Pride Foundation

86 projects supporting LGBTQ equality in the Northwest

With thanks to generous donors and dedicated volunteers, Pride Foundation has just announced the latest round of grants for 86 projects that impact LGBTQ equality in the Northwest totaling $290,000.

The volunteer driven grants process gives our staff and volunteers a truly unique vantage of the issues that affect our community. As always, the projects funded this year cover a broad cross section of both existing and emerging community needs including HIV/AIDS-related projects, lesbian health, youth issues, elder support, transgender issues, the arts, projects supporting communities of color and many more. See the full list below.

Local volunteers continued to ensure local needs were met. Fifty-eight volunteers throughout Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington played a vital role in the decision-making process.

With the introduction of a new online application process, a record number of initial applications were received – almost 200 applications requesting almost $1 million. There is no question that we would love to grant more funds. Our goal is always to raise more dollars to support more projects like the ones listed here.

As much as we thank our donors and volunteers, we also acknowledge the staff and volunteers that work at the organizations we grant to. Those staff and volunteers are providing important resources that touch people every day and help to strengthen our community.

So, as we read emails of thanks from these grantees, on behalf our donors, volunteers and staff, we’d like to offer our thanks to these amazing grantee organizations.

In Support of Arts and Recreation

BroadArts Theatre (Portland, OR) http://www.broadarts.org/ $1,500 to produce a full length musical play by lesbian author Jody Seay, Bunkin’ With You in the Afterlife. There will be 20 shows in Portland, followed by weekend tours to Southern Oregon. The story is about a group of lesbian cowgirls of different religious persuasions on horseback with Minnie Rhodes and her Many Roads Ministry. As they meet a woman struggling with right wing animosity, the discussion, which is serious and humorous, tackles religion, spirituality, the afterlife, forgiveness, and sexuality. The discussion following each performance becomes an effective way of organizing people to actions of social justice. (Oregon)

Common Ground Community Chorus (Boise, ID) www.commongroundboise.org $2,000 for the purchase of a wireless microphone system. This LGBTQ-supportive/inclusive community chorus performs at a number of events each year and the purchase of a wireless system will help the organization’s overall operating budget by reducing expenses relating to equipment rentals.

Greensoda Productions (Portland, OR) http://austinunbound.org/ $1,500 to launch “Austin Unbound” (AU), an independent documentary. This story shares the intimate and humorous perspective of Austin, a 31-year old Deaf FTM transsexual, and his life in Portland. Austin is transgender, but identifies as a straight man. His family, friends, and community support his goal for the acceptance and normality he deserves. Austin’s charm and compelling personality share a direct and honest view of the struggles and victories he has overcome to finally get his top surgery. Stories like Austin’s foster a more widespread understanding of traditionally marginalized groups. Mainstream portrayals of trans and deaf people are often presented as somehow pathological or in need of repair. AU shows Austin’s funny personality, which serves as an antidote to these more clinical media portrayals by highlighting the humanity of an individual who shamelessly tells his own story in his own words.

Miracle Theatre Group (Portland, OR) http://www.milagro.org/ $1,500 for Opciones Y Educación (O.Y.E.), the Latino Sexual Health Coalition, to raise awareness of sexual health, promote the open discussion of sexuality and reduce homophobia and rigid gender roles in the Latino Community. The Multnomah Report Card on Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities reports that health outcomes “can all be improved through traditional health promotion activities aimed at improving access to health screening and health care, and educating the public about healthy lifestyles.” O.Y.E. will host and facilitate sexual health workshops for the community to address the disparities amongst the Latino population by both providing activities that promote health education, and improve access to a multitude of resources include contraception, and health screenings. Research shows that cultural assets help young Latinos make healthy sexual decisions. These assets include trusted adults, a supportive community, ties to their families’ culture, the ability to access services, negotiation skills and residential stability. The O.Y.E. workshops, led by trained health and arts education specialists, are for teens and adults and use theatre and popular education methodology to engage the participants in discussing sexual health issues.

PFLAG/Juneau Pride Chorus (Juneau, AK) https://www.facebook.com/people/Juneau-Pride-Chorus/1734553548 $1,000 to develop a website that will help expand the numbers and diversity of chorus members, increase opportunities to perform for new audiences, and demonstrate how much fun can be had making music while modeling tolerance. The Juneau Pride Chorus is the only chorus of its kind in Alaska. Founded by members of PFLAG Juneau in 1997, this chorus has grown from 25 to 35 members (lesbian, bisexual, and straight), and audiences have expanded from 30 up to 210 at their annual concerts. In its rehearsals and local performances the chorus has become a gathering place for LGBTQ and straight allies, the arts community, LGBTQ-friendly businesses, and those who are just learning about LGBTQ issues.

Out North (Anchorage, AK) www.outnorth.org $1,000 for general operating support to expand LGBTQ participation in arts and culture. Founded in 1985, Out North has a long track record of cultivating and supporting dynamic, progressive, often provocative art. Out North’s core mission involves producing and presenting art that challenges and inspires; championing artists whose work pushes the traditional boundaries of aesthetics and content; and nurturing creative space where people of all cultures, circumstances, and abilities can gather and learn, particularly those marginalized because of their identities or circumstances. They provide a place to show and promote the creative work of LGBTQ people, and to advocate for LGBTQ voices and issues through art, outreach, and activism.

Revive the Red Tent Productions (Fairbanks, AK) https://www.facebook.com/pages/Revive-the-Red-Tent-Productions/205315812829302?v=info $2,000 to cover the costs of a rehearsal and performance space for the production of “Text,” a show that will use movement and spoken word to act out the experiences of lesbians who came of age in Fairbanks. Revive the Red Tent is a theater company dedicated to the creation of art that gives voice to people from marginalized communities. Over a period of four years, they have successfully produced six shows. In November 2010, they became a state-recognized non-profit organization. For the production of “Text,” slated to run in April 2012, oral history interviews of local women will be developed into texts and movements for the stage, so that members of Fairbanks’s LGBTQ community will be engaged not only in the viewing of the show, but in the creation of it. Given that in Fairbanks there is almost a total absence of artistic productions that reflect the lives of those in the LGBTQ community, Revive the Red Tent believes that there is the potential for the LGBTQ and ally community to be impacted greatly by a production that is created by the community for the community.

Three Dollar Bill Cinema (Seattle, WA) www.threedollarbillcinema.org $5,000 for Translations, a Seattle based film festival devoted exclusively to transgender cinema. Translations provides our community with a venue for films by, for, and about transgendered and genderqueer people and encourages visibility and positive representations of transgender issues. Started in 2006, the four-day festival, one of only a handful in the world, provides a safe space for the transgender community and their friends and allies for social interaction, dialogue, and artistic expression.

Voices Rising (Seattle, WA) www.voicesrisingseattle.org $2,000 to produce four arts events in 2012 featuring artists who are LGBTQ people of color. This arts and cultural collective will present performances, workshops, visual art exhibitions, video/film screenings, and information tabling. They produce an annual season of programming that builds a repository for the works of LGBTQ artists of color and creates an incubator of ideas for these artists and the audiences they engage. Everyone is invited to attend the events. Their audiences are very diverse.

In Support of Education, Advocacy and Outreach

Blackpast.org (Seattle, WA) www.blackpast.org $5,000 to develop a section dedicated to African American LGBTQ history for this online/interactive encyclopedia, the largest site on the Internet dedicated to African American history. The project goals are to expand public awareness of LGBTQ contributions to black history. Their audience includes scholars, researchers, high school and college students, and the general public. The majority are women, 18 to 40 (55%). Washington State generated 3.3% of all visitors in 2010, the tenth highest US rank, 1% from Oregon; 0.2% from Idaho. In 2010, 2,700,018 unique visitors viewed our website. They anticipate at least 3 million visitors in 2011.

Casa Latina (Seattle, WA) www.casa-latina.org $3,000 to offer ‘phase 2’ of the Uniting Communities bilingual curriculum created by Western States Center to support organizations of color in having meaningful conversations about LGBTQ issues and in taking stands in support of LGBTQ equality. Last year’s program was focused on staff and service seekers. In 2012 monthly workshops will be held for all participants to help create a greater awareness and understanding of and support for LGBTQ people in Casa Latina. Because the original training was so valuable to them last year, they will also offer training to key leaders of ally organizations. Casa Latina serves Latino immigrants and their families by offering assistance in finding day labor and domestic work, English language programs, and help in reclaiming unpaid wages.

Community Alliance of Lane County (CALC) (Eugene, OR) http://www.calclane.org/ $4,500 for education and advocacy to advance the rights of LGBTQ individuals, based on the idea that societal understanding of “normal” must be expanded to encompass multiple sexual orientations and gender identities. Two CALC programs, Springfield Alliance for Equality and Respect (SAfER) and Back to Back: Allies for Human Dignity (B2B) will do this work. SAfER’s Safe Schools Working Group exists to achieve schools in which LGBTQ students, staff and families are safe and respected. B2B addresses blatant homophobia through Stop Hate and I’ve Got Your Back campaigns, and by participating in regional work to combat hate crimes and activities. Funding this proposal will support two part time staff members who will work with nearly 50 volunteers, 400+ supporter/pledgers, and community partners to combat homophobia and heterosexism within institutions (Springfield, Bethel and 4J School districts, Springfield, Eugene and Lane County Governments) and the community at large through education and response.

