CONGRATULATIONS to our 2017 Grant Recipients
Buckeye Ranch
In order to promote social justice and increase support the LGBTQIA community, the Buckeye Ranch will hold an outreach/information fair in conjunction with other providers and pilot a mentorship program at My Place a transitional living program for 16–21 years olds.
The My Place program works with youth who have aged out of foster care not prepared for independence and often without a support system. The mentorship program will use existing Ranch staff who already embrace inclusivity and empowerment of youth. While some of the mentors will be My Place staff, the Buckeye Ranch will also recruit mentors from over 500 employees, some of whom identify as being part of the LGBTQIA community.
Learn more about the Buckeye Ranch
Columbus Speech & Hearing Center
The goal of this service is to provide voice modification services for the transgender population in and around the Central Ohio region. During treatment, clients learn to manipulate their voice
in a healthy manner to ideal quality (modifying resonance, pitch, intonation, breathiness, projection, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, etc.). These services help to provide the client with support, aid in desensitization of distorted thinking through mindfulness training, develop positive attitudes towards communication, and improve the overall quality of life.
Learn more about the Columbus Speech & Hearing Center
Equality Ohio Education Fund
Equality Ohio’s Education Fund (EEOF) annual LGBTQA Stakeholders Summit is critical to moving LGBTQ equality forward in Ohio. The all-day Summit is held in Columbus as a central location and brings community advocates, partner organizations, and stakeholders together from all corners of Ohio. We provide breakfast and lunch to participants, allow formal and informal time for networking, and design a program agenda suited to the policy challenges most relevant to the LGBTQIA community at the time.
Learn more about Equality Ohio
Evolution Theatre
Each year, Evolution Theatre Company presents live theatrical works, plays and musicals, seeking to engage not only the LGBTQQIA community with works that they can identify with but also seeking to educate society as a whole. Through the theatre’s initiative to “educate through entertainment” the goal is to foster understanding and tolerance; celebrate and verify the community’s past, present and future; bring dignity to and acceptance for the community. Evolution Theatre challenges the audience to consider different points of view and alternate values to increase social consciousness and compassion.
Learn more about Evolution Theatre
Stonewall Columbus
The Living Room Conversations Initiative aims to create genuine, intimate connections among LGBTQIA community members who differ from one another in terms of race, class, ethnicity and privilege. This project will utilize the existing Living Room Conversations open source guidelines and ground rules to facilitate 20 conversations with 120 participants (40 of which are hosts) over a 60 day period. Conversation hosts will be garnered through a kick-off event at which guests will be introduced to the Living Room Conversations model, watch a video of such a conversation, and sign up to host a conversation.
YMCA Central Ohio - Van Buren Family Center
The YMCA Van Buren Center serves single men, single women, and families who are experiencing homelessness. When men identify as a woman, and women identify as a man upon intake, the Y accepts their gender identity and assigns the shelter dormitory or housing unit accordingly. During the process of showering, changing clothes in the dorm rooms with others of the opposite gender, the Y has experienced challenges with LGBTQIA guests. The Y is will conduct a survey and seek help with how to best serve people who are LGBTQIA in a dormitory setting or a single room occupancy facility for single adult men.
Learn more about the YMCA of Central Ohio
Cancer Support Community
Cancer prevention and treatment education
The goal of the project is to provide cancer prevention and treatment education for the LGBTQIA community to assist in closing the health disparity gap. Cancer Support Community Central Ohio (CSCCO) is committed to becoming known as an ally in the LGBTQIA community and providing specialized support as needed to assist in closing the health disparity gap.
The first component of this project, Bridging the Gap: Cancer Education for the LGBTQIA community, is to provide quarterly, cancer-specific education in collaboration with community partners. CSCCO works with qualified oncology professionals to deliver the most up-to-date education about cancer screenings and treatments, and are recruiting health care professionals who are interested in working with the LGBTQIA population.
Learn more about the Cancer Support Community