LGBTQ Fund Provides Grants to Nine Local Organizations

The LGBTQ Fund of the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham announced $65,000 in grants awarded to 9 area nonprofits. Since its founding, the LGBTQ Fund has provided more than $365,000 to support programs in Jefferson, Shelby, St. Clair, Blount, and Walker counties. Organizations receiving funds this year are:

  • Alabama Latino AIDS Coalition (CALA) – $6,000 to support Revolution and Evolution in Alabama of Latinx (REAL), CALA’s LGBTQ+ Latinx dedicated program, and sponsorship of their first fundraising event, Empower Latinx with Love.
  • Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Birmingham – $5,000 to support a Beyond School Walls workplace mentoring group where volunteers from Southern Power are matched with a group of students from the Magic City Acceptance Academy (MCAA).
  • Birmingham Black Repertory Theatre Company (BBRTC) – $6,500 to support ongoing efforts in advancing racial, gender, and disability justice through multi-generational collaborative artmaking and community activation, including operational expenses, outreach and engagement, resource allocation, and capacity building.
  • Great Heights dba Creative Wellness Institute – $8,500 to serve the LGBTQ+ Community through the FamilyCare Initiative (FamilyCare) at Creative Wellness. FamilyCare provides access to mental health counseling services for individuals, children, couples, and families who do not have insurance or the financial resources to cover the full cost of treatment.
  • Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama (HICA) – $8,000 to directly support strategic planning to further support and empower LGBTQ+ Hispanic/Latino communities throughout Central Alabama, with a focus on developing culturally affirming content and providing culturally responsive training.
  • Magic City Acceptance Academy (MCAA) – $7,500 to fund the 3rd year of the Kathryn Bland Social Justice Initiative, promoting civic engagement among MCAA’s juniors and seniors.
  • Tech Equals (subsidiary of Tech Birmingham) – $5,000 for Central Alabama LGBTQ+ Entrepreneurship Conference, including increased prizes for their annual pitch competition open to LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs, and advertising the conference to a wider audience.
  • University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) – $10,000 for the Gender Health Clinic, to cover the cost of ride share services (e.g., Uber, Lyft) for patients without vehicles and provide gas vouchers for those patients who do have vehicles but may have limited finances to cover fuel costs associated with driving long distances to attend clinic appointments.
  • Youth Towers – $8,500 to support the LGBTQ+ housing site, including leasing costs, utilities, and basic living items. Youth Towers provides safe, affordable transitional housing for independently living young adults, and mentors young adults that are at risk of homelessness by providing mentoring in basic life skills, money management, career planning, employment skills, and building healthy and impactful relationships.

Established in 2014, the LGBTQ Fund is a Field of Interest Fund of the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham. The Fund is stewarded by the Community Foundation and guided by the LGBTQ Fund Advisory Committee. LGBTQ Fund Advisory Committee members include Steven Burns, Eva Kendrick, David Loper, Gina Mallisham, Phyllis McCombs, Brett Shaffer, Lindsey Tanner (chair), George Taylor, Jaketa Williams, and Tyrone Williams.

The LGBTQ Fund’s Grants Committee annually conducts in-depth reviews of all grant applicants, including site visits with new applicants.

For more information about the LGBTQ Fund or to make a gift, visit the LGBTQ Fund.