August 10, 2011

Foundation announces 2011 Equity Action grants totaling $49,000; 79 grants awarded to LGBTQ Communities over past eight years

Eight local nonprofit organizations serving the state’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) communities have been selected by Equity Action, an initiative of The Rhode Island Foundation, to receive funding for projects and programs this year. Equity Action has awarded 79 grants totaling more than $525,000 to organizations over the past eight years.

“The Foundation is happy to congratulate the recipients of the 2011 Equity Action grants as their proposed plans will help create, expand, and strengthen LGBTQ-specific programs throughout the state,” said Inés Merchán, grant programs officer at the Foundation.

The 2011 grantees will address the community’s priority needs as presented in Meet the Neighbors through the empowerment of under-represented individuals in LGBTQ communities. Project or capacity-building grants will support the work of organizations that play a vital and unique role in the LGBTQ communities.

2011 Equity Action Grants

• AIDS Project Rhode Island - $9,000 - Statewide HIV/AIDS assessment
  Funding for AIDS Project Rhode Island will be used to conduct a statewide HIV/AIDS assessment focusing on MSM and subsequent development of a strategic plan based on the findings.
• Providence Youth Student Movement (PrYSM) - $9,000 - SeaQuel
  This grant will fund Southeast Asian Queers United for Empowerment and Leadership (SeaQuel) to empower LGBTQ and heterosexual youth allies to organize community events, foster coalition building, and address the intersection of oppressions.
• Direct Action for Rights and Equality (DARE) - $7,500 - Expand DARE’s leadership and political education programs
  Funding from this grant will be used to support and expand the leadership and political education program in the area of youth relevance, involvement and participation, LGBTQ issues, and develop a Train-the-Trainer Curriculum.
• Marriage Equality Rhode Island (MERI) - $7,500 - Communications Network
  Funding from this grant will be used to build a communications network throughout Rhode Island that will sustain the goal of achieving equal civil marriage rights for the LGBTQ community in our state.
• Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) - $5,000 - Marriage Equality in Rhode Island
  This grant to GLAD provides support for work towards achieving marriage equality for same-sex couples in Rhode Island using a combination of legal strategies, advocacy, legislative lawyering, public education, and strategic communications.
• HeadsUp, Inc. - $5,000  - LGBTQ oral history & artifacts preservation project
  This grant will support efforts to get oral histories and artifacts from older LGBTQ Rhode Islanders transcribed, indexed and housed for preservation, and uploaded to the Internet for availability at the University of Rhode Island Library as a Special Collection.
• Flicker Arts Collaborative - $3,000 - LGBTQ film screening
  Flicker will use the funding to screen LGBTQ films for special focus on civil rights surrounding gay marriage legalization and issues of social/youth assimilation, along with training of the LGBTQ Youth Jury to adjudicate films and present awards.
• Rhode Island College - $3,000  - Develop profile of LGBTQ community at RIC
  Rhode Island College plans to use this funding to develop a profile of the LGBTQ community at the school, obtain relevant literature for the Unity Center library, and purchase t-shirts for a campus-wide social campaign.