Pride Foundation

Four nonprofit organizations have just been selected to receive funding from Pride Foundation/Black Hills. Together these organizations will receive $14,000 to strengthen their local  LGBTQ community. Local volunteers vetted the 6 requests for funding and narrowed the recipients down to these four. All but Planned Parenthood have received Pride Foundation funding before.

The 2009 Pride Foundation/Black Hills grantees are:

Planned Parenthood of the Greater Northwest (Olympia, WA)  $2,000 to fund the Thurston County Teen Council which engages youth to decrease bullying and inspires them to become allies to their LGBTQ peers, increasing safety and respect in schools. Youth who make up the Teen Council are extensively trained in peer education and present at an array of urban and rural high schools throughout the year.

United Community AIDS Network (Olympia, WA) $4,500 to support the MPowerment Olympia project which serves gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning men ages 18-29. MPowerment Olympia brings these men, who are in a high-risk category for HIV transmission, together to create connections, build self-respect, disseminate HIV prevention knowledge, challenge substance abuse, and popularize safer behaviors.

Stonewall Youth (Olympia, WA)  $4,000 for general operating support. Stonewall Youth has been serving LGBTQ youth under the age of 21 for eighteen years. They provide a wide array of programs including peer support groups, art therapy, fun and sober social activities, and community organizing and education.

PFLAG Olympia (Olympia, WA)  $3, 500 to support the Pizza Klatch program which provides a safe space during school hours for LGBTQ youth and their allies to seek social connections and support, explore and validate their identities, and access resources and information. Pizza Klatch works closely with high schools GSA’s and Stonewall Youth and largely serves youth that cannot access either of these groups due to not being out to their parents and/or lack of transportation.

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