa Pride Network schools and unserved schools can be reached. For more information, check out their website at www.oneiowa.org.
OutCenter; Benton Harbor, MI; Grant Amount - $4,500
The OutCenter serves three rural counties in Southwest Michigan. Building on the success of past LGBT+ cultural competency training, the Teen Pride project will build on and expand existing strategic partnership development in lesser served counties by utilizing newer online platforms, understanding that teens seek community on line, while also needing to feel a sense of safety and belonging in the geographic areas where they, their siblings and parents live, work, play and worship. In addition, OutCenter provides support and guidance for GSAs. For more information, please visit their website at www.outcenter.org.
SAGE Maine; Hancock, ME; Grant Amount - $7,500
SAGE Maine has the mission of improving quality of life for older GLBT adults through advocacy, education, and social support. SAGE Maine has created drop-in centers for this population; the current project will support these centers and the telephone conferencing system to enhance connections among these older members of the GLBT community. The goal is to create networks of mutual support and encouragement during life transitions. For more information, check out their website at www.sagemaine.org.
Stonewall Alliance of Chico; Chico, CA; Grant Amount - $8,500
Stonewall Alliance of Chico is the oldest and largest LGBTQ community center north of Sacramento serving the rural community. Stonewall reached over 8,000 people last year through an array of direct services and program offerings, and its mission is to cultivate a safe, open, inclusive environment for the LGBTQ and ally communities. Through the Gamma Mu Foundation grant, Stonewall will provide culturally competent, no cost/low cost individual and group counseling services to the LGBTQ community in the rural counties of far Northern California. For more information, check out their website at www.stonewallchico.org.
Research and Public Education - $10,000 (7%)
New Mexico Community AIDS Partnership (NMCAP) ; Santa Fe, NM; Grant Amount - $10,000
NMCAP’s LGBTQ Health Equity Project is designed to assure that all residents of New Mexico have access to high quality, culturally competent care, no matter what their gender identity and sexual orientation, or where they live. While middle-class, urban, white gay men in New Mexico have only minimal difficulty accessing quality, culturally competent health care, gay men of color and those living in the villages and rural areas of the state experience a very different reality. We have heard from many gay men who had bad experiences when they went to local practitioners for care. Not only were practitioners untrained in issues affecting gay men’s health, they were often openly judgmental and unkind. Gamma Mu Foundation funding will support NMCAP goals of increasing access to quality health care for LGBTQ people of color, LGBTQ residents of rural areas and People Living with HIV in rural areas. For more information, please visit their website at www.nmaidspartnership.org.
Fiscal Year 2016 Grants
Total $130,000
HIV AIDS Services - $14,400 (11%)
Fraternity House, Inc.
Escondido, CA
Grant Amount - $2,000
The mission of Fraternity House and Michaellae House is to provide warm and caring homes where homeless and very low-income men and women disabled by HIV/AIDS can receive comprehensive care and services in order to rebuild their health and return to independent living. Fraternity House, Inc. is San Diego County’s only nonprofit housing and medical care organization for homeless people disabled by HIV/AIDS. Fraternity House, Inc. will use the funding provided by the Gamma Mu Foundation to help fund caregiver salaries for their HIV/AIDS Housing + Care Program. For more information, please visit their website at www.fraternityhouse-inc.org.
RU12? Community Center
Winooski, VT
Grant Amount - $3,600
Pride Center of Vermont’s Rural Innovative Testing Project is designed to complement their current Mpowerment and Innovative Testing Program. These two interventions have been adapted by the Pride Center to allow successful reaching out to the rural and underserved populations not currently connected to health services. Through this program, MSM will be met in their own group homes and at house parties. This, in turn, allows testing of those MSM who, for whatever reason, do not want to be tested in more formal facilities. Funding from the Gamma Mu Foundation will be used to ensure that MSM in Vermont have access to free and anonymous testing. For more information, visit their website at www.ru12.org.
Vermont CARES
Burlington, VT
Grant Amount - $8,800
Vermont CARES is launching a statewide campaign to lead the nation in becoming the first state with no new HIV infections. Funding from the Gamma Mu Foundation allows Vermont CARES to pursue goals related to rural LGBTQ and HIV services and program areas; setting up at least 300 testing clinics in a mix of Vermont’s most populous and most rural communities will allow Vermont CARES to provide at least 900 free HIV tests. For more information, please visit their website at www.vtcares.org.
Community Services – $88,000 (68%)
ALSO Youth, Inc.
Sarasota, FL
Grant Amount - $7,200
ALSO Youth Inc. has provided outreach and advocacy services to the LGBTQIA youth of the Sarasota area for 22 years. Gamma Mu Foundation funding will help provide advocacy and support services to LGBTQIA youth and their allies in the rural areas of Sarasota County, in and around Venice, FL. This is in direct response to requests for programs at a satellite center in the southern, more rural, areas of the County. For more information, please visit their website at www.alsoyouth.org.
