Chicago Foundation for Women's
Lesbian Leadership Council supports the Foundation's grantmaking and fundraising goals through the Lavender Fund. The Lesbian Leadership Council was the first of the five councils to create its own vehicle to support communities of interest. The fund, like the Lesbian Leadership Council itself, is inclusive of women and individuals who identify as lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning. Read more about Lavender Fund grantees below.
2010 GRANTEES
Affinity Community ServicesGeneral Operating Support - $2,500Affinity Community Services provides community resources, political advocacy, and a safe space on the south side of Chicago for lesbian and lesbigay youth of African descent. Affinity facilitates wellness and justice within the community through a variety of direct service and social change strategies. It aims to meet existing and emerging needs among African American lesbians and bisexual women related to health, poverty and community education, as well as to address racism, sexism and homophobia.
Amigas Latinas AssociationAmiguitas Program - $2,500 Amigas Latinas empowers Latina lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning women who love women by providing a safe environment, personal growth, support, education and advocacy to impact family, friends and the larger community. To fulfill this vision, Amigas works to educate and empower its constituents, service providers, the Latino community, the general gay community and legislators about issues relevant to the Latina LBTQQ community. The Amiguitas program is a youth group that provides a safe space for LBTQQ Latinas ages 14 to "20-something."
Chicago Books to Women in Prison
General Operating Support - $2,500
Chicago Books to Women in Prison is a volunteer collective working to distribute books free of charge to women in prison nationwide. Chicago BWP is dedicated to offering women behind bars the opportunity for self-empowerment, education, and entertainment that reading provides. Incarcerated women send the group their requests for books directly, and it attempts to furnish the requested materials from our stock of donated books, sending three books in each package. Chicago BWP also furnishes books directly to prison libraries.
Gender JUST
General Operating Support - $2,500
Gender JUST (Justice United for Societal Transformation) is a multi-racial, multi-ethnic, and multi-generational grassroots organization of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and allied (LGBTQA) young people, LGBTQA people of color, and LGBTQA grassroots folks developing leadership and building power through organizing. Its goals are to hold LGBTQA communities accountable around race, class, gender, age, religion, disability, size and all factors necessary for a multi-dimensional and powerful movement, and to move the LGBTQA struggles forward by organizing through a racial, economic and gender justice framework.
2009 GRANTEES
About Face Theatre CollectiveAFT Youth Theatre - $3,500About Face Theatre creates exceptional, innovative and adventurous plays to advance the national dialogue on gender and sexual identity, and to challenge and entertain audiences in Chicago and around the world.
About Face Youth Theatre (AFYT) was developed in 1999 in response to the hate crime murder of Matthew Shepard. It is an educational program designed to engage LGBTQ youth, ages 14-21, in theatre. AFYT programs benefit both youth participants and audiences and respond to a need for a greater understanding of issues facing youth. Cultural beliefs and homophobia continue to create hostile environments for LGBTQ youth, the stress of which puts them at higher risk of using drugs, running away from home, suicide and dropping out of school. AFYT provides mentorship and creates a positive environment in which many youth report that they feel 'connected' to a community for the first time. AFYT's free programming includes workshops on oral-history based theatre and script writing, open-mic events, educational outreach plays, and leadership development for youth.
Chicago Dyke March CollectiveChicago Dyke March - $1,000The Chicago Dyke March Collective (CDMC) is a grassroots mobilization and celebration of dyke, queer and trangender resilience. CDMC hosts an annual march, the Chicago Dyke March, to make visible and celebrate dyke, queer and transgender resilience in its communities. In 2008, in an attempt to address issues of visibility and accessibility particularly among queer communities of color, CDMC organizers decided to discontinue hosting the march in Andersonville and instead have the march be mobile and occur in a number of different communities in Chicago. The intention is to do significant solidarity and education work so that the march takes place with the full participation of neighborhood residents and organizations, as well as queer people from all across the city who identify with the mission.
Youth Outlook
General Operating Support - $1,000Youth Outlook was founded in 1996 as Questioning Youth Center and recently changed its name. Youth Outlook's mission is to provide a safe, supportive and respectful environment for adolescents who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning (LGBTQ).Youth Outlook offers physical and emotional space to LGBTQ youth to diminish their feelings of isolation, promote safe and healthy choices, and provide them with alternatives to self-medicating with drugs and alcohol. To do this, Youth Outlook employs several approaches, including: Drop-in Centers with weekly programs at four locations which cover a broad range of topics, including physical and mental health; Youth Leadership, which gives youth the capacity to take leading roles within the agency, schools, jobs, communities or with The Youth Advisory Board, which advises on programming, strategic planning, and marketing; Community Education for professionals, family members, and other youth about the challenges faced by sexual minority youth.