Eastern Washington University Pride Center (Cheney, WA) www.ewu.edu $1,000 will help to increase the visibility of EWU’s LGBTQA community and focus efforts on raising awareness. The EWU Pride Visibility Campaign will impact the EWU LGBTQA campus community by raising the visibility of the Pride Center and of the issues that impact LGBTQ students, faculty and staff. The Center will provide resources, education and training across campus to develop a core of visible and easily identifiable allies. The primary impact will be a continued movement of the campus towards a more welcoming climate for LGBTQA students, faculty and staff. Additionally, with the focus this year on Greek Life and Athletics, two areas that have traditionally struggled with their inclusivity regarding the LGBT community, the Pride Center will be able to provide resources for students who have previously been underserved and, in some cases, invisible.

Equal Rights Washington Education Fund www.equalrightswashington.org (Seattle, WA) $4,000 for the Faith in Action for Marriage Equality initiative. Recent polling has demonstrated the importance of faith-based work to achieving this goal. There is a great deal of misunderstanding about the relationship between civil and religious marriage and the diversity of religious belief that exists among faith traditions concerning marriage. Critical to securing marriage equality will be conveying to legislators faith support for marriage equality, and critical to retaining the marriage equality law on referendum will be expanding the slim marriage equality majority that presently exists in Washington. Nearly half of movable voters express concern over whether marriage equality will impede on religious liberty. The funds will be to pay for a portion of a staff person’s time who will be responsible for faith-based organizing and communicating faith-based support for marriage equality to the public and legislators by implementing measurable strategies. Happily, a number of strategies have been developed in other states that are replicable and local groups are developing strategies that are specific to their needs and resources.

Equal Rights Washington Education Fund (Seattle, WA) www.equalrightswashington.org $4,000 toward securing marriage equality in Washington State. This funding will support the hiring of a half-time culturally competent organizer to promote their faith based work in support of marriage equality for six months. The outcomes will include 200 clergy signatures to the declaration, educational events, sermons delivered on marriage equality, op-eds/regional press stating the declaration that faith-based people and organizations support marriage equality.

Human Dignity Coalition (HDC) (Bend, OR) http://www.humandignitycoalition.org/ $5,000 in general operating support to advance and safeguard human rights, dismantle oppression, and promote equality for the LGBTQ community in Central Oregon. Much of their work is centered on youth. Youth interns direct the Queer and Allied Youth Program with staff and adult-ally support. Interns network Gay Straight Alliance Clubs formed by the coalition in 6 area high schools; advocate for and support peers; and organize actions like Day of Silence and Queer Prom. HDC assists students and schools with GSA’s and compliance with anti-bullying and Safe Schools’ requirements. Partnering with the Deschutes County Health Services, they offer Queer Youth Space, an HDC-created, twice-monthly, drop-in night for youth providing safe support not available elsewhere.

Klamath Basin Lambda (Klamath Falls, OR) http://www.klambda.org/ $1,500 to purchase an event booth and supplies, cover event entry fees and produce and print fliers for distribution at events. The goal is to reach the LGTBQ community in the Klamath Basin and bring awareness of LGTBQ issues to the community as a whole. Events include Cinco de Mayo, 3rd Thursdays, the Fourth of July Parade, the Klamath County Fair, Southern Oregon Pride, The Merrill Potato Fest and the Snowflake Festival.

Legal Voice (Seattle, WA) www.legalvoice.org $4,000 to work with LGBTQ and allied leaders to advance a legislative strategy to establish marriage equality in Washington in 2012. Goals are to ensure the marriage bill is drafted with the strongest, most protective and legally sound language and that policymakers pass the marriage bill and the Governor enacts it into law. Legal Voice will also lead legal defense against any ballot title or other litigation arising to repeal the law.

Legal Voice (Seattle, WA) www.legalvoice.org $4,000 toward securing marriage equality in Washington State. This funding will support the following three things: 1) Using their legal expertise to assist in drafting the marriage equality legislation; 2) Deploying our advocacy skills and community of activists to win passage of marriage equality legislation; 3) Leading the legal defense against any ballot title and associated litigation that arises around an anticipated referendum to repeal marriage equality. Legal Voice activities will include monitoring anti-gay websites and the WA Secretary of State and Attorney General’s offices to identify any repeal attempt and access ballot title drafts and, if an initiative or referendum is filed, pursuing immediate legal action to challenge the ballot title, and working with allies including ERW, Pride Foundation, to form coalition in opposition to repeal, deter signature gathering, and mobilize LGBT and allied communities to defeat repeal.

Montana Human Rights Network (Helena, MT) www.mhrn.org $2,500 to support their campaign to pass LGBTQ-inclusive non-discrimination ordinances in Helena and Bozeman this year. Montana lacks even the most basic protections at the state level, despite trying to gain them for two decades, so the new strategy is to go city-by-city in order to create more momentum and activating the base in order to gain basic rights under the law.

Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (Seattle, WA) www.nwirp.org $5,000 toward the legal representation of LGBTQ individuals who are facing deportation and are detained at the Northwest Detention Center (NWDC) in Tacoma, Washington. NWDC is a 1,575 bed facility where Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detains immigrants who are in immigration court proceedings (fighting deportation) or are awaiting deportation from the United States. This funding will enable NWIRP to represent more LGBTQ immigrants who, without counsel, would have little likelihood of success in avoiding deportation.

OneAmerica (Seattle, WA) www.weareoneamerica.org $5,000 to organize communities around the unique challenges faced by LGBTQ immigrants. In 2009, OneAmerica began a new statewide community engagement and grassroots organizing program. In just one year, they developed ten base groups across Washington, including groups in Tacoma and Vancouver, WA. At regular meetings, members provide a political voice for immigrants in Southwest Washington. They bring masses of people to the State Capitol and to local representatives’ offices to advocate for fair laws affecting immigrant communities. Members have successfully advocated for the defeat of discriminatory driver’s license bills in Washington state, as well as passage of the 364-day bill, which ensures that noncitizens convicted of minor crimes will not face the unjust penalty of deportation. Their ultimate goal is to fully integrate issues affecting LGBTQ immigrants into their organizing work through identifying key leaders who can build understanding through conversation, education and training across the state. We will also seek opportunities to act on intersecting LGBTQ and immigration issues and to confront both homophobia and anti-immigrant sentiment.

OutSpokane (Spokane, WA) www.outspokane.org $1,000 to go towards the cost of producing the Pride Parade & Rainbow Festival celebrations in Spokane, scheduled for Saturday June 9th, 2012. Each year the Pride festival costs total approximately $30,000. These costs include permits, barricades for the parade route, the stage and sound equipment, entertainment, advertising, and activities for children/families.

Pacific Lutheran University/Queer-Ally Network (Tacoma, WA) http://www.plu.edu/dcenter/Queer%20Ally%20Network/home.php $3,000 to recruit and train leaders/steering committee members of their Queer Ally Network. In particular they want to increase the number of allies on their steering committee amongst faculty and staff at this Christian-based university. These funds will also support a poster campaign and distribution of materials for LGBTQ students.

PFLAG Sedro-Woolley/Skagit Valley (Sedro-Woolley, WA) www.pgladskagit.org $1,950 for general operating support focused on updating brochures; purchasing LGBTQ booklets, films and other materials to be distributed in Skagit County and surrounding areas; and to support outreach and education to youth. Their support to youth includes getting to them to the Links and Alliances training in Everett, and doing more local leadership training for GSA leaders and their advisors from Skagit and Whatcom Counties.

Rural Organizing Project (ROP) (Scappoose, OR) http://www.rop.org/ $4,000 to support local leadership to develop human dignity infrastructure capacity for the LGBTQ community in rural and small town Oregon, especially for Queer youth. Efforts will focus on working directly with LGBTQ community members, but will also incorporate an ally outreach strategy tailored to use a neighborly approach and work from frameworks that speak across political affiliations to core values. There is a clear and deep connection between attacks on the LGBTQ community and the immigrant community in rural Oregon, so ways to solidify this intersection will be explored.

SnoGLOBE Equality Alliance (Everett, WA) http://snoglobe.us $1,600 to provide outreach and training for organizations which serve older adults, on the unique needs and barriers facing LGBT elders. Efforts will include sending background information and resources to all 490 long term care facilities in Snohomish County, presentation of a two hour training on welcoming LGBT individuals into businesses that provide services for older adults, and reproduction of 1,000 posters depicting “Safe Zone” messaging for LGBT individuals. (Northwest Washington)

Spirit of Many Colors Gay Straight Alliance (Pablo, MT) No Website $2,000 to support this newly formed organization to make the Salish Kootenai College a safe and welcoming place for all students and staff. This is the first GSA to be formed at a tribal college in Montana, and possibly the only one in operation in the country. These funds will help the group travel and present at a conference of tribal college students and put on a series of guest lectures for the Pablo community about two-spirit issues.

TAP 365 (Billings, MT) www.facebook.com/TAP-365 $3,500 for general operations of this new start-up group that focuses on raising awareness and providing support and advocacy for the LGBTQ community in Eastern Montana. TAP 365 is all-volunteer run and gives presentations to schools and faith groups, as well as holding community-building events to raise money to endow a Pride Foundation scholarship fund for an eligible Montana student.

University of Idaho (Moscow, ID) www.uidaho.edu/diversityandhumanrights $3,500 for the university’s Human Rights Access and Inclusion Office’s efforts to expand the campus’s LGBTQ Safe Zone Program. The expansion will include in-person and online training modules of Safe Zone workshops, to be offered in various locations across the state, allowing for the Safe Zone message to reach into the rural corners of Idaho. Funds will also assist in enhancing the program through the creation of a video that will allow the voices of LGBTQ students, faculty, and staff to express the importance of the Safe Zone program and how workshop participants can be active, engaged allies.

