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. Below is a list of our 2016 grantees.
4Ward Miami – $10,000
Gay8 Festival, a Hispanic LGBT art, music and street festival in Little Havana, on “Calle Ocho” from 14th to 17th Avenues. The Festival attracted 17,000 in its first year and aims to connect parts of South Florida that don’t typically connect; thereby promoting connection and diversity.
Aqua Foundation for Women – $5,000
TransCon is an annual conference designed for transgender and gender non-conforming individuals and their allies. The conference provides a safe space to educate and empower the community and provides multiple resources for transgender individuals including a job fair. The conference will be held in March 2017.
Barry University – $3,295
Barry University’s School of Social Work’s annual Transgender Day of Remembrance & Resilience memorializes those who have lost their lives as a result of transphobia, bringing attention to continued interpersonal & cultural violence endured by this community. This event honors trans lives and creates support for the transgender community.
Camillus House – $15,000
Camillus House serves homeless and chronically homeless LGBT individuals including youth, 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.
Equality Florida Institute – $15,000
The LGBTQ Safe and Healthy Schools program will create a culture of inclusion in Miami-Dade schools by assisting the school district to identify and implement protocols, policies, and procedures that will further ensure the safety and wellbeing of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning (LGBTQ) youth.
FIU Foundation – LGBTQA Initiatives – $3,000
This LGBTQA event is a cultural celebration that recognizes our LGBTQA youth and acknowledges their academic achievements and contributions to their schools and community. This event also serves as a retention mechanism among LGBTQA youth from all schools in Miami and offers a safe haven where the LGBTQA community can come together for one evening.
Gulf Coast Jewish Family and Community Services – $2,500
GCJFCS has expertise in refugee cultures, norms and the obstacles LGBTQ refugees have when seeking assistance & advocacy in the U.S. GCJFCS will provide educational forums to other refugee serving agencies as well as LGBTQ service providers to improve services, increase equality and provide informational pamphlets/materials.
Jewish Community Services of South Florida – $12,500
Jewish Community Services is partnering 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 further develop and implement programming specific to the needs of LGBT seniors in South Florida
Jonathan Spikes Foundation – $5,000
I Know What I Am and I Am Not What You Call Me, stage play use live theater to break down stereotypes and promote respect for LBGTQ youth in communities of color.
Lawyers for Children America – $10,000
The program gives GLBTQ youth in foster care the support of a lawyer who provides the youth with holistic legal representation and mentoring, as well as education on self-advocacy. The program also empowers youth to participate in civic engagement as a group and to lead a Youth Summit to improve the system for all GLBTQ youth.
Legal Services of Greater Miami – $10,000
1) Legal assistance for transgender persons to remove barriers to accessing healthcare including: legal name changes, appealing denials of health coverage for medical services, and other cases that increase income and thereby the ability to get healthcare.
2) Community education about health rights of transgender persons and Project services.
Lotus House Women’s Shelter – $15,000
The Rainbow Lotus Program provides 80 homeless LBTQ individuals and children annually with shelter, meals, clothing, help accessing benefits, evidence based/informed and trauma focused counseling, health/mental health care, parenting and life skills education, job training, educational completion, and other supports in an affirming environment.
Miami Beach Gay Pride – $10,000
As a large public LGBTQ gathering, Miami Beach Gay Pride could be a target. In a post-Orlando (Pulse) environment, we must work to ensure the safety of all, with even greater security measures than before. In these challenging times, we are committed to keeping Pride a free and safe event even as our security costs increase in 2017.
Miami Gay Men’s Chorus – $7,500
The 70’s: The Decade that Built The Village will be a tribute concert to The Village People, who will celebrate their 40th anniversary in 2017. The Village People’s significance lies in that while being very tied to the LGBT community, visually and musically, they transcended all barriers and became part of the voice of a generation for all people.
Miami-Dade Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce Foundation – $7,500
We’ll promote our resources to visitors and locals alike. This programming will serve, educate, and enrich our community for both those who visit and live here. We intend to broaden our Pink Flamingo Certification Hospitality Program’s increasing sensitivity to LGBT travelers. Our re-branding will better reflect our mission.
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.
