The GLBT Community Projects Fund at The Miami Foundation is a partnership with the National LGBTQ Task Force to support organizations and programs that advance education and public awareness of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues in Greater Miami. In partnership with the Aqua Foundation, we are providing two years of startup support for Project SAFE, a youth homelessness initiative led by The Alliance for GLBTQ Youth. Below is a list of our 2015 grantees.
4Ward Miami – $7,500
Gay8 Festival, a Hispanic LGBT art, music and street festival in Little Havana, on “Calle Ocho” from 14th to 17th Avenues. The Festival is expected to attract 25,000 persons and to affirm the diversity of the LGBT community.
Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts – $2,500
The Arsht Center will partner with the No Place for Hate initiative exploring the common narrative threads of prejudice and personal identity in 3 Broadway performances. Through post-show community engagement workshops, the project deepens understanding through the power of live theater breaking down stereotypes and promoting respect for diversity.
Aqua Foundation for Women – $4,000
TransCon is a conference designed to serve the transgender and gender non-conforming community as well as their allies. TransCon creates a safe space for individuals to explore trans issues and come together to share experiences and knowledge and propel a grassroots support for community change.
Arts at St. Johns – $2,500
This project addresses, through the arts, the intersectionality of two groups that have experienced discrimination and/or oppression: – LGBT folk & African-Americans. Held in June 2016 the project will include 3 performances, 3 panels and 4 talks alongside an exhibit on loan from the Stonewall Museum on LGBT contributions to the Harlem Renaissance.
Camillus House – $12,000
Camillus House serves homeless and chronically homeless LGBT individuals, in Miami-Dade County through a comprehensive system of care that is sensitive to the concerns of this sub population, providing shelter, food, clothing, addiction counseling, behavioral health services, job training, and health care.
Center for the Advancement of Jewish Education – $2,500
To build and retain increasingly stronger ties with Miami’s Jewish GLBT residents and visitors, and to instill a sense of pride and respect among all the members of the GLBT community through the Festival’s year-round programming, educational platform, and special events.
City Theatre– $3,500
Shorts Gone Wild was launched to provide voice to the unique challenges facing South Florida’s large GLBT community. Issues such as stereotyping, positive representation, sexual identity and marriage equality are explored. City Theatre is dedicated to using theatre to build bridges between diverse communities and to promoting social justice.
Empower U– $7,500
Empower U will provide group or individual counseling to young, minority transgender persons. Being transgender is often unrecognized and misunderstood. What is needed is support, understanding and information. Counseling will be with a therapist who is empathetic to the transgender community and understands the issues they face.
Equality Florida Institute – $10,000
The Equality Means Business Advisory Board and the Another Business for Equality program will expand the critical work of coalition-building with advocates in the business community to secure vital protections for LGBT employees and to promote the necessity of formal anti-discrimination policies in the workplace.
FIU Foundation – LGBTQA Initiatives – $3,500
The City Wide Lavender Graduation is a project that will celebrate and recognize LGBTQA students of all races and ethnicities. It will acknowledge their academic achievement, leadership, resilience and success. It will give students the opportunity to share their hopes and dreams with one another, and be inspired & encouraged by city leaders.
FIU Foundation – Wertheim College of Medicine – $3,245
A workshop on HIV prevention specifically customized to the transgender population of South Florida. Conducted by Juan Oves, MPH, Latinos Salud; Cheryl L. Holder, MD, Associate Professor, FIU-HWCOM; and Aryah O’Tiss Lester, Trans Miami Center, the workshop will cover all aspects of HIV prevention and detailed information on services/programs.
FUNDarte – $2,500
Out In The Tropics is a yearly performance festival featuring work by artists who address issues of sexuality, identity and gender, as well as workshops and ancillary activities in which the local community has opportunities to interact personally and directly with prominent local, national and international GLBT artists.
Jewish Community Services of South Florida – $12,500
Jewish Community Services intends to partner with SAGE (Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders), the country’s largest and oldest organization dedicated to improving the lives of LGBT older adults in an effort to 1) identify current and emerging needs of LGBT seniors in South Florida, 2) address identified issues, and 3) develop future programming.
Legal Services of Greater Miami – $5,000
In December 2014 the Miami-Dade Board of Commissioners amended the County Ordinances to prohibit housing discrimination based on gender identity and expression. Legal Services will make the promise of this new law a reality by educating transgender individuals about their new legal rights, and providing representation to enforce those rights.
Lotus House Women’s Shelter – $15,000
The Rainbow Lotus Program provides 78 homeless LBTQ individuals and their children annually with shelter, meals, clothing, help accessing benefits, evidence-based/informed and trauma-focused counseling services, health/mental health care, parenting skills education, job-training, educational completion, life skills training and other supports.
Miami Beach Gay Pride – $10,000
Miami Beach Gay Pride brings together members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community, their friends, allies, and supporters in celebration of the unique spirit and culture of the LGBT community. Miami Beach Gay Pride is a not-for-profit organization that produces free, safe, quality mass-appeal events that are open to all, and that include the Parade, Festival, Expo, and adjunct, officially sanctioned Miami Beach Gay Pride events.