Women & Children First Bookstore
The Women's Voices Fund - $1,000Women & Children First (WCF) began as a modest storefront in 1979. Today, WCF is one of the largest feminist bookstores in the country, stocking more than 30,000 books by and about women, children's books for all ages, and the best of lesbian and gay fiction and non-fiction. The Women's Voices Fund was established in 2005 to help support feminist programming at WCF. The Women's Voices Fund raises money to help sustain and develop an ongoing program series focused on women's lives, ideas and work. The fund ensures that events featuring women writers, discussions of feminist issues and culture and the nurturing of children's delight in books will continue to play a vital role in Chicago's intellectual, literary and political life. The program series features feminist, LGBTQ and minority women's voices and stories to balance a media that often marginalizes them. The fund pays for staff, publicity and expenses relating to hosting the events. The Lavender Fund grant will specifically support more lesbian programming and refreshments at all LGBTQ programs.
2008 GRANTEES
Amigas Latinas Association at the Center on Halsted
La Dulce Palabra- $2,000
Amigas Latinas began in 1995 as a small group of concerned lesbian and bisexual Latinas who met to discuss, socialize and support each other in a safe environment. Today Amigas is a large group of strong Latinas from around the world who love and partner with women and mentor each other throughout the stages of their journey. La Dulce Palabra is a spoken word collective comprised of Latina LGBTQ and ally artists who foster self-expression and creativity. Its mission is to integrate progressive poetry and performances that empower Latina LGBTQ individually and express the multifaceted lives of LGBTQ communities. The collective seeks to raise awareness of individual and diverse experiences, influence social change and support other marginalized communities facing similar realities.
Center on Halsted
Pink Monologues - $2,000Center on Halsted (COH) was established in 1973 as Gay Horizons, an information clearinghouse and meeting space for gays and lesbians. COH serves as a "catalyst for the LGBT community that links and provides resources and enriches life experience" in a safe and nurturing environment. Focusing on social issues and discovery, Center on Halsted is hosting a series of events celebrating Women's History Month through WOW, World of Women. These events include the highly acclaimed V-Day, an international movement to end violence against women and girls. Every Wednesday in March, the celebration will be highlighted with a show that will promote cultural and social awareness among women and raise funds to support programming at Center on Halsted. This year's World of Women performance festival will include shows by a diverse group of talented women from Chicago. Jessica Halem will present The Stand Up Vagina Show, featuring female comediennes, Dana Austin, Cameron Esposito, Sapna Kumar, Marlene Moore, Tamale, and Ashley Thornrton. Teatro Luno will present Sex Oh! a full-length production on the complicated relationship between gender, culture, and the very thing our mother's made us promise never to do. WVON Radio Personality, Sharon McGhee, will present The Pocketbook Monologues. Performed in the style of The Vagina Monologues from a Black woman's perspective, these recollections explore powerful, personal emotions through an honest, open discussion. On March 26, Center on Halsted will present V-Day Chicago 2008 and celebrate ten years of stopping violence against women.
POW-WOW, Inc.
General Operating Support - $2,000POW-WOW, Inc. supports, develops and increases the visibility of women artists, particularly those of color, to create social change and gender consciousness around the issues of media representation, inclusive cultural arts documentation and political awareness of how the artists fit in the scope of global affairs. The Kings of Poetry has been an annual event of POW-WOW, Inc's for the last four years. The event recognizes male writers and performance artists for their entire scope of work which uplifts, supports and presents women in very positive ways. The event is preceded by a workshop facilitated by the POW-WOW Men's Coordinator - avery r young. In partnership with Young Chicago Authors, avery conducts a 4 week intensive writing workshop with youth from around the city who work on creating original works around the King of Poetry's theme. This year's theme was Women of the Civil Rights Era, which examined the life of women of the civil rights such as Betty Shabazz, Corette Scott King, Rosa Parks, and Mamie Till. The youth created songs, poetry and performance pieces about each of those women. The committee of POW-WOW selected Triple Blak. His works about his single mother raising a young black boy into a man captured the voice of so many of POW-WOW's audience that they dubbed him this year's King of Poetry. Several professional poets and friends were called in to perform some of his pieces in honor of the celebration.
Teatro Luna
General Operating Support - $2,000Teatro Luna was organized for the purpose of exploring the varied experiences and cultures of Latina/Hispana women; showcasing the creative talents of Latina, Hispana, and/or Pan-Latina artists; and providing a forum for social political, artistic, and educational outreach into its communities. Teatro Luna is dedicated to expanding me range of Latina/Hispana roles visible on the Chicago stage and beyond. This year, Teatro Luna has expanded its touring programming, providing more access to its diverse work around the country. Teatro Luna will present two full length original works. Its spring work, SOLO tu, (March 2008) was the second installment of the Solo Latinas series, which has incubated over 40 solo plays by both published and unpublished Latina artists. SOLO tu produced 4 new plays and played to over 1000 community members. This fall the world-premiere of JARRED: A HOODOO COMEDY, by co-artistic director TANYA SARACHO will open for an estimated 2,000 audience members. It deals with issues of magic and the unspoken Latina tradition of using folk-magic in every day life. Teatro is also in the process of developing a new reading series in conjunction with a new workshop and lab series for Latinas in the community. Teatro moved into a church in Logan Square that offers a larger facility in order to house those projects.
