Responding to Emergency Needs During COVID-19
Supporting our community in times of crisis
In the last year, Stonewall’s Emergency Response Fund (ERF) has made nearly $70,000 in grants to organizations both in NYC and across the country. Grants from the Emergency Response Fund have gone to organizations that impact every aspect of our lives, from federally qualified health centers to theater companies, and from organizations serving queer youth to those protecting LGBTQ elders.
Since last March, the ERF has provided grants enabling organizations to continue their work while keeping their members and employees safe. The ERF has funded Zoom licenses and remote technology for over a dozen organizations, ranging from small grassroots groups like Trans Boxing and National Queer Theater, to New York pillars like Callen-Lorde Community Health Center and the Ali Forney Center; funded PPE for the racetrack employees represented by B.E.S.T. and clients supported by Translatinx Network; and helped Legal Aid Society free incarcerated trans community members at high risk for COVID-19. The growing list of beneficiaries includes: community centers in Brooklyn and Staten Island; mental health service provider Rainbow Heights Club; incredible trans-led groups like Sylvia Rivera Law Project and Colectivo Intecultural; and housing providers Princess Janae Place and Trinity Place. Forty-five percent of organizations we made grants to in 2020 were brand new to Stonewall.
From human services to arts organizations, and from the very young to our beloved elders, we work to make sure the isolated and vulnerable can find community and thrive.
With the expansion of our scholarships and microgrants, we provided direct financial support to nearly 2,500 of the most vulnerable individuals in the LGBTQ community. This emergency funding was a lifeline for recipients, many of whom were undocumented and therefore barred from federal and state support.
Since stay-at-home orders went into place last March, Stonewall has been helping nonprofits transition to remote work. We’ve purchased Zoom licenses for organizations like National Queer Theater, SAGE, and Callen-Lorde Community Health Center, and funded laptops to allow the staff of Rainbow Heights Club to continue providing their vital mental health services virtually.
During the racial justice reckoning in the summer of 2020, we made grants to organizations working on policing and criminal justice, including VOCAL-NY, Communities United for Police Reform, and Sylvia Rivera Law Project. We also made grants to Day One, Anti-Violence Project, and other organizations working to address systemic violence through education and community building.
We know that incarcerated people are at heightened risk of COVID infection due to unsanitary living conditions that make social distancing nearly impossible. The ERF has moved resources to The Legal Aid Society, a group working to free incarcerated transgender people at high risk of COVID, and also connect those folks with housing and other resources upon their release.
New Alternatives for LGBT Homeless Youth has been whipping up food to distribute in midtown and deliver to clients throughout Manhattan and the Bronx. Recently, we connected them with another Stonewall grantee partner, Out My Closet, to provide clothing for their clients as the seasons change, complete with pandemic precautions.