In Support of Health and Community Services

Bradley Angle (Portland, OR) http://bradleyangle.org/ $4,000 for the Healthy Relationship class series, which serves as the prevention portion of Bradley Angle’s LGBTQ domestic violence program. Healthy Relationship classes reach not only LGBTQ people who have already experienced domestic violence (which research shows is more than 30% of the community), but also those who are at risk. Through the 10-week classes, individuals and couples learn how to build healthier relationships, and recognize, prevent and interrupt domestic violence. The Healthy Relationship curriculum is based on established and recognized best practices developed by the NW Network of Bisexual, Trans, Lesbian and Gay Survivors of Abuse (Seattle, WA). The curriculum takes an anti-oppression approach to topics such as accountability, communication, setting boundaries, and identifying personal values.

Capital City Pride (Olympia, WA) http://capitalcitypride.net/ $2,000 toward Pride festivities and community outreach in Olympia. Locally, the annual Capital City Pride Festival and Parade is the singular event that touches the most GLBT and allied people throughout the greater Thurston County region. On an organizational level, this impact was key for dozens of GLBT and allied non-profit groups for whom Pride is the single most prominent outreach event in their calendar. On a personal level, the impact of Pride is one of the most significant GLBT-positive events in the year, for some in their lifetime.

Gay City Health Project (Seattle, WA) www.gaycity.org $5,000 for facilities expansion to create a resource hub and social destination for the LGBT community in Seattle, a place to gather and to connect. In the new space, they will be able to build a proper LGBT resource center, double the space for their Wellness Center, add meeting space, and more than triple the size of the Gay City LGBT Library. They will also add a multipurpose performance space, with full audio-visual support, accommodating 75-100 people. Innovative design will allow them to combine the library and performance spaces to host a variety of community activities, from writing workshops to dramatic performances (including their own productions) to community meetings. The greatest impact, however, will be in Gay City’s capacity to serve and support the broader LGBT community.

Friendly House (Portland, OR) http://www.friendlyhouseinc.org/programs/gay-and-grey/ $5,000 for the Gay & Gray (G&G) project, which has served LGBT older adults in the Portland Metropolitan area for 10 years. G&G plans to enhance outreach efforts and inject new activities and vital services targeting gay men and trans older adults, while maintaining current services that have been successful in serving a primarily lesbian base. Current and planned services include: diversity training, a mental health group, case management, monthly arts and health and wellness activities, and a guide for transitioning older adults. They will also change the G&G Expo by using the theme Sexy and Silver and adding a Sexuality at Seventy workshop.

PFLAG Lower Columbia Chapter/Longview United Methodist Church (Longview, WA) http://www.pflag.org/map/index.php?state=WA $5,000 to support the church’s Diversity Task Force. The Diversity Task Force has decided to hold quarterly events centered on the gay community. This past July, we had their first Longview Pride picnic at the local park. In the fall, they have a costume dance scheduled at a local hall. They are particularly excited about bringing the Portland Gay’s Men Chorus to Longview’s Performing Arts Centers (a new, large community space) and working on a prom for the LGBTQ teens.

Planned Parenthood of Montana (Billings, MT) www.plannedparenthood.org/montana $5,000 for the Transgender Care Project, which helps support a traveling physician who can deliver dignified, compassionate care to rural transgender Montanans who would otherwise face mistreatment from local doctors or insurmountable travel costs to find a safe space for care.

Rainbow Center (Tacoma, WA) www.rainbowcntr.org $5,000 The Rainbow Center (RC), Tacoma’s LGBTQ Community Center, is open for 20 hours a week of drop in community time which includes entertainment, resources, a library, free wi-fi, and advocacy services. They also have 10 partner organizations and in conjunction with them offer more than 20 nights a month of programming. Since these organizations are mostly grass-roots groups they offer space at no cost for their meetings as well as providing some with administrative support. This year their outreach efforts will include work with Pierce County AIDS Foundation to offer gathering space and recruitment for MPOWERMENT, which is a peer to peer group focused on HIV prevention and changing social norms.

SAGE Olympia (Olympia, WA) http://capitalcitypride.net/ $3,000 for a series of “Cultural Fluency” trainings intended to enhance the abilities of Olympia area eldercare service providers to better meet the needs of GLBT seniors. SAGE Olympia’s two-fold goal is to 1) Build upon the existing “cultural fluencies” that exist within many service agencies and businesses that already recognize and try to serve GLBT elders; and, 2) Cultivate new cultural fluency in eldercare organizations and private sector service providers that do not yet have an inclusive foundation in their program(s) to ensure that GLBT senior needs are addressed. In achieving these two goals, SAGE Olympia intends to strengthen the service continuum for all seniors as well as the GLBT seniors who are dependent upon their services.

Senior Services (Seattle, WA) www.seniorservices.org $5,000 in general operating support of the LGBTQ Elders Project. An LGBTQ Housing Questionnaire to use as a checklist when visiting retirement communities and housing will be printed, translated into multiple languages, and distributed, as will an LGBTQ Elder Assessment Checklist for providers. Stipends will be paid for volunteers to assess providers and an LGBTQ Elder logo for “Seal of Approval” designation will be designed. An LGBTQ webpage will be designed for the Senior Services website and will feature senior LGBTQ events, community resources and trainings available for LGBTQ seniors and providers, and a listing of those organizations with the LGBTQ Seal of Approval. Website content will be geared toward all LGBTQ groups 50 and older as well as diverse ethnic groups within each group. Staff time will be used for development of Senior Services as a Service and Advocacy for Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual and Transgender Elders (SAGE). And, at least two LGBTQ Elder cultural competency trainings will be conducted–one to a housing community and one to a service provider based on results of a provider survey previously sent to community providers and completed by 100 of these providers as well as results of the housing questionnaire.

University of Washington Foundation (Seattle, WA) www.washington.edu/giving/about-the-foundation) $3,000 to “Assess the Social Context of Transgender and Genderqueer sex workers.” This research project has the purpose of documenting the social, cultural, and economic contexts in which Seattle-area transgender and genderqueer sex workers live and work, assessing their available resources and social service needs, documenting the impact of current local, state, and federal prostitution policies on them and developing evidence-based strategies for local and state prostitution and human trafficking policies. Despite stated political concern for saving and protecting sex workers, transgender women sex workers suffer from high rates of police abuse and generally elevated rates of violence and mortality.

In Support of HIV/AIDS Service Delivery and Prevention

Alaskan AIDS Assistance Association (Four A’s) (Anchorage/Mat-Su Valley) www.alaskanaids.org $5,000 to assist in the purchase of a mobile outreach vehicle that will allow Four A’s to expand their services beyond the urban center of Anchorage to communities in the Matanuska-Susitna (Mat-Su) Valley. Mat-Su has the fastest growing population in the state of Alaska, growing from 59,322 people in 2000 to 88,995 in 2010. This dramatic increase in population has caused a higher need for social services like HIV prevention. Over 75% of all new HIV cases are diagnosed in Anchorage and Mat-Su Valley. Of these cases, over 20% live in the Mat-Su. Four A’s aims to overcome the rural barriers to HIV/AIDS prevention by utilizing a mobile outreach vehicle to provide services like syringe exchange, rapid HIV testing, risk-reduction counseling, and safer sex kits. Four A’s was created more than 25 years ago to address the needs of those with HIV/AIDS. In those 25 years, they have grown to become the lead HIV/AIDS organization, serving 91% of the state.

ALPHA (Allies Linked for the Prevention of HIV and AIDS) (Boise, ID) www.alphaidaho.org $3,500 to aid in the opening of a new office in Nampa, Idaho, which will provide the fast-growing community, including a large Hispanic/Latino population, with its own centrally located agency for HIV and AIDS services. Funds will assist in providing 6 months of rent and utilities for the new office.

Babes Network-YWCA of Seattle/King County/Snohomish County (Seattle, WA) www.babesnetwork.org $5,000 for the 2012 Annual Leadership Retreat for Women Living with HIV/AIDS will support leadership/advocacy trainings, educational workshops, support groups, art projects, theater activities, karaoke, massages and more. Their goal is to build leadership and advocacy skills for BABES members and to provide opportunities for practicing those skills, so as to invest in the long-term health, sustainability and success of our members and their communities. They will reach 35 women who are HIV positive. As BABES Network Peer Counselors process applications for participation, they prioritize the participation of women who live at or below 200% of the federal poverty level.

Blue Mountain Heart to Heart (Walla Walla, WA) www.bluemountainheart.org $5,000 for their program in Milton-Freewater: the outreach and education conducted at the addictions center, rapid HIV testing for the most at-risk individuals, and other outreach to people in the LGBT and allied community. Milton-Freewater has no health department office and no active prevention education services targeted to individuals at high risk of contracting HIV or Hepatitis C. With grant support for this outreach, Blue Mountain Heart to Heart can conduct quarterly outreach sessions at the addictions center in Milton-Freewater, and ongoing outreach and testing with adult Hispanic MSM.

Butte AIDS Support Services (Butte, MT) www.buttebass.org $2,000 for the purchase of items that are especially critical to people with suppressed immune systems, but are not readily available with their limited resources. Some of the non-food items include soap, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, bleach, laundry detergent, and dish soap. This grant will also fund gas cards for client travel to doctors in Missoula and/or Bozeman.