Women & Children First BookstoreThe Women's Voices Fund - $2,000Women & Children First (WCF) began as a modest storefront in 1979. Today, WCF is one of the largest feminist bookstores in the country, stocking more than 30,000 books by and about women, children's books for all ages, and the best of lesbian and gay fiction and non-fiction. The Women's Voices Fund was established in 2005 to help support feminist programming at WCF. The Women's Voices Fund will use funding to support its lesbian programming in particular and its overall mission in general. This includes arranging readings and discussions, promoting the writers and their events, and staffing the events.
2007 GRANTEES
Affinity Community Services
General Operating Support - $5,000 Founded in 1996, Affinity Community Services' mission is to provide or promote programming & community organizing aimed at meeting the needs of communities of color. The founding of the organization and the implementation of its programs are designed to respond to the isolation experienced by these groups and to create opportunities for inclusion. Efforts are concentrated on community building and programming among lesbian, bi-sexual women, and gay & lesbian youth of African descent on Chicago's South side.
Amigas Latinas Association General Operating Support - $5,000Amigas Latinas began in 1995 as a small group of caring and concerned lesbian and bisexual Latinas who met to discuss, socialize and support each other in a safe environment. Today, Amigas is a large group of strong Latinas from around the world who love and partner with women and encourage and mentor each other throughout the stages of their journey. When Amigas Latinas reached its 10th anniversary of serving the Chicago-land community of Latina women who love women, it made a commitment to review the past decade and assess the direction of the organization for the next 10 years. As part of this assessment, the organization recognized that it needed to gain a better understanding of the experiences and needs of not only the members of the organization, but also those currently not within its membership. Amigas Latinas began Proyecto Latina: Discovering All of Us, a city-wide survey of the demographics, experiences, health, and needs of the community. Currently the survey has been completed by over 200 women and data collection will continue until July 1, 2007. Over the next several years the information gathered will be used to educate, empower, and address the needs of the community as well as challenge the general Latino community and mainstream gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community to better service Latina women who love women.
Center on Halsted Young Women's Program - $5,000The mission of Center on Halsted is: "in a safe and nurturing environment, Center on Halsted serves as a catalyst for the LGBT community that links and provides resources and enriches life experience." The Young Women's Program provides a range of activities that gives the participants the tools they need to transition towards health and responsible adulthood. This includes vocational training and assistance (beginning with self-directed interest studies and continuing through resume development, interview techniques, and support in employment searches), health education and prevention, a mentor-ship tutoring program, discussion groups (ranging from coming out to handling relationships), leadership training and opportunities to put leadership skills In action (such as internships, serving on event committees, assisting with program leadership), art classes and projects, community action events and safe social events. The Young Women's Program serves approximately 200 young LGBT and Questioning women each year. The Center anticipates this number to grow during the grant year as more youth learn about its new facilities and programs. The Young Women's Group meets Saturdays from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. This group is for lesbian, bi, and trans females ages 13-24.
Lesbian Community Cancer Project (now the
Lesbian Community Care Project at Howard Brown Health Center)
General Operating Support - $5,000Founded in 1990, Lesbian Community Cancer Project (LCCP) advances the health and quality of life for lesbian, bisexual, and queer women and transgender individuals through advocacy and public education to assure that appropriate and accessible health care is provided to this community in a supportive and bias-free environment. LCCP believes that the best way to make institutional change is through building relationships among organizations and further understanding and support throughout agencies.
POW-WOW, Inc.
Engage then INCITE! - $5,000The mission of POW-WOW is to support, develop and increase the visibility of women artists, particularly those of color, in an effort to create social change and gender consciousness around the issues of media representation, inclusive cultural arts documentation and political awareness in the scope of global affairs.
Questioning Youth Center (now
Youth Outlook)
General Operating Support - $5,000Youth Outlook was founded in 1996 as Questioning Youth Center and recently changed its name. Youth Outlook's mission is to provide a safe, supportive and respectful environment for adolescents who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning (LGBTQ). Youth Outlook provides leadership development, wellness education and social space for LGBTQ youth through programs that facilitate ongoing personal growth and the development of a positive identity. Programs and projects include weekly drop in centers in Naperville, Aurora and DeKalb, a monthly drop in center for trans youth (and a weekly online chat with QYC Transcend Staff is under development to make the service more accessible to youth in rural areas), programming by and about young women, a new anti-violence program that explores same sex dating violence and same sex sexual assault among young women, and youth leadership project that pulls from all of the drop in centers.
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