All Under One Roof
Pocatello, ID
Grant Amount - $8,000
Pocatello, Idaho became the city without much hope in Idaho, experiencing three middle/high school age suicides in the past year. Two of the young people lost were young members of the LGBTQ community and victims of bullying. All Under One Roof (AUOR) will use Gamma Mu Foundation funding to tackle a rural Center’s problem with stigma. While it may be ordinary and normal for someone to walk into a LGBT Center in a metropolitan area, it is not yet in our more rural setting. Our efforts this year will tackle stigma and bullying with a quarterly newsletter; a Stop Bullying Forever Campaign; Cable TV, Internet, Social Media Advertising; AUOR’s 2nd Annual Gay Prom; and signs for the AUOR Center. For more information, please visit their website at www.allunderoneroof.org.
Campus Pride
Charlotte, NC
Grant Amount - $7,500
Campus Pride is the leading national organization for student leaders and campus groups committed to creating safer, more LGBTQ-friendly colleges and universities. Founded in 2001, Campus Pride believes in engaging young people as catalysts for positive change in their communities. Camp Pride LGBTQ Summer Leadership Academy (Camp Pride), an annual summer leadership camp for LGBTQ and ally college students, is integral to this mission. Approximately 60% of the LGBTQ youth who benefit from Camp Pride are from rural areas and under-served types of colleges and universities. Campus Pride, like the Gamma Mu Foundation, is committed to rural America and looks to provide additional access to Camp Pride through scholarships for LGBTQ student leaders from rural, under-served and two-year/community colleges in the South and Midwest regions. For more information, please visit their website at www.campuspride.org.
Green Mountain Crossroads
Brattleboro, VT
Grant Amount - $4,000
Green Mountain Crossroads serves the rural LGBTQ population of Windham County, Vermont. Our project, Safe and Open Brattleboro, works with diverse social service organizations and seeks to address the lack of awareness of the issues facing LGBTQ residents of rural Windham County. These issues include: 1) discrimination based on appearance, sexual preference, and expression of gender identity; 2) specialized mental health and medical needs; and 3) the complicated relationship between the first two items and social/economic challenges such as mental illness, homelessness, addiction, domestic abuse, bullying, and truancy. Gamma Mu Foundation funding will be used for one workshop for each of six Brattleboro social service organizations over the course of a year. For further information, please visit their website at www.greenmountaincrossroads.org.
LGBT Center of Central Pennsylvania
Harrisburg, PA
Grant Amount - $7,500
The LGBT Center of Central PA seeks to increase services to the region’s LGBT senior population. Through the Aging with Pride initiative, the LGBT Center aims to promote a positive and healthy quality of life for LGBT individuals in central Pennsylvania by ensuring they continue to be supported, respected, and connected as they advance in age. Through this initiative, the Center will provide social and educational programming to LGBT seniors. The LGBT Center has been providing programs for LGBT seniors for three years; the Gamma Mu Foundation funding will help the LGBT Center maintain current programs and increase their breadth and depth. For more information, please visit their website at www.centralpalgbtcenter.org.
OutCenter
Benton Harbor, MI
Grant Amount - $3,500
The OutCenter serves three rural counties in Southwest Michigan. Building on the success of past LGBT+ cultural competency training, the Teen Pride Pop Up Project will build on and expand existing strategic partnership development in lesser served counties by utilizing newer online platforms, understanding that teens seek community on line, while also needing to feel a sense of safety and belonging in the geographic areas where they, their siblings and parents live, work, play and worship. The Teen Pride Pop Up Project, supported by the Gamma Mu Foundation, is a strategic community service project and is an underlying strategic initiative of the larger Teen Pride Program. For more information, please visit their website at www.outcenter.org.
OUTright Youth of Catawba Valley
Hickory, NC
Grant Amount - $6,400
OUTright Youth is using Gamma Mu Foundation funding for a general operating community service grant. This will help reduce the isolation felt by LGBTQ youth by providing a safe and inclusive environment and a sense of community through programming and services to counteract the prejudice and oppression the LGBTQ young people in our rural community often face. The grant will also help families who are struggling with acceptance of their LGBTQ children. OUTright Youth plans to help LGBTQ youth navigate adolescence and young adulthood in positive ways while educating others regarding the worth, value, and benefits of a diverse population. For more information, please visit their website at www.outrightyouthcv.org.
Safe Schools South Florida
Fort Lauderdale, FL
Grant Amount - $7,300
SSSF's Healthy Students/Healthy Schools Suicide Prevention Initiative will address prevention and intervention for LGBTQ students in South Florida schools by training educators and students with the American Psychological Association Suicide Awareness program. This initiative will use the proven Safe Schools model as its vehicle for program delivery. SSSF is dedicated to: making school environments safer for all students, in particular, LGBTQ students; raising awareness about the issues facing LGBTQ youth; reducing isolation among LGBTQ youth; and providing support to LGBTQ youth, parents of LGBTQ youth and LGBT parents through its programs. For more information, please visit their website at www.sssf.org.