Camp and Retreat Ministry (Portland, OR) http://gocamping.org/camps-retreats/detail/strength-for-the-journey $3,500 to provide respite and renewal for people living with HIV/AIDS through 3-4 day Strength For The Journey retreats held at the Suttle Lake Camp near Sisters, Oregon. The community formed during the shared time provides a fully accepting setting that relieves isolation, and indeed provides strength for the journey ahead. Staff and volunteers are available to support participants and guide a wide variety of optional activities. Strength for the Journey is open to any individual living with HIV/AIDS without regard to religion, ethnicity, gender, gender identity or sexual orientation and no one is turned away for lack of payment. The funds from Pride would fully cover the room/board for up to 24-30 participants and would pay for school bus transportation from Portland.

Center for MultiCultural Health (Seattle, WA) www.multi-culturalhealth.org $5,000 to expand BROTHERS LINK, an HIV prevention intervention which aims to foster positive self-identity, while educating African American men about their risk for HIV and sexually transmitted diseases and teaching assertiveness skills. Funding will allow expansion of the quarterly forums by 25% to serve 100 African American gay and bisexual men. Funding will also allow continued work on Emerald City Black Pride (ECBP), an emerging initiative to foster pride and strengthen the sense of community among LGBTQ people of color. July 2012 will mark the second annual ECBP event.

HIV Alliance (Eugene, OR) http://www.hivalliance.org/ $5,000 for the Social Network Strategy Project. The project works on the theory that individuals are linked together in social networks, which can be a route to spread infectious diseases but also can be used to deliver prevention services. HIV Alliance’s staff connects with individuals and groups at-risk for the virus, including men who have sex with men – the leading risk factor for HIV in Oregon. They recruit peer advocates to assist in connecting at risk people with new social networks. This is an incentive based project using gift cards to reward participation in educating others and encouraging HIV testing. By working with peer advocates and recruiting from at-risk populations they hope to put the focus on testing and reduce the stigma associated with the virus.

Inland Oasis (Moscow, ID) www.inlandoasis.org/Home.html $3,000 for four areas: the purchase of additional HIV/AIDS testing kits needed for its HIV outreach program; medical transportation assistance to fulfill its contract to provide Ryan White Part B HIV medical case management services; building supplies and furniture for the group’s new community center; and purchasing supplies needed by the organization’s youth group.

Jefferson AIDS Services (Quilcene, WA) http://www.grooveinc.net/jas/about.htm $5,000 to support the Client Emergency Living Expense Program (CELEP). Through the 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.

North Idaho AIDS Coalition (Coeur d’Alene, ID) www.northidahoaidscoalition.org $3,000 to present more than 30 HIV 101 community workshops, along with the needed supplies and educational materials. Goals of the presentations are to provide audiences with accurate information regarding HIV, HIV transmission, and lowering risk factors for HIV.

Pacific Northwest Conference of the United Methodist Church (Snohomish, WA) www.pnw.unc $1,000 to support two annual Strength For The Journey retreats. The retreats are intended to give HIV and AIDS clients time away from doctors, social workers, and government agencies to relax, renew, and share time with others who share their diagnosis. The mission of staff is to attend to clients, to keep them comfortable, relaxed and involved, and to offer information for living long term with their diagnosis.

Palouse HIV Consortium (Pullman, WA) No Website $3,000 will go towards ongoing work of providing funds to HIV-infected persons in order for them to access needed health and social services. Palouse HIV Consortium’s primary impact is in assisting people living with HIV to be able to stay where they have chosen to live. The participants objectives include being able to be near family for the support necessary to cope with this disease, avoiding living in a large city, or attending one of the two Universities (Washington State University and University of Idaho) for an education or a career.

Seattle Area Support Groups (Seattle, WA) http://sasgcc.org/ $5,000 of general operating support for this community center that since 1984 has been providing emotional support services to the LGTBQ community and those affected by HIV/AIDS through ongoing support groups that help people find strength through shared experiences, confidentiality and a long-term commitment to the celebration of diversity in our local area. SASG now has 67 groups that meet each week. Staff and volunteers continue to offer new opportunities for support in the community. Two of the latest groups to join the calendar include TRANScend, a traditional twelve step group, for members of the community who identify as gender variant that are in recovery, and the Gay Male Sexuality and Relationships Group which addresses topics related to an ever-changing environment of sex and relationships specific to gay men.

Spokane Regional HIV/AIDS Speakers’ Bureau (Spokane, WA) www.hivaidsspeakersbureau.net $2,000 will be used to accomplish two objectives: (1) to develop a professional quality DVD on the AIDS experience and prevention that can be distributed to schools who are unable to schedule a presentation and to augment the presentations given and (2) to offer financial assistance for schools who cannot afford services. These presentations, both educational and personal testimony, confront misunderstandings and prejudices concerning HIV/AIDS.

Valley Aids Information Network (Corvallis, OR) http://www.valleyaidsinfo.org/ $1,500 to support an AIDS walk to revitalize the public face of the HIV/AIDS movement in the Willamette Valley. Part educational event, part activist protest, and part political rally, AIDS walks have a longstanding tradition of showing public support for the movement, energizing and connecting local activists, and allowing community supporters to address their concerns with local politicians. This will serve rural residents, non-English speaking communities, transient populations, and people who don’t believe themselves to be at risk. The AIDS walk proposes to address this in two ways: 1) invite groups and organizations working with these communities to participate and be connected with other community leaders, and 2) expand the public understanding of targeted activism within the HIV/AIDS movement.

Yakima Health District (Yakima, WA) www.yakimahealthdistrict.org $5,000 for general operating expenses to support the work of the HIV/AIDS division at the Yakima Health District to provide HIV prevention for HIV+ and high risk individuals to reduce the spread of HIV. Specifically, funds will be used to support Comprehensive Risk Counseling Services (CRCS) for HIV+ clients and for continued staffing for projects including HIV testing, syringe exchange, and education outreach to gay and bisexual men. CRCS is an intensive risk reduction intervention for people at very high risk for HIV infection or for transmitting HIV to others. CRCS provides counseling to persons for who risk reduction is difficult to achieve but are willing to work with a counselor to address behavior change.

In Support of Lesbian Health

Entre Hermanos (Seattle, WA) www.entrehermanos.org $5,000 to support the Mujeres Diversas (Diverse Women) program, serving the needs of Hispanic lesbian, bisexual and transgender women and allies. Twice monthly meetings provide social support and include workshops on a variety of topics broadly focused on health issues. Group gatherings help to build community and a sense of unity, and also make participants aware of community resources. Approximately 30 women participate each month.

Old Lesbians Organizing for Change (University Place, WA) www.oloc.org $1,500 for general operating support for 2012. Their goals for 2012 include leadership development to give some of the current leaders a break; gathering ‘Herstories’ to continue to document the lives of lesbians in the Pacific Northwest); and coalition building to build on the momentum of their very successful regional gathering in the summer of 2011.

Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette (Portland, OR) www.ppcw.org $500 for patient services in their Vancouver, WA clinic through their Equal Access Fund for low income LBTQI patients. It gives these patients the same access to affordable annual exams and Pap tests as low-income heterosexual women. The fund removes the requirement of seeking contraception to access no-cost annual exams and Pap tests at PPCW health centers. Whether someone needs birth control or not, is straight, lesbian, bisexual, married, single, sexually active or not, an annual exam is a normal and important part of a person’s health care. An annual exam includes taking patient medical history, a general physical exam, a Pap test for cervical cancer, a breast/chest exam, tests for sexually transmitted infections, a pelvic exam, vaccinations, and talking with a health care provider and learning about any health issues that come up during the visit.

South Puget Intertribal Planning Agency (Shelton, WA) http://www.spipa.org/ $2,000 to support the Breast and Cervical Cancer Awareness Project, part of their Native Women’s Wellness Program. In particular, this funding will be used to develop brochures outreaching to Two-Spirit women. The goal of South Puget Intertribal Planning Agency’s Native Women’s Wellness Two-Spirited Focus Project is to receive training, design and distribute educational and outreach materials to meet the breast and cervical health needs of Two-Spirited (lesbian) women and hold an Intertribal Breast Cancer Awareness Walk event that will reduce the stigma of breast and cervical cancer, educate the community about breast and cervical cancer and breast and cervical cancer screening, provide a safe space for breast and cervical cancer patients to find support and for the community to celebrate breast and cervical cancer survivors.

In Support of Youth and Families

Big Brother Big Sisters of Puget Sound (Seattle, WA) www.bbbsps.org $5,000 to continue cultural competency training for Bigs, Littles, families, and staff, as well as outreach to more youth and volunteers specifically geared toward mentoring in the LGBTQ community. This agency is leading the effort to evaluate policies on LGBTQ volunteers, Littles, and families, especially in terms of transgender and gender variant Bigs and Littles. While exceptional on a local level, the policies being implemented locally are being evaluated for adoption by Big Brother Big Sister agencies across the United States.

Camp Ten Trees (Seattle, WA) www.camptentrees.org $5,000 in general operating support to create summer camp sessions for children and youth of LGBTQA communities. Camp activities are tailored to the campers, providing opportunities for them to meet challenges and build skills in a safe, inclusive environment. Offerings include arts & crafts, boating, swimming, writing, archery, dance, nature walks, discussions, music, sports, youth organizing, social justice workshops, challenge course, and The 2012 summer program will include two week-long sessions. One is for children/youth of LGBTQ and/or non-traditional families and includes a Counselors-In-Training program promoting leadership development for teen applicants who are LGBTQA-identified and/or from LGBTQ families. A second session is for LGBTQA youth. Camp sessions are complemented by year-round chances for campers to find community while influencing program development and outreach

Children’s Home Society of Washington (Vancouver, WA) www.childrenshomesociety.org $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.

