Bee's Fund coming to a close

Bee’s Fund beneficiary Shéár Avory addresses the crowd at the Brooklyn Liberation March on the steps of the Brooklyn Museum on June 12, 2021

Bee’s Fund was created in 2003 in honor of Bee Winkler Weinstein by her daughter, Dava Weinstein, and Dava’s partner, Dorothy Calvani, the Fund’s lead donors. While not a traditional scholarship, the Fund initially benefited young women (and later non-binary/trans people as well) whose families had withdrawn emotional and often financial support because of their sexual and/or gender identity. Grants of various sizes were made to support young people in taking steps toward becoming self-sufficient in their own lives. Expenses that may be covered by a Bee’s Fund grant included:

  • GED tutoring

  • Work uniforms

  • Legal name changes

  • College application fees

  • Licensing and testing fees

  • Domestic needs, such as bedding or rental security deposits

  • For vocational/technical training: tuition, books, and supplies

Now that the Bee’s Fund has come to its closing chapter, we’d like to thank Dava Weinstein & Dorothy Calvani, the founders of Bee’s Fund, and those fund partners who generously donated to this important initiative. Over the Bee’s Fund lifecycle, together, we dispersed nearly $500,000 in support of over 4,500 young people. More than 50% of these individuals were unstably housed or lived in transitional/supportive housing or shelter. Our data shows that the majority of recipients, nearly 56%, identified as Black, 15% identified as white, 8% identified as BIPOC mixed race, and 4% identified as Asian, with the rest identifying as Other or declining to answer. With respect to gender, 38% of the recipients identified as cis women, 23% as trans women, 11% as non-binary/GNC, 6% as trans, and 1% as trans men or gender fluid.

While thousands of individual lives were impacted by Bee’s Fund over the course of two decades, there are some that stand out and stick with us. Below, we spotlight one such recipient whose story continues to inspire and bring to life the importance of investing in our own.

Shéár Avory (they/them) is a Black and Indigenous nonbinary trans femme. Since the age of thirteen, Shéár has been a leading voice of youth activism. While facing the reality of homelessness a couple of years back at the age of 19, they turned to one of Stonewall's grantees for support, through which a Stonewall Bee’s Fund micro-grant was awarded to them. Today, they are paying it forward and even served as an advisory board member for Bee’s Fund, helping direct the same pool of resources that made a difference in their life. Shéár is a creative visionary, published researcher, and social justice advocate committed to the advancement of social, economic, racial, gender, disability, and environmental justice, with a particular focus on the empowerment of young people. Shéár is currently running for New York State Assembly in the Hudson Valley’s 104th District to take our fight to the inside and champion progress for all of us.

Jarrett Lucas