Stonewall Youth
Olympia, WA
Grant Amount - $4,800
Stonewall Youth is an organization of youth, activists, and allies that empowers lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex and asexual (LGBTQQIA) youth to speak for themselves, educate their communities, and support each other. Gamma Mu Foundation funding will be used to expand our new Rural Youth OUTreach project aimed at addressing the effects of oppression and isolation experienced by rural LGBTQQIA youth and advocating alongside youth for more just and supportive social environments. For more information, please visit their website at www.stonewallyouth.org.
Time Out Youth
Charlotte, NC
Grant Amount - $10,000
Time Out Youth will improve school climates for rural LGBTQ students in school settings in North & South Carolina reaching 200 students and 325 school personnel during the 2015-16 academic year. The project goal for the 2015-2016 academic year is to improve the capacity of local persons to improve their school climates for LGBTQ students. With Gamma Mu Foundation funding, Time Out Youth will increase the competency of educators to support LGBTQ students through 15 trainings reaching 150 school personnel and increase leadership skills of student leaders through GSA Network by providing leadership development programming for student leaders and technical assistance to GSA clubs. For more information, please visit their website at www.timeoutyouth.org.
UP Center of Champaign County
Urbana, IL
Grant Amount - $7,500
Gamma Mu Foundation funding will be used to grow and sustain the Reach Out Program and serve the rural and underserved populations in East-Central Illinois. This will ensure better facilitation of volunteer and outreach activities in the rural communities in which we have already begun doing research. While these areas are within an hour’s drive of Champaign-Urbana, they lack LGBT supportive services and programs. For more information, please visit their website at www.unitingpride.org.
Union County AIDS Task Force
Marysville, OH
Grant Amount - $7,000
The Union County AIDS Task Force (UCATF) serves the rural population of Union County, Ohio. The mission of the UCATF is to increase HIV awareness, education, and testing for all Union County residents, especially at risk populations. In partnership with the Sexual Health Clinic of Union, Madison, and Champaign counties, the UCATF will encourage HIV testing and education of at risk populations. The Task Force plans to hold at least three large scale GYT (Get Yourself Tested) events and plans to bring education through display tables for World HIV Day, National Testing Day, and the Columbus Gay Pride Festival.
Youth Outright WNC, Inc.
Asheville, NC
Grant Amount - $7,300
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth in Western North Carolina (WNC), a region that is significantly rural, need safe and welcoming school and community environments, supportive adults, and opportunities to meet and know similar others from different schools, counties and regions. This is the purpose of Youth Outright’s (YO) GSA (Gay Straight Alliance) and Schools Outreach program. Thanks to Gamma Mu Foundation funding, YO’s GSA and Schools Outreach program will provide the administrative structure, operations and the communications network to develop and manage relations, programming and collaborations with GSAs, and connect more youth with YO programs, services, advocacy, and resources. For more information, please visit their website at www.youthoutright.org.
Research & Public Education - $27,600 (21%)
New Mexico Community AIDS Partnership (NMCAP)
Santa Fe, NM
Grant Amount - $10,000
NMCAP’s LGBTQ Health Equity Project is designed to assure that all residents of New Mexico have access to high quality, culturally competent care, no matter what their gender identity and sexual orientation, or where they live. While middle-class, urban, white gay men in New Mexico have only minimal difficulty accessing quality, culturally competent health care, gay men of color and those living in the villages and rural areas of the state experience a very different reality. We have heard from many gay men who had bad experiences when they went to local practitioners for care. Not only were practitioners untrained in issues affecting gay men’s health, they were often openly judgmental and unkind. Gamma Mu Foundation funding will support NMCAP goals of increasing access to quality health care for LGBTQ people of color, LGBTQ residents of rural areas and People Living with HIV in rural areas. For more information, please visit their website a www.nmaidspartnership.org
Pride Center of the Capital Region
Albany, NY
Grant Amount - $8,800
The Center Youth Action Team is a project designed to improve the academic and social outcomes for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, asexual (LGBTQA) and allied youth in New York's Capital Region, a significantly rural area. Through a youth leadership team trained to conduct trainings to school personnel, teachers and administrators, the Capital Region will experience a safer environment in schools and an increase in the numbers of LGBTQA youth who are trained in leadership and public speaking. More than half of these school districts are rural. For further information, please visit their website at www.capitalpridecenter.org.
The LGBT Center for the Seven Rivers Region
LaCrosse, WI
Grant Amount - $8,800
Rural Education Advancing Community Health (REACH) is designed to increase the presence and impact of The Center: 7 Rivers LGBTQ Connection on the rural communities in its service area. The Center wishes to provide support to LGBTQ persons living in rural areas through increasing community awareness and sensitivity to the experiences and needs of the LGBTQ community through two initiatives: LGBTQ Elder Care Training, and LGBTQ Affirming Medical Provider Directory; and developing and making accessible a free comprehensive list of local LGBTQ identity affirming medical providers. The Center is this year’s recipient of the “Richard Karpawich Award for Research and Public Education”. For more information, please visit their website at www.7riverslgbt.org.