Continuing our COVID-19 Response
Volunteers deliver food and supplies to vulnerable community members
As donations come in to Stonewall’s Emergency Response Fund, we’ve continued mobilizing resources to organizations that are providing services to those in our community who've been hid hardest by the pandemic. Our pandemic relief efforts prioritize homeless or incarcerated people, elders, street-involved youth, people who are poz, black and Latinx people who have the lowest access to remote work options, and undocumented immigrants. In the past couple of weeks, our relief efforts have had an impact on vital community work, making initiatives like the following possible:
Incarcerated people are at particularly high risk for contracting COVID-19, and transgender, gender non-conforming, and nonbinary (TGNCNB) people are disproportionately incarcerated. Since April, Legal Aid Society has been filing writs to decarcerate TGNCNB people. Legal Aid is also working with the ReEntry Task Force to ensure that each person has access to affirming resources to facilitate a safe reentry into the community.
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center is a New York City pillar. Since the pandemic moved The Center’s operations online, their information and referral teams have been operating a “virtual front desk” seven days a week, responding to phone calls and emails on everything from health insurance to virtual 12-step programs. In March alone, they handled more than 1,000 inquiries. The “LGBTQ 311 for New Yorkers,” as Center staff call it, has been vital to keeping our community informed and connected during this pandemic.
The pandemic and its fallout have impacted not just our physical health but our mental health, too. Stonewall’s Emergency Response Fund has provided Zoom licenses to allow organizations like Fearless Femme 100, SAGE, and New Alternatives for Homeless LGBTQ Youth to provide peer counseling, support groups, and other mental health services to combat depression, anxiety, and isolation.
Stonewall receives inquiries every day from organizations working to support their clients and members in the face of unprecedented challenges. Your gifts allow us to connect them with resources and support their work. Please consider making a gift from your DAF to our Emergency Response Fund today.