OUT Miami Foundation -$9,000
OUT Miami Foundation seeks to strengthen and expand our volunteer engagement program, by increasing the number of volunteers educated, trained, and mobilized and by bringing the local LGBT-serving organizations together to increase volunteer activity in Miami-Dade county.
Pet Project For Pets – $5,000
Our project would accept into the program 46 wait listed LGBTQ Senior clients with a total of 49 pets who are qualified to receive our services. The project would give these clients pet food, supplies, pet vaccines (as needed), a pet health check, access to reduced cost veterinarian care, the comfort in knowing they can “KEEP THEIR PETS”
Pioneer Winter Collective – $7,500
We bring awareness of issues specific to the LGBTQ community with our youth initiative LEAP, and dance performances created through interactions made in LEAP. It is the basis for continued LGBTQ-focused art in Miami. Now in its fourth cycle, there have been more youth served, more performances offered, more locations…and we now have a new home.
Pridelines – $15,000
Pridelines, Miami’s new LGBTQ community center has a new 9,000 sqft. location. Our multi-level Center is ideal for the myriad of programs/services we offer the community. Funding will be used to strengthen our offerings and capacity to better serve our clients and to support collaborative work that meets the needs of our community from the Center.
Reading Queer – $5,000
Reading Queer will program creative writing workshops, a professional development residency, a fellowship, a literary festival and associated programming to empower and provide a safe space for aspiring, emerging and established queer writers and the queer community to create and connect with one another.
Safe Schools South Florida – $10,000
For 2016-2017, the Safe Schools Project’s Awareness Trainings will provide 500 educators with the resources to prevent intolerance, to make schools safer and to raise their understanding of the issues affecting LGBTQ youth. Youth Leadership activities will empower more than 1,000 LGBTQ youth by supporting GSAs, student clubs and youth conferences.
SAVE Foundation – $12,000
Family is Everything is a media driven public education campaign that began in early 2016. After testing, we created a PSA featuring Congresswoman Ros-Lethinan and her family, speaking about why equal treatment of LGBT people is a family value. The 2016-2017 cycle looks to expand this effort through earned media and a story telling video project.
Stonewall Library & Archives – $7,000
The Stonewall National Education Project supports the well-being and academic performance of all students through a national network of educators & school administrators who meet annually to create, share, and endorse best practices on inclusive lesson plans, progressive social programs, and unambiguous School Board policies regarding LGBT youth. In 2017, SNEP will have three major goals affecting the Miami-Dade community: a visual exhibition and accompanying curriculum, an educator’s guide, and scholarships for Miami-Dade school leaders to attend the SNEP symposium.
Survivors’ Pathway Corporation – $10,000
Provide mental health counseling, legal advocacy support and mentoring group services to Latino gay ,trans gender and gender non conforming minors and adults victims of sexual violence, victims of sex trafficking and/ or at risk of being commercially sexually exploited .
Switchboard of Miami – $10,000
GLBT Suicide/Crisis Prevention & Counseling Project will continue marketing/outreach efforts to maximize awareness/access of GLBT services including 24/7/365 crisis intervention/suicide prevention and information & referral to GLBT individuals, information and group/individual counseling for 180 GLBT youth, and services available throughout MDC.
Tigertail Productions – $9,000
SpeakOut is a vital one-of-a-kind writing/performance/spoken word project for LGBTQ teens that runs 8 months, January – August 2017. This Tigertail initiative, now in its 10th 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
LGBT Arts & Education Program: Celebrate ORGULLO, Elevate & Transart for 2016-17.
Develop our ongoing speakers & artists programming with invited talent, scholars & educators for a series of year round programming designed to showcase the LGBT community to a broad-based South Florida audience.
VIDA Legal Assistance – $10,000
VIDA will provide free quality legal representation in immigration matters to LGBTQ survivors of domestic and sexual violence, human trafficking and other violent crimes using a victim centered, trauma informed model. This project will strengthen LGBTQ survivors ability to support themselves, access other services and lead a life free of abuse.
YES Institute – $5,000
YES Institute proposes to provide a minimum of 50 community dialogues reaching 1,500 university students, medical and mental health professionals, teachers, parents, and students. The presentation suggests strategies and current resources that demonstrate ways to make a positive difference for youth and families who may feel isolated and afraid.