Miami Bridge Youth and Family Services – $12,000
80 GBLTQ youth will receive residential or nonresidential services, including those who are runaway, homeless, at-risk, neglected, abandoned, abused, truant, or disrupted out of foster care placement. Affirming dialogue and discussion groups covering GBLTQ issues are held, along with specialized counseling and case management.
Miami Gay Men’s Chorus – $5,000
The Miami Gay Men’s Chorus will present a concert double bill to include Tyler’s Suite and I Am Harvey Milk. Both extended choral works highlight the lives of two members of the LGBT community – one whose notoriety was the result of his suicide, the other recognized as the first openly gay public official who was ultimately murdered.
Miami-Dade Community Based Care Alliance – $3,000
During the DCF’s five year permanency plan sessions, domestic violence was identified as the top maltreatment in Miami-Dade County. It was noted that LGBTQ intimate partner violence is largely ignored in the community. The program seeks to spread awareness and preventative education about DV, LGBTQ DV, and the effect on Children in the community.
MiFo LGBT Film Festival – $10,000
The festival will bring residents and all GLBT film-lovers a high-quality, thought-provoking, and entertaining selection of GLBT cinema. The wide array of films will include features, documentaries, and shorts, as well as complementary events which range from panel discussions to Q&A sessions to themed social events to a closing awards brunch.
O Cinema -$2,500
The Reading Queer/O Cinema Salon Series address important topics within the queer community through film and spirited conversations that address issues that impact all of us to create a better informed and better connected community.
Pet Project For Pets – $4,700
Our project would immediately accept into the program 63 wait listed GLBT Senior clients who are qualified to receive our services. The project would give these clients pet food, pet vaccines (as needed), access to reduced cost veterinarian care, the comfort in knowing they can “KEEP THEIR PETS” and pet supplies.
Pioneer Winter Collective – $7,500
We bring awareness of issues specific to the LGBTQ community with our teen/young adult initiative Project LEAP, and dance performances created through interactions made in LEAP. It is the basis for continued queer-focused art in Miami. Now in its third cycle, we have a working model for the arts as a platform for self-expression and social change.
Pridelines Youth Services – $12,000
Pridelines operates the only Drop-In Center for LGBTQ youth in Miami-Dade County. Programs include nightly psychosocial/support groups, referrals for mental health and housing services, computer access, snacks and meals, and Youth Enrichment Activities. Each year, over 700 unduplicated LGBTQ youth access Drop-In Center programs and services.
Reading Queer – $6,500
2015 marks the year Reading Queer adds important partners to cement and expand its influence in the community. RQ seeks funding to hire writers to lead the RQ Writing Academy; to bring nationally recognized queer writers to the Reading Queer Literary Festival @ The Miami Book Fair International; and to produce the RQ/O’Cinema Salon Series.
Safe Schools South Florida – $11,500
SSSF’s Healthy Students/Healthy Schools Suicide Prevention Initiative will address prevention and intervention for LGBTQ Students in schools by training educators and students with the American Psychological Association Suicide Awareness program. This initiative will use the proven Safe Schools model as its vehicle for program delivery.
SAVE Foundation – $10,000
SAVE Foundation is seeking funding to support field and administrative staff to complete the projects goals, as well as funding to replace our aging workstations and purchase equipment for canvassing.
Survivors Pathway Corporation – $13,000
Provide mental health counseling, legal advocacy support and mentoring group services to Trans gender Latino women minors and adults victims of sex trafficking, at risk of being commercially sexually exploited or victim of any other type of violence associated with their gender identity or expression.
Switchboard of Miami – $15,000
GLBT Suicide/Crisis Prevention, Early Intervention & Counseling Project will continue marketing/promotion efforts to maximize awareness/access of 24/7/365 crisis intervention/suicide prevention and information & referral services to countless GLBT individuals plus information and group/individual counseling for 180 GLBT youth throughout MDC.
Thelma Gibson Health Initiative – $4,000
The Pink Rose Garden Project will include support groups focused on self-regulation, as well as therapeutic gardening projects that will include cultivating and maintaining produce, herbs and flowers. Participant will also be offered free on-site HIV pre/post-test counseling and testing, STD testing referrals, education and linkage to care.
Tigertail Productions – $9,000
SpeakOut is a vital one-of-a-kind writing/performance/spoken word project for LGBTQ teens (13-19) that runs 8-months, January – August 2016. This Tigertail initiative, now in its 9th year reaches 500 LGBTQ teens in the inner city, as well as throughout greater Miami, through dynamic events and transformative opportunities.
Unity Coalition|Coalicion Unida – $7,500
Offering a series of Workshops, Trainings & Programs to Empower, Educate and Inspire our LGBTQ Community:
ELEVATE | A day of 12 workshops, focused on being NICER – to ourselves & others.
TRANSART | A month of programming showcasing trans art & artists.
Celebrate ORGULLO Writers Forum | Bringing LGBT Hispanic writers from across the globe to South Florida
YES Institute – $5,000
We propose providing dialogue and cutting edge education on communication, gender and orientation to 500 health care professionals. This project will improve access to health care by linking youth and families impacted by gender and orientation to quality providers, trained to meet their needs, ultimately ensuring their safety and well-being.