08 Oct 2016 Region’s first multi-donor LGBT fund awards grant
Multi-donor fund supports unique challenges and opportunities facing local LGBT community
The LGBT Community Fund of Southwest Florida, a fund of the Southwest Florida Community Foundation, has awarded its first grant.
Presented during the Annual Tied with Pride Gala on Friday, Oct. 7, the $18,000 LGBT Community Fund of Southwest Florida grant was presented to Laboratory Theater’s “Staging Teen Success Through Theater” program. This mentorship-based theater program connects youth, ages 13 to 18, who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender with successful LGBT adults within the theater community and licensed counselors. These mentors will support and nurture youth while they learn to better understand themselves and theater through research and development of plays, playwriting and scene study.
“While participating in this program, youth will have the chance to work with older LGBT people from the community and learn about their experiences,” said Annette Trossbach, producing artistic director for Lab Theater.
“This component will allow older LGBT people feel a sense of purpose and need within the community, also making them less prone to depression and suicide.”
According to Trossbach, positive reinforcement and nurturing from the mentors and counselors will help promote a sense of belonging and empowerment among LGBT young people.
The LGBT Community Fund of Southwest Florida is a multi-donor fund that allows donors to support the LGBT community by making a gift in honor or a memorial gift in memory of someone special, become an LGBT Community Fund participant or create a legacy fund as part of one’s estate plan to benefit the LGBT Fund in perpetuity.
Grant-making from the LGBT Community Fund is research-based. Through research, the Fund’s steering committee identifies the greatest needs in the Southwest Florida region for the Fund’s granting focus. There is no minimum donation, but donors with contributions of $250 or more are considered Fund Participants and have voting privileges on grants selection.
The LGBT Community Fund of Southwest Florida is a fund of The Southwest Florida Community Foundation and operates within the Foundation’s structure.
As leaders, conveners, grant makers and concierges of philanthropy, the Southwest Florida Community Foundation is a foundation built on community leadership with an inspired history of fostering regional change for the common good in Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Hendry and Glades counties. The Community Foundation, founded in 1976, fosters collective leadership, inspires social innovation and connects donors and their philanthropic aspirations to address the evolving community needs in our region. With assets of more than $93 million, the Community Foundation has provided $67 million in grants and scholarships to the communities it serves. The Foundation serves as the backbone organization for the regional FutureMakers Coalition and Lee County’s Sustainability Plan.
For more information on how to become a participant of the LGBT Community Fund, visit www.LGBTSWFL.com.