Making our impact personal
Since March, we’ve been hearing from grantee partners, as well as directly from community members, about the financial hardships that the COVID-19 pandemic is causing or heightening.
Recently, Stonewall received funding from the Robin Hood and Ford Foundations to make grants directly to LGBTQ individuals impacted by the pandemic. Targeting those who’ve been hardest hit by the economic impact of COVID-19, we focused this program on folks in our community who were excluded from state and federal relief programs: queer youth who lack family support, undocumented folks, and sex workers.
We worked closely with grantee partners across the city who work with these populations, because we knew they would be equipped to reach people in need, could assist their members with the application process, and could help distribute checks to people who lack permanent addresses. Our friends at Pride Center Staten Island, Translatinx Network, Community Kinship Life, and New Alternatives for Homeless LGBTQ Youth were our partners in this project. Each organization received a $2,500 grant to support their outreach and administrative work.
During our two-week application period, we received applications from over 200 people across NYC who shared with us challenges they’ve faced since March. Sex workers have been unable to see clients due to the risk of COVID transmission. Drag queens and other performers saw their income vanish as paying gigs were cancelled. Hourly workers have had their hours drastically reduced. Queer youth have had to move back in with homophobic and transphobic family members. Nearly everyone shared the toll the pandemic has taken on their mental health as unpaid bills have accumulated.
After a thoughtful review of all the applications, we were able to select 178 individuals to receive grants of $500 each. People can use their grants to pay rent, buy medication or groceries, or meet whatever other needs they have. There are no strings attached to these grants – recipients do not need to report on how they spend the money.
The economic devastation caused and heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be solved by philanthropy: it is our government who has the means and mandate to care for us. But, in the absence of more robust and inclusive social welfare programs, we are proud to be able to put dollars directly into the hands of community members who have been cut out of the nation’s social safety nets.