Children’s Home Society of Washington (Walla Walla, WA) www.childrenshomesociety.org $3,000 will assist youth in organizing GSA’s in both local High Schools. This funding will also aid Children’s Home Society of Washington in holding their annual community awareness events in conjunction with National Day of Silence each spring. Children’s Home Society of Washington’s plan is to further expand services to queer youth and allies, increase outreach and education in the high schools and the larger community, continue recruitment/retention of volunteers, provide information/referral to local resources (medical, counseling, alcohol/substance abuse), and provide educational and safe social activities; community awareness events to empower youth in leadership and advocacy roles build greater support in their schools and community.

Forward Montana Foundation (Missoula, MT) www.forwardmontana.org $2,500 to support general operations for this fledgling organization working to engage young people in progressive politics, with a particular focus on issues of LGBTQ equality. Forward Montana works statewide to register voters and engage young people, many of them queer, in activism in their community.

GLOBE (Everett, WA) http://here.doh.wa.gov/projects/gay-lesbian-open-minded-bisexual-empowerment-globe $2,800 for rent of their meeting space for 2012. GLBTQI Loving Ourselves, Becoming Empowered (GLOBE) is one of few resources for queer youth in a predominantly white rural area, and is especially vital to GLBTQ youth of color. GLOBE also serves youth from the neighboring Whatcom, Skagit, and Island Counties. At GLOBE, youth have in-depth discussions about coming out, anti-gay harassment, sexual orientation, gender identity, safer sex, HIV, STDs, Viral Hepatitis, tobacco cessation, spirituality, self-esteem, empowerment, and much, much more. GLOBE is the only resource in Snohomish County where GLBTQ youth are able to have these discussions, receive education and access to community resources.

GLSEN Washington State (Seattle, WA) www.glsenwa.org $1,000 to hold a Youth Leadership Summit in Seattle to educate and sustain Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) within the statewide community. The summits are set up with a variety of workshops and presentations addressing topics from HIV safety to GSA scholarships. There will be time for students to interact, mingle and network with their peers to discuss what has worked well in their respective schools and provide mutual camaraderie and support. Turnout for previous Seattle summits has averaged 100 different school GSAs.

GLSEN Washington State (Seattle, WA) www.glsenwa.org $500 will be used to hold a Youth Leadership Summit in the Tri-cities of Washington. The goal of this summit is to educate and sustain the Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) within our community. GLSEN Washington State has never done a summit in the Tri-cities before. The Tri-cities area itself has 12 GSAs so we have set the goal of 20 GSAs in attendance. GLSEN Washington State’s hope is to train at least 5 educators at this event. The ultimate goal is to empower our GSAs to make their schools safe for present and future generations.

Multicare Good Samaritan Outreach Services (Puyallup, WA) www.multicare.org/goodsam/behavioral-health/ $5,000 to the Teen Sexual Minority Support Group, recently renamed “Prism” by the group members. 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, they can count on support for their unique mental and emotional needs and friendship with other youth, who may share similar experiences and challenges. The funds will also support ongoing education and outreach to East Pierce County School Districts (Eatonville, White River, Bethel, Sumner, Franklin-Pierce, Puyallup and Orting). These districts have historically struggled with giving support to their queer students, sometimes to the point of denying their existence or their needs. This omission has fostered intolerance in the schools, as well as youth fear of harassment. Good Samaritan has been active in engaging these schools through staff training, presentations, and supporting school counselors with information and resources to help their queer students.

National Coalition Building Institute Missoula (Missoula, MT) www.ncbimissoula.org $2,500 to fund travel around the state to deliver anti-bullying workshops in conjunction with the Safe Schools Coalition and to continue to offer a safe space for queer youth in the Missoula area through the inter-school GSA support group, Youth Forward.

Odyssey Youth Center (Spokane, WA) www.odysseyyouth.org $3,000 will help Odyssey Youth Center continue developing Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) clubs and/or other social justice clubs at all Spokane County high schools through education, advocacy and outreach. Odyssey has developed a series of informational presentations that are shared with high school counselors and administrators about the importance of GSAs. With this funding, Odyssey can keep fighting to make the lives of LGBTQ youth affirming and successful.

Peace for the Streets by Kids from the Streets (Seattle, WA) http://www.psks.org/ $5,000 for the Queer Youth Fund, a one of a kind funding stream to meet the unique needs of Seattle’s queer and LGBT homeless youth and young adults under age 26. It is anticipated funds will be used for: therapy for transgender youth so they are able to get necessary medical care relating to transitioning; legal fees for name changes on state identification and birth certificates; gender appropriate clothing for transgender youth; hotel vouchers for youth that do not feel comfortable accessing emergency shelters at gender-specific facilities; GED testing for youth who are isolated from traditional schools; binders for genderqueer or trans young people interested in binding their chest; and sending young people to conferences, trainings, or teach-ins where they are able to build a supportive community.

PFLAG Benton Franklin (Richland, WA) www.bfpflag.com $3,500 will allow PFLAG Benton Franklin to provide care packages to all local GSA’s. The packages will include but are not limited to; books, DVD’s, booklets from PFLAG nation, along with other resource materials and guidance on how to be a straight ally. PFLAG Benton Franklin will provide sage space kits and training to surrounding school districts as well as local school staff and administrators. By doing this, they expect to help promote acceptance of all students in their schools and for student rights to be clearly defined and enforced. PFLAG Benton Franklin 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.

PFLAG Oregon Central Coast (Lincoln County, OR) https://www.facebook.com/pflagcentraloregon $2,000 to help serve LGBT youth in Lincoln County, county spread out along a narrow strip of coastline over 60 miles long and about 25 miles wide and more than three hours away from the city of Portland. Due to the remote nature of this location, local high school, community college, and Job Corps students are unable to attend state or regional conferences for LGBT youth. This project will bring speakers and experiences from those conferences to them. It will also give these groups a chance to meet and support each other. This funding will specifically be used to hold two conferences and pay for speaker honorariums. It would fund travel for the speakers and students and would provide materials, lunches and snacks for the students. It will also provide materials for four school-based anti-bullying projects.

Pierce County AIDS Foundation/Oasis Youth Center (Tacoma, WA) www.oasisyouthcenter.org $5,000 to support general operating expenses, 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 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.

Revelry-Reteaching Gender and Sexuality (Seattle, WA) http://www.reteachinggenderandsexuality.org/ $2,000 in general operating support to this media and education project that calls on schools, governments, organizations, and communities to address the broad impacts of heterosexism and homophobia on young people. RGS is based on the demonstrated success of the pilot project PUT THIS ON THE {MAP}. The pilot utilized participatory research and leadership development to create a 34-minute educational video and companion trainings for educators and human service providers in Washington State. Over two years, the team trained thousands of practitioners and students in youth-serving fields (i.e. adolescent medicine, mental health, education, youth development), and worked with over fifty organizations as trainers and consultants on gender and sexual diversity. They are now working to supporting two part-time coordinating staff positions to build the capacity of their 15-20 member core team to deliver trainings and produce educational resources.

Skagit Valley Family YMCA-Oasis Teen Youth Shelter (Mt. Vernon, WA) www.skagitymca.org $5,000 to support general operating expenses for The Oasis Teen Youth Shelter. The YMCA Oasis Teen Shelter and Daylight Center is the only emergency shelter and drop in center for runaway and homeless youth in Skagit County. The funds requested will start an afterschool program for GLBTQ runaway and homeless youth 13 through 17 years of age. Taking place inside The YMCA Oasis Drop-In Center, it will focus on basic needs assessment and fulfillment, artistic development, and offer an open and confidential forum to discuss problems, needs, accomplishments, and any other issues or ideas expressed by the youth being served. This program will be in coordination with the Skagit PFLAG.

Stonewall Youth (Olympia, WA) www.stonewallyouth.org $5,000 to support general operating expenses for Olympia’s LGBTQ Youth Center. In particular, these funds will support their Speakers’ Bureau. This is a program that provides ongoing political 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. Their Speakers’ Bureau program is an intentional curriculum which seeks to provide youth with skills, tools and information to become active community organizers. 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.

The Q Center-Kitsap County HIV/AIDS Foundation (Silverdale, WA) http://theqcenter.org/ $5,000 to support general operating expenses for the Q Center. The Q center is the only youth program in Kitsap County for LGBTQ and ally youth. Their goal is to engage these youth in positive youth development in order to minimize the increased risk they experience based on their identities. LGBTQ youth continue to face stigma that contributes to increased bullying, harassment, family disapproval, social isolation, sexual violence, poor self-esteem, higher rates of emotional distress, suicide attempts, substance use, and risky sexual behavior. Their capacity building objectives for 2012 include transitioning the current part-time youth director position to a full-time position, starting a support group program facilitated by a mental health professional, and implementing a specific sex education and HIV prevention program or curriculum.

The Sexual & Gender Minority Youth Resource Center (SMYRC) (Portland, OR) http://www.smyrc.org/ $4,500 in general operating support to maintain and strengthen key programmatic priorities. LGBTQ Youth Leadership Training actively involves youth in program development, strategic visioning, community relations, and fundraising. The Resource Center and Pride Project serve more than 1000 youth each year and is focused on the health, well-being and celebration of LGBTQ youth, ages 12-23 through structured groups, drop-in hours and community-based activities in Multnomah and Washington Counties. Bridge 13 Community Education Project offers cultural competency training to support the development and implementation of equitable and affirming services for LGBTQ youth. The Umbrella Community Counseling Project provides free and low-cost culturally specific counseling.

