PFund has awarded $89,500 in grants to 14 LGBT and allied organizations for 2012. Once again, PFund’s grantee partners address a wide range of issue areas in order to increase community, equality, safety and social justice for LGBT communities across the Upper Midwest. Thanks to the more than 79 organizations that submitted Letters of Interest – and congratulations to the 2012 PFund grantee partners!
Advancing Equal Rights through advocacy and civic engagement
Freedom, Inc. is building a movement in the Queer Black (QBlack) and Queer Southeast Asian (QSEA) communities of Madison and Milwaukee, WI. The strategy is to create liberated identity-specific spaces where Queer folks of color are politicized. In tandem, cis-and/or straight folks of color increase their capacities to act as allies in the Movement. Then, collectively folks engage in direct action work coupled with policy change to bring about social justice. To build this Movement across people of color races/ ethnicities, genders and across many other identities, Freedom, Inc. deliberately strengthens inter-identity relationships. This year FI is strategically building QBlack Folks to be allies to QSEA Folks and the converse. As a result of this work, there will be an increase of QBlack and QSEA folks in spaces together, increase in QBlack and QSEA folks advocating for each other, increase in QSEA and QBlacks in direction action and/ or policy work.
$8,000 Chenoweth Minn. Human Rights Fund; Steve Endean Public Policy and Activism Fund; Kenneth L. Eppich Fund for the GLBT Community, a fund fo the Minneapolis Foundation
Project 515 is a focused initiative with a specific, achievable goal: to ensure that same-sex couples and their families have equal rights and considerations under Minnesota Law. To that end, we educate about discrimination that exists, lobby in non-partisan manner, and deliberately move toward full equality, intentionally changing the debate from acrimony to productive dialogue. Project 515's Protecting One's Home bill was signed into law in 2009, protecting non-spousal homeowners from losing their home following the illness and death of a partner. In 2010 Project 515 advocated for the passage of the Final Wishes/ Wrongful Death bill which was passed by Legislature but vetoed by then Governor Pawlenty. In 2012 we worked as co-founder and leader in Minnesota United for All Families, with efforts focused on defeating teh same-sex marriage ban ballot and preparing to aggressively advance equality issues beyond the 2012 election.
SOY will launch emerging projects that address the struggles and complex intersections of Hmong lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and ally identities. SOY strives to redefine and amplify the movement of culture, family and unity in community to be inclusive and foster empowerment of Hmong LGBTQA through community-building and leadership development. 2012 marks a special emphasis on raising awareness about the marriage amendment through community dialogues about the Hmong LGBTQ perspections and views on marriage, family, relationships and culture. SOY will also focus on organizational development for their next strategic planning phase to ground their vision through social justice, gender and equity and racial equity. Continuous efforts will lift up leadership development in diverse roles; outreach, education and advocacy through discussions, speaking engagements and story sharing; and community organizing, base-building and partnerships to continue engaging communities in intergenerational and cross-cultural bridging.
Creating power through community as a result of organizing, events and the arts
$5,000 The Dennis Kienitz Memorial Fund for the Arts
The 20% Theater Company will stage the world premiere production of The Naked I: Wide Open, performing at Intermedia Arts, in Minneapolis, February 10-18, 2012. The Naked I: Wide Open is an original work, inspired by and serving as somewhat of a 'sequel' to Tobias K. Davis' ground-breaking play, The Naked I: Monologues from Beyond the Binary, which 20% Theater Company produced in February 2009 to sold-out audiences. The Naked I: Wide Open has been created by 20% Theater Company and over 30 local transgender/ gender non-conforming writers and artists. The production itself will also involve over 50 local LGBTI artists and allies as performers, directors, designers, technicians, and volunteers. The Naked I: Wide Open will celebrate LGBTI people, providing opportunities for them to work together to advance equality and turn ignorance into understanding, creating power and community through theatre.
$5,000 Kenneth L. Eppich Fund for the GLBT Community, a fund fo the Minneapolis Foundation; PFund Annual Fundraising
The Bisexual Empowerment Conference: A Uniting, Supportive Experience (BECAUSE) is the nation's largest and longest running conference dedicated to serving bisexual communities. BECAUSE provides a unique setting for individuals who are bisexual, questioning, or allied to gather as a community to gain insight into all aspects of sexuality and gender, to celebrate their freedom to express who they truly are, and to promote bisexual advocacy, social justice, and visibility. BECAUSE 2012, sponsored by the Bisexual Organizing Project and Metropolitan State University, will take place on April 20-22, 2012, at the Metropolitan State University. The weekend will feature a full and exciting weekend of workshops, keynote addresses, and entertainment. AS the 20th anniversary, BECAUSE 2012 will serve not only as a crucial and liberating bisexual inclusion and community-building space, but also as a national bisexual activist networking forum that will further springboard the creation of an empowered, organized, united bisexual movement.
The grant from PFund Foundation will fund Proud Theater's operational and mentoring costs for a new satellite program in Wausau, WI including the office and theater supplies, transporation, communications and other related costs for mentorng the new group throughout the first year. Wausau is a community approximately 140 miles north of Madison, in an underserved area that has identified a need for LGBTQ youth resources. Community members have asked Proud Theater to assist them in establishing a group based on Madison's innovative youth theater troupe. Just beginning its first year, Proud Theater-Wausau, is already helping to unite LGBTQ groups in northern Wisconsin as they begin to collaborate on projects, and spawn a new venture for Proud Theater at UW-Stevens Point for 18-22 year olds at college level.
Capacity building support to achieve its mission to promote, produce, and co-create opportunities and events utilizing innovative artistic methods and strategies. Through engaging LGBTQ artists of color, RARE Productions seeks to unite communities and families in healing relationships and bridging cultural gaps via the vast mediums of art.
