Fall 2011 Grants Announcements

In October 2011, Stonewall Community Foundation issued a Request for Proposals to over 240 community leaders representing a host of LGBTQ organizations and programs throughout New York City. The RFP was an invitation to apply for one-year, project-specific grants ranging from $5,000 to $15,000. Our focus this year was on strategic partnerships, groups coming together to protect, improve, and enrich the lives of LGBTQ people in New York City. Given our current economic and political climate, solidarity and resource sharing are invaluable if not essential to our success.

It was evident from the response that this theme resonated within our community. We received a total of 19 proposals from 57 groups who have found innovative ways to integrate their work and maximize their impact. After careful review of these, recommendations were made to the Stonewall Board of Directors.  The list of fall grantees is below. 

We offer a special thanks to the distinguished local leaders who comprise our Advisory Committee: Charlie Finlay, Ken Goody, Steve Foster, Alex DelValle, Sharon Stapel, Lolan Sevilla, Mark Sexton, Barbara Raab, and Nancy Ordover. Their thoughtful participation in this process ensures that we operate with integrity to our mission as the public charity for all of New York City's LGBTQ community!

Streetwise and Safe | Audre Lorde Project - $13,000
These two organizations will partner to challenge the discriminatory and often abusive policing practices the NYPD employs against lesbian, gay, bisexual, two-spirit, transgender and gender non-conforming people of color. 

Northeast Two-Spirit Society | Asian and Pacific Islander Coalition on HIV/AIDS - $13,000
NE2SS, with APICHA, will develop and implement a training that will enable six prominent social and health service agencies in New York City to better serve their American Indian two-spirit clients.

Gay Asian and Pacific Islander Men of New York | Q-Wave | South Asian LGBT Association - $5,000
This grant will improve the capacity of these three organizations to work together and find cost efficiencies as they continue to improve the lives of LGBTQ Asian and Pacific Islander New Yorkers. 

Supportive Children's Advocacy Network | Mt. Sinai Adolescent Health Center - $11,000
This partnership will offer LGBTQ youth in East Harlem a comprehensive range of critical health and mental health services.

In Retrospect: Stonewall Honors

Thanks to everyone who made Stonewall Honors 2011 a huge success! We congratulate once again our 2011 honorees: Paula Ettelbrick & Family, the Alotta-Reagon Family, the Marino-Thomas Family and the Grover-Watson Family. They have inspired a tremendous amount of positive social change for LGBTQ families in New York City and beyond, and for that we are all extremely thankful!

The Paula Ettelbrick Memorial Fund

A memorial service for Stonewall's immediate past Executive Director Paula Ettelbrick was held on Monday, November 14, 2011. The service took place at 6:30pm at the Fourth Unitarian Universalist Society. Paula passed away on the morning of Friday, October 7, 2011 surrounded by friends and family after a heroic battle with ovarian cancer. As a lifelong advocate for LGBTQ people across the globe, Paula will be remembered for her leadership roles at many organizations, including Lambda Legal, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, and the Stonewall Community Foundation.

A fund in honor of Paula has been established at the Stonewall Community Foundation. The Paula Ettelbrick Memorial Fund shall be a grantmaking fund dedicated to the support of LGBTQ family programming and lesbian feminist issues. As with all Stonewall grants, grantmaking decisions will be made by a community-based funding panel. Contributions to the fund are now being accepted and are fully tax-deductible.

To make a contribution in memory of Paula please click here or mail to:
Stonewall Community Foundation, Paula Ettelbrick Fund
446 West 33rd Street, New York, NY 10001

Note: When using the online form, please indicate in the appropriate field that the gift is being made in honor of Paula Ettelbrick.          

To read Stonewall's news release highlighting Paula's life as a pioneering champion for LGBTQ rights, click here.

Record-Breaking Achievement for the Stonewall Swim!

On Saturday, August 13th, 49 remarkably brave and amazingly fit swimmers swam from Sayville to the Fire Island Pines to raise money for the Stonewall Community Foundation.  Fifty-one kayakers also made the 3.5 mile trek across the Great South Bay to help support the swimmers and provide them with personal encouragement.  Together, all of this year's participants raised a record-breaking $155,000 !  Thanks to everyone who was involved.

The Stonewall Vision Dinner - An Affair to Remember...