TransActive Education & Advocacy (Portland, OR) http://www.transactiveonline.org/index.php $5,000 to provide counseling, case management, advocacy and education to transgender and gender non-conforming children, youth and their families. In 2012, TransActive will serve at minimum 50 transgender and gender non-conforming children; 10 of those children will receive clinical counseling through their licensed staff counselor and intern program. Monthly support groups will serve an average of 20 participants. The Client Services program has developed close relationships in 2010-2011 with local hospitals. This led the growth from serving 20 unduplicated families in 2010 to serving 37 thus far in 2011. TransActive is particularly proud of their case management collaboration with both Oregon Health & Science University and Legacy Emanuel Medical Center to strengthen access to trans-youth competent medical care. Through this partnership, TransActive provides a monthly group open to transgender and gender non-conforming youth ages 13-21, that will grow to meeting twice a month by the spring of 2012. They will also add a group for children 9-12 called “Fireflies”.

Vista Youth Center (Kennewick, WA) www.vistayouthcenter.org $3,000 will be used to teach a series of food and nutrition courses to Vista Youth Center’s (VYC’s) population of lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth and allies ages 14 through 21. These courses are based on the Food is Elementary curriculum, which includes research-based lessons on concepts like hygiene, safety, food comparisons, shopping, exercise, and vitamins, and which relates these concepts to cooking lessons in preparing foods from around the world. Funding will be used to purchase the Food is Elementary curriculum; ink and supplies for copying; necessary preparation and cooking supplies such as hot plates, cutting boards, knives, and cookware; and ingredients needed to prepare each lesson, which will serve food to eighty youth for $6.96 per youth, per session. Any leftover food will be shared during regular meals at Vista, giving our students the opportunity to teach others.

West Valley High School Gay-Straight Alliance (Fairbanks, AK) No Website $1,000 to help students with the costs of their annual trip to Anchorage’s Pride Conference. Theirs is the only GSA in Fairbanks and one of the most active GSAs in Alaska. They maintain a GSA display case, hold informational nights for parents and joint meetings and activities with the school’s Christian club. They hand out rainbow ribbons on Coming Out Day, red ribbons on World AIDS Day, participate annually in the Day of Silence, and volunteer to do presentations for college classes and the school district’s Multi-Ethnic (Diversity) Committee. Each year since 2004, 8-12 West Valley students have attended the Pride Conference, raising the funds through bake sales and private donations. They have consistently provided the greatest youth presence at the conference and used information gained to design displays and other follow-up activities upon returning to school.

YouthCare (Seattle, WA) www.youthcare.org $5,000 for ISIS House Transitional Living for LGBTQ Homeless Youth which offers long-term housing to youth between the ages of 18-21 and serves LGBTQ young adults. Next year ISIS will provide services to 20-25 youth, with these goals: 80% of residents will obtain at least part-time employment within 2 months of program entry; 70% will achieve at least one educational objective within 6 months of program entry; at least 70% will exit into safe, permanent housing. All ISIS residents must be willing to earn their high school diploma or GED; find employment; pay 30% of their monthly gross income in program fees (fees that help them build a rental history and are returned upon exit); spend 40 hours per week productively at school, work or extracurricular activities; attend weekly group meetings to discuss house issues, concerns and events; and be medication-compliant, if applicable.

Youth Suicide Prevention Project (Seattle, WA) www.yspp.org $3,650 to provide eight free youth suicide prevention trainings to youth and to adult “gatekeepers” (adults who work with or take care of youth on a regular basis) in Skagit and Snohomish Counties. These trainings will provide attendees with information about the links between bias-based bullying and suicide, and instruction in how to safely and effectively intervene with youth who are experiencing or perpetrating anti-GLBTQ bullying or harassment.

Grant to address cyber-bullying

In a year full of triumphs and challenges in the LGBTQ community, Pride Foundation closed out 2010 with the approval of eight Washington grants including a $10,000 grant for King County Sexual Assault Resource Center’s (KCSARC) Cyber Safety Project. In 2011, LGBTQ organizations will no doubt continue their efforts to make it better for our community. These grants are just a few examples of how Pride Foundation puts our donor dollars to work for LGBTQ equality.

KCSARC’s proposed violence prevention program aims to stop Internet-initiated sexual assault against high risk youth. According to KCSARC, approximately 30% of all youth assisted by their sexual assault legal advocacy program report a cyber element to the crime – the program serves more than 1,000 youth victims per year. This number is staggering, especially given the fact that most youth do not report the crime of sexual assault to authorities.

“Kids are made vulnerable by the fact that they are not able to get good information and support around sexual orientation issues from their family and schools, so they are out there online,” says David Finkelhor, Ph.D., director of the Crimes against Children Research Center and a supporter of this Cyber Safety project.

Among youth most at risk for sexual assault—whether perpetrated online or in other ways—are queer and questioning youth. Sexual violence perpetrated against LGBTQ youth is not new. However, the Internet provides perpetrators with another way to reach these vulnerable youth, many of whom have experienced a high degree of family rejection and peer harassment.

While numerous programs around the country promote youths’ safe use of the Internet, no program specifically acknowledges the need to focus on youth who are most at risk for Internet predation, including queer and questioning youth. The most current research urges the development of educational and outreach programs specifically targeting these youth. KCSARC’s Cyber Safety Project will respond with a focused effort to reach local high risk youth and to develop a website and other outreach tools that will greatly add to the body of information available nationally.

Pride Foundation’s support for this project helped KCSARC leverage further support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Recent grants approved in Pierce County and Black Hills Regions

The Rainbow Center (Tacoma, WA) www.rainbowcntr.org $5,000 to support core operations to maintain programming and expand community education and outreach efforts. The Rainbow Center is a safe, accessible and welcoming community space for meetings, activities and events that strengthen the lives of people the LGBTQ community.  Further, the Rainbow Center provides a centralized source of information and referral for and about the LGBTQ community – including core support services available, history and culture. Currently offering 25 drop-in hours per week, the Rainbow Center also provides free space to community partners in the evening and on weekends for social, education and training events.

Oasis Youth Center – a program of Pierce County AIDS Foundation (Tacoma, WA) www.oasisyouthcenter.org $5,000 to support Oasis Youth Center in their continued efforts to enhance and sustain health and well-being of LGBTQ youth ages 14 to 24 in Pierce County, Washington. Oasis is a youth-adult partnership in which young people and adults come together for shared teaching, learning and action.  The mission of Oasis focuses on LGBTQ youth by saving individuals lives, building community and development youth leaders who can change the world.

Teen Sexual Minority Support Group – a program of Good Samaritan Outreach Services (Puyallup, WA) www.multicare.org/goodsam/sexual-minority-counseling $5,000 for group support and outreach to School Districts in Eastern Pierce County. The TSMG has been meeting weekly for over 13 years. The group is a safe place for teens who identify on the LGBTQ spectrum. The rural nature of the area and lack of services for young people in general (particularly for queer youth) in Eastern Pierce County can lead to extreme isolation and difficulties. The TSMG provides a safe, consistent place for LGBTQ young people to come together to discuss experiences, feelings and challenges around the complexity of school environments, family, friends and personal identity.

Capital City Pride (Olympia, WA) www.capitalcitypride.net $4,500 will support monthly 20^th anniversary activities to be held January through June of 2011. Events, open to residents of Thurston and neighboring counties, celebrate this LGBTQ milestone and builds toward the June parade and festival. Topics for each month include: honoring Our LGBTQ elders and the launch of Olympia’s new Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE) chapter; and HIV/AIDS education in conjunction with United Communities AIDS Network and the Health Department.

United Communities AIDS Network/UCAN (Olympia, WA) www.ucan-wa.org $2,000 for MPowerment program services targeting HIV/AIDS prevention for men who have sex with men ages 18-29. These funds will be mainly used for rental expenses for their shared Co-LAB meeting space and for HIV testing. UCAN is celebrating its 25^th anniversary this year, highlighting the organization’s flexibility in addressing the HIV/AIDS epidemic since 1985. The current focus on MPowerment relies on four integrated activities: Formal outreach, M-groups, Informal Outreach/Ongoing Publicity and HIV Counseling & Testing.

PFLAG Olympia Pizza Klatch (Olympia, WA) www.pizzaklatch.org $4,000 for operational support to provide free pizza and trained facilitators at 4 Thurston County high schools one day each week of the school year during 2 lunch periods “for confidential facilitated support” for GLBTQQA youth. Current high schools are Timberline, North Thurston, Avanti and Tumwater. River Ridge High School will be added if sufficient funds are available for the pizza and facilitator stipend. Pizza Klatch is a drop-in group welcoming GLBTQQA youth and their allies.

Stonewall Youth (Olympia WA) www.stonewallyouth.org $4,500 will provide general operational support for their speaker’s bureau, drop-in support group, Activism Summer School, winter retreat aka Gay Camp, annual Drag Show Extravaganza and the new downtown Olympia drop-in center. Stonewall Youth, now in its 20^th year of operation, serves LGBTQQIA age 21 and under from Thurston and neighboring counties.

Youth a key focus in fall grants

So far, this fall, Pride Foundation awarded more than $170,000 in grants to 41 projects that support the LGBTQ community through our Cascadia, Inland Northwest and Washington Peninsula granting cycles. These grants continue to demonstrate how giving together can have an immensely positive impact and how vital it is to connect resources to the projects that build our community.