Twin Cities Black Pride website Minneapolis, Minn.
$5,000 Racial Equity Initiative Fund
Twin Cities Black Pride is the only LGBT organization in Minnesota serving the Black LGBT community and larger LgBT community by providing spaces that facilitate multiple identities and intersections of our culturally rich and historically diverse communities. We advance the LGBT movement by fostering relationships with other LGBT organizations, allies and community organizations, promote HIV/ AIDS education, treatment, mentoring and social events. TCBP is committed to also presenting, promoting ad participating in activities that bring about awareness to social issues such as homophobia, racism, classism and sexism. TCBP will continue its work in 2012 with extensuve campus recruitment, collaborations within communities of color, and planning our annual Black PRIDE event.
Ensuring access, safety and security in such places as schools, health providers, and housing
Gay Straight Alliance for Safe Schools website Madison, W.I.
$5,000 ADAM + Queer Youth Initiative; PFund Annual Fundraising
Gay Straight Alliance for Safe Schools will increase the capacity of LGBTQ and allied youth, educational staff and parents/ families to create school environments in which LGBTQ and all youth can thrive. While we focus primarily on ending homophobia and transphobia in schools, we understand that deeper, long-term systems change also involves ending racism, classism, ableism, sexism and religious intolerance. GSAFE takes an intersectional approach to movement-building and understands that creating systemic change in schools occurs on several different levels: school culture/ climate, local school policy, statewide educational policy, and national educational policy. In 2012 our capacity-building will focus on outreach to school-based youth LGBTQ and allied organizations across WI, regional school and GSA visits, meetings and youth meet-ups; regional educator trainings, and a statewide LGBTQ youth conference and statewide youth leadership training.
GLBT Host Home of Avenues for Homeless Youth website
Minneapolis, Minn.
$4,000 ADAM + Queer Youth Initiative; Communities of Color; PFund Annual Fundraising
GLBT Host Home Program will provide three young GLBT people of color with the program director to the 2012 Creating Change conference in Baltimore. Its purpose is to provide homeless or formerly homeless GLBT young adults this tremendous opportunity for development and skills-building, all of which will increase the organizing capacity of our local communities. We want to create an infrastructure where queer youth experiencing homelessness - mostly queer youth of color- can shape their own strategies for ending homelessness and creating healthy communities.
GLBT Youth in Iowa Schools Task Force (Iowa Safe Schools) website
Des Moines, I.A.
$4,000 ADAM + Queer Youth Initiative; PFund Annual Fundraising
All students need a safe, supportive atmosphere in which they can learn. Bullying and harassment can lead to increased isolation, the use and abuse of substances, and violence to themselves and others. Students committing suicide due to being called anti-LGBT names or being outed as being LGBT brought national attention to the issue of bullying and the needs of LGBT youth. Iowa Safe Schools developed the Make It Better Mentoring Program to change school climates in our state. No one should have to wait for the bullying and isolation to stop. Make It Better Mentoring uses research-based solutions in providing LGBT youth, those who are targets of bullying, and bullies themselves in matching them with an adult mentor and completing a yearlong social justice-based curriculum. A supportive adult in a youth's life is proven to eliminate issues caused by bullying and eliminate bullying behavior.
$8,000 Kenneth L. Eppich Fund for the GLBT Community, a fund fo the Minneapolis Foundation; ADAM + Queer Youth Initiatives; Mayne Rura and Small Cities Fund
LSS Together for Youth (Together) provides a safe space for LGBT youth to engage in conversations about pertinent issues, develop their personal response, and receive needed emotional support. We aim to refine our approach to further build and maintain a vibrant LGBT youth community, better serve transgender youth, and expand our impact by reaching out to geographically-isolated youth through the development of satellite programs. A new initiative we seek to establish is connecting a recently formed LGBT elders group with youth from Together. LSS staff in Duluth are passionate and committed to providing a safe, supportive group for LGBT youth and educating others on LGBT issues in order to bring about social change. We will continue with that same passion going forward in order to achieve LSS' vision that "All people have the opportunity to live and work in community with dignity, safety, and hope."
MN Transgender Health Coalitionwebsite
Minneapolis, Minn.
$5,000 PFund Annual Fundraising; Our Community Legacy Fund
The support PFund provides enables the Minnesota Transgender Health Coalition (MTHC) in profound ways. It helps us achieve our core values of equal access, social justice and quality healthcare for transgender communities and individuals through our annual MN Trans Health and Wellness conference. The conference is vital to MTHC's work and continues to grow each year. This two-day event provides opportunity for people to come together and learn about trans health concerns and issues. It also provides much needed social context for marginalized trans community to gather at lunch and the annual cabaret. MTHC provides through this conference much needed connections to health screening, testing and referrals. The second is to support general operations of MTHC with The Exchange including coverage and access to this vital queer community space. This support will allow MTCH to provide much needed coverage and access to the queer community space known as The Exchange.
Trans Youth Support Networkwebsite
Minneapolis, Minn.
$10,000 ADAM + Queer Youth Initiatives; Kenneth L. Eppich Fund for the GLBT Community, a fund fo the Minneapolis Foundation
The Transgender Youth Support Network seeks to empower transgender and gender non-conforming young people by supporting them to take leadership in social justice organizing and to transform the systems and institutions they encounter. In the coming year we will focus on growing our Youth Membership Program, especially our base of young trans women of color, who we have identified as central in our work against multiple systems of oppression. Additionally, we will sustain and build on the successes of our Network Collaborative, which engages with local service providers to make the services they provide more accessible and culturally appropriate to transgender youth.