Youth-related grants were the largest recipients of funds. These grants are just one way we work to empower and support the next generation of LGBTQ people. This year’s youth-related grantees include Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound in Washington, Idaho Safe Schools Coalition, and Identity Inc‘s Alaska Bush Youth at Pride Conference 2011, a project aimed at connecting LGBTQ youth in remote parts of Alaska to community services and networks of support – addressing the disproportionately high rates of LGBTQ youth suicide in remote Alaska.

Of course, Pride Foundation grants focus on more than just youth. Dozens of grants were also awarded in the areas of 1) Arts & Recreation, 2) Education, Advocacy & Outreach, 3) Health & Community Services, 4) HIV/AIDS Service Delivery & Prevention, and 5) Lesbian Health. I am always impressed by the diverse nature of our community as we support groups like the ACLU of Idaho, Oregon’s Human Dignity Coalition and Washington’s Puget Sound Old Lesbians Organizing for Change. See the fall grants list with project descriptions below.

I’d like to thank our community volunteers who reviewed dozens of applications, our donors for their generosity and our grantees for providing leadership and creating change.

Note: Grants for Clark, Columbia-Willamette, Columbia Basin, Montana and NW Washington granting regions were award earlier this year as were several Cascadia grants. Grants for Black Hills and Pierce County grants will be confirmed by late December.

Fall 2010 Cascadia, Inland Northwest and Washington Peninsula Grants

ART & RECREATION

Bent Arts (Seattle, WA) www.bentwriting.com $5,000 to develop and implement a social justice and anti-oppression training and evaluation program for the volunteer teaching staff and Board member. Their mission is to promote and encourage written and spoken word among LGBTIQ people and in our communities.

Boise Contemporary Theater (Boise, ID) www.BCTheater.org $5,000 to produce the play NORWAY by Idaho native Samuel D. Hunter. It is the story of a young gay man whose best friend is questioning a lot of things in life. By accident the best friend outs the gay man who is subsequently asked to leave the Christian school they attend. They encounter each other later in life, but fail to make a satisfactory connection.

Gay City Health Project (Seattle, WA) www.gaycity.org $2,500 for the Seattle premiere of The Infection Monologues, a theatrical production adapted from interviews with gay men in the U.S. who tested positive between 2000 and 2005. The work was created by and for gay men in order to expand the narratives of the HIV positive gay male experience. This production will contemporize this work by integrating significant portions of the script with two new monologues/characters, written by local HIV+ queer men in Seattle in 2010 and including a young, out African American gay man and a FTM trans man.

Voices Rising (Seattle, WA) www.voicesrisingseattle.org $5,000 to produce four events in 2011 featuring artists who are LGBTQ people of color. This arts and cultural collective will present performances, workshops, visual art exhibitions, video/film screenings, and information tabling. They produce an annual season of programming that builds a repository for the works of LGBTQ artists of color and creates an incubator of ideas for these artists and the audiences they engage.

EDUCATION, ADVOCACY & OUTREACH

The Alliance, Spokane Falls Community College (Spokane, WA) $3,000 will be used for career center support specific to LGBTQ students. These funds will help to create an LGBTQ portal in the Career Center website which would include a broad range of resources, including information on domestic partner health benefits for various companies, LGBTQ non-discrimination policies for various companies, and the challenges and opportunities of coming out on resumes, interviews, or on the job; connect current LGBTQ students with local LGBTQ alumni/professionals to facilitate the students’ transitions between college and the work world.

American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Idaho (Boise, ID) www.acluidaho.org $5,000 will be used to establish an LGBT Equality Project. In the first year they will conduct statewide polling and town hall style listening meetings, and will host a statewide equality summit. The ACLU is the only Idaho based statewide organization working to achieve policy change to advance and protect the rights of LGBTQ Idahoans. Currently no municipality in the state protects LGBTQ people from discrimination. They will target two cities to get these protections, creating a model for engagement in the many small rural towns of Idaho.

Basic Rights Education Fund (Portland, OR) www.basicrights.org $5,000 to train 150 volunteer leaders around the state to have persuasive conversations about LGBT families with friends, co-workers, neighbors and new acquaintances. This effort will build on a training and organizing model they are testing in partnership with PFLAG Pendleton. Over the past few months, they have coordinated a ‘marriage equality conversations campaign’ with supporters and community leaders in this Eastern Oregon town.

Casa Latina (Seattle, WA) www.casa-latina.org $1,450 for a training to engage staff, volunteers and participants in meaningful discussions about LGBTQ issues, to recognize and learn from the commonalities in both the immigrant and LGBTQ struggles, and to help make Casa Latina a safe zone for the LGBTQ community. They serve over 800 Latino immigrants and their families annually by offering assistance in finding day labor and domestic work, English language programs and help in reclaiming unpaid wages.

Eastern Washington University Pride Center (Cheney, WA) www.ewu.edu $1,800 for support of the Pride Visibility Campaign which continues efforts to create a welcoming climate for LGBTQ students on its campus with a goal of expanding the visibility and empowerment of LGBTQ and ally students.

Human Dignity Coalition (Bend, OR) www.humandignitycoalition.org $5,000 in general operating support to help them build community and grassroots organizing around LGBTQ issues in Central Oregon. One of the foci of these funds will be to strengthen the Queer and Allied Youth Program, a youth led program where young people organize events, educate the community and advocate for issues important to them. They also provide resources to high school Gay-Straight Alliance clubs in Bend, Redmond, Sisters, La Pine and Central Oregon Community College.

Legal Voice (Seattle, WA) www.LegalVoice.org $5,000 to build outreach and engagement of allies in Idaho to further LGBTQ rights in Idaho through impact litigation. Given the conservatism of the state, impact litigation is the only advocacy strategy that appears potentially viable, in the short or intermediate term, to challenge discriminatory, homophobic and sexist practices and policies of the state.

Pat Graney Company (Seattle, WA) www.patgraney.org $3,700 will be used to create and maintain services and specifically dedicated LGBTQ pages on the comprehensive Keeping the Faith/Transitions website to support incarcerated women as they transition from prison to the community. The goal is to build a sense of community among ex-offenders, while increasing their access to services that are safe and affirming of diverse gender and sexual identities.

Puget Sound Old Lesbians Organizing for Change (Gig Harbor, WA) www.psoloc.org $5,000 to continue their networking to older lesbians, the gathering and preserving of ‘Herstories’ in conjunction with the Pacific NW Lesbian Archives, and to host the 2011 Regional Gathering of Old Lesbians. They see their work as being a part of the rising tide of national and local efforts to highlight the effects of ageism and address the inequities in services to LGBT elders and elders in the larger society.

QLAW Foundation (Seattle, WA) www.q-law.org/foundation $5,000 for a series of panel presentations and discussions directed toward non-lawyers, on topics which impact the everyday lives of LGBTQ Washingtonians: GLBT and Growing Older-Legal Issues in the Golden Years; Registered Domestic Partners-Rights and Responsibilities of GLBT families; and GLBT Youth in Schools.

Rainbow Center (Tacoma, WA) www.rainbowcntr.org $5,000 for general operating support to this LGBTQ community center operating in downtown Tacoma. It offers 30 drop in hours a week with access to computers for job searches, a library for resource information and entertainment, and a hot beverage. Staff support is available for general support, crisis needs and cultural competency training. Free meeting and office space is offered to community partners in the evenings and weekends.

Skagit PFLAG (Sedro-Woolley, WA) www.pflagskagit.org $5,000 to bring people from Everett, Whidbey Island, Friday Harbor, Concrete and Bellingham to a performance of Rent at the historic Lincoln Theatre in Mount Vernon, WA. Transportation would be arranged and tickets subsidized for 300 youth and adults out of the 500 seats they expect will be filled for this event. Skagit PFLAG will subsidize out of their funds a pizza gathering after the show. Organizations from around the region will be invited to have information booths.

Spokane Regional HIV/AIDS Speakers’ Bureau (Spokane, WA) www.hivaidsspeakersbureau.net $3,000 will be used to expand service and take HIV/AIDS education to rural schools in Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho. The HIV/Aids Speakers’ Bureau has been giving educational and motivational presentations concerning HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention to the Spokane region for the last five years. These funds will help Spokane Regional HIV/AIDS Speakers’ Bureau to extend their outreach to the middle schools and high schools in rural areas of Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho.

St Paul’s Episcopal Church (Bremerton, WA) www.StPaulsBremerton.org $5,000 for the replacement of old, worn furniture and repairing or replacement of basic equipment. St Paul’s Episcopal Church is a welcoming parish to the LGBT community and offers its meeting and social spaces to many local groups including, LGBT Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous, PFLAG and Queer BINGO. The improvements made will make these gathering spaces more efficient and comfortable and as a result will better serve the LGBT Community.

HEALTH & COMMUNITY SERVICES

The Center for Transgender Health and Wellness (Bellingham, WA) $2,500 for the development of infrastructure to establish an online referral data base, file for 501c3 tax exempt status, board and officers insurance, and web development. The eventual goal is to open a Seattle clinic to provide direct health services to the transgender community and cultural competency trainings for medical health providers, mental health providers and social service organizations throughout Washington.

HIV/AIDS SERVICE DELIVERY AND PREVENTION

AIDS Housing Association of Tacoma (Tacoma, WA) www.aidshousingtacoma.org $5,000 for general operating funds for Three Cedars House which provides around-the-clock care to HIV/AIDS clients who require care in dealing with their disease and related issues. The goal is to rebuild clients’ health and move them toward more independent living situations.

AIDS Project Snohomish County/Friendship Dinners (Tulalip, WA) www.apsconline.org $2,400 to purchase food and supplies for a monthly dinner for HIV+ people to meet with family and friends, enjoy a wholesome meal and attend a program normally focused on health issues. 30-45 people attend the monthly event which is provided by an all-volunteer crew in a donated space in Saint Paul United Methodist Church. These dinners are home-style meals that are aimed not only at feeding people who might not be able to prepare such a meal but also at counteracting the social isolation many of them encounter.

Humane Society for Seattle/King County (Seattle, WA) www.seattlehumane.org $5,000 for the Pet Project, a program designed to help low-income people disabled by AIDS keep their pets. Clients are matched with volunteers for one-on-one support. Food, cat litter, flea control and other supplies are provided on a monthly basis. Volunteer veterinarians and technicians staff free vet clinics for exams, vaccines, lab work, dental cleaning and medications. Volunteer groomers are also made available. More than 150 clients and their 200+ pets are served annually.

Jefferson AIDS Society (Port Townsend, WA) www.jeffersonaidsservices.org $5,000 for the Urgent Life Support Assistance Program, to support low-income disabled people living with HIV/AIDS by providing cash grants for emergency needs such as food, housing, utilities, medical and transportation needs.

Palouse HIV Consortium (Pullman, WA) $2,500 will be used to help continue providing rural HIV services to HIV+ persons.  The Palouse HIV Consortium strives to facilitate sustainable choices made by HIV+ persons to live where they choose to live and still be able to access those appropriate and competent health and social services needed to maximize their health, self-sufficiency, self-esteem and quality of life.

Sean Humphrey House (Bellingham, WA) www.seanhumphreyhouse.org $5,000 for 24-hour personal, medical, and residential services for very low-income adults living with HIV/AIDS. Residents come to them from hospitals, shelters and off the streets—people who have no other options for assistance. With the help of the staff, volunteers and partner agencies, clients can often return to the mainstream to live healthy, stable and independent lives.

LESBIAN HEALTH

BABES Network – YWCA (Seattle, WA) www.babesnetwork.org $5,000 for the 2011 retreat for 35 women living with HIV/AIDS. The retreat is focused on improving the health and well-being of women who are low-income and come from medically underserved populations. The focus is on mental health, reducing isolation, increasing knowledge of HIV and AIDS treatments, and holding activities to foster self-care and community. The retreat serves to counteract some of the physical and mental health-related challenges of living with HIV while building resiliency on both an individual and group level.

Seattle Counseling Service (Seattle, WA) www.seattlecounseling.org $5,000 to continue and expand its leading edge outreach and support program focused on LBTQ women and Chrystal Methamphetamine: Women OUT (Opening Up Together). 2009 research of women seeking assistance from the Service found that Meth is the primary drug of choice for women, who use on more days than men, engage in more HIV risk behaviors than men, and have a higher incidence of suicide attempts. Women OUT provides a safe place for women to find support, treatment, and recovery; educations to service providers, and training with their own and community clinicians regarding the use of meth in women, especially LBTQ women.

YOUTH & FAMILIES

Bend-It (Seattle, WA) $5,000 for the 2011 four-day festival of queer artists and activists including acoustic and plugged in music lineups, spoken word, drag/burlesque/variety show acts, and space for art, play and independent films. Held during the Seattle Pride Festival, the focus is on building welcoming, liberated spaces and strengthening community through meaningful drug and alcohol free alternatives focused on, but not exclusively, for queer young people.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound (Seattle, WA) www.bbbsps.org $5,000 for mentoring programs focused on LGBTQ youth. Activities include mentor recruitment and outreach, enrollment and matching of youth, match support including professional case management, and evaluation of strength of relationship and youth outcomes. Nationally, the Puget Sound chapter is leading the charge for the national affiliate to evaluate their policies on LGBTQ volunteers, youth mentees, and families, especially in terms of transgender and gender variant volunteers and youth.

Camp Ten Trees (Seattle, WA) www.camptentrees.org $5,000 for general operating support to sustain two weeks of summer camp session for children and youth connected to the LGBTQA communities. Camp activities are designed to empower campers through play in order to enhance self-esteem, life skills, independence, leadership and self-confidence. Offerings include arts and crafts, boating, swimming and swimming lessons, creative writing, archery, dance, hikes/nature walks, discussions, sports, youth organizing, and social justice workshops.

Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network – GLSEN (Seattle, WA) www.glsenwa.org $5,000 for a year-long training project for advisors to Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) and similar groups providing queer youth in Washington schools a safe space to meet, bond and engage as a community. The trainings will involve possible GSA activities and events to promote within their groups, ways to empower youth to serve their communities and tactics for bringing substantive change to their schools and to raise the profile of GSAs.

Idaho Human Rights Education Center (Boise, ID) www.idaho-humanrights.org $5,000 for the work of the Idaho Safe Schools Coalition, a grassroots partnership of community organizations, schools, churches, youth, parents and educators dedicated to ensuring that every child feels safe attending school, especially those who are perceived and/or identify as LGBTQ, and/or are children of LGBTQ families. Through direct outreach, the coalition provides advocacy for students and resources and skill-based training to educators. The coalition will strengthen its statewide network of high school Gay-Straight Alliances and human rights clubs by equipping them with resources to address anti-LGBTQ sentiment among their peers, teachers and administrators.

Identity Inc. (Anchorage, AK) www.identityinc.org $3,500 for travel expenses to insure the attendance of youth from Southeast Alaska, Fairbanks, Kenai Peninsula, and from bush villages at Identity Inc.’s 2011 Pride Conference in Anchorage. The conference will focus on these youth sharing their experiences of being LGBT in their home communities. Youth traveling from remote Alaska will have the opportunity to meet and interact with other LGBT youth and to enhance their personal self-esteem and self-worth. Published suicide data predicts 95% likelihood that a young person between the ages of 12 and 19, who is an Alaska Native, lives in a village, is male and is gay will attempt suicide.

Inland Oasis Inc. (Moscow, ID) www.inlandoasis.org $3,700 will be used to obtain a new community center that is versatile, secure, and available as needed. Inland Oasis is expanding some of its services which include: providing HIV testing and case management for low income HIV positive clients; space for a youth group, which will be the only youth program for LGBTQ youth south of Spokane and north of Boise; and a library and resource center for outreach. 

Kitsap County HIV/AIDS Foundation (Silverdale, WA) www.kchaf.org $5,000 to support the continuation and growth of the Kitsap County HIV/AIDS Foundation’s youth program, The Q Center. The Q Center, founded in 2007, is the only program in Kitsap County serving LGBTQA youth ages 14-19. Youth attendance, center activities, and participation from local school organizations grow every year. Pride Foundation funds will be used to support this growth by engaging more volunteers, increasing staff time, and providing more resources for the drop-in center.

Lion’s Pride Cubs (Boise, Idaho) www.lionsprideidaho.com $5,000 for the Northwest LGBTA Youth Conference for Hope to be held in Meridian, ID in July 2011. Funds will be used for rental space, lodging and meals for conference goers, keynote speaker’s travel expenses, materials for workshops, and evening entertainment. Workshops will include creating and maintaining high school GSAs, religion and the LGBT community, how to be an affirming parent or guardian, and how to be safe and out in school.

Mount Vernon High School/Gay Straight Alliance (Mount Vernon, WA) $1,500 for the 4^th annual Over the Rainbow Festival to be held in spring 2011. The festival is free and open to the public and includes entertainment and LGBTQ focused workshops. The festival will open with an all-student cast of the Geography Club, a play about a group of gay and lesbian students who find mutual support when they form a ‘Geography Club’ at their high school. The workshop topics are being chosen to be of interest to and support middle school students who are starting a GSA in one of the two middle schools in the district.

Oasis Youth Center/Pierce County AIDS Foundation (Tacoma, WA) www.oasisyouthcenter.org $5,000 for opportunities and tools for LGBTQ youth ages 14 to 24 to gain leadership experience and training at the annual Oasis Youth Leadership Summit. The three-day event will immerse youth in an overnight/all-day retreat setting, providing an atmosphere in which youth can develop healthy living skills, gain practical leadership experience, acquire techniques for improving the quality of relationships in their lives, and to facilitate the bonds that foster strong and supportive communities. The curriculum design components and activities will also help participants develop connections to their own identity, culture and community.

Odyssey Youth Center (Spokane, WA) www.odysseyyouth.org $4,000 to continue developing Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) clubs and/or other social justice clubs on Spokane’s high school campuses. With these funds, Odyssey will be able to activate two additional GSA’s that are in the development phase, initiate a training program for school counselors and educators, and identify additional schools where they might be able to affect change.

Queer Youth Space (Seattle, WA) www.queeryouthspace.com $5,000 to hire two part-time community organizers and to support the work of the collective through projects and events for young people. They have three main goals: to encourage youth-led queer organizing; to provide spaces for queer youth to build strong communities; and to recognize queer youth as important and powerful figures within the queer community. A big project this year is raising a $100,000 match to the matching grant they received from the City of Seattle which will be used to acquire a physical space and to support other projects.

Youth Suicide Prevention Program (Seattle, WA) www.yspp.org $2,500 for the creation, printing, and distribution of an informational brochure that will be used to educate adults who live and work with middle and high-school-aged youth (parents, teachers and school staff, youth service providers, healthcare professionals, counselors, etc.) and young people about the connections between biased-based harassment/bullying and youth suicide risk. A number of copies will be mailed to LGBTQ youth serving programs and school districts. A downloadable version will be posted on their website.