ALRP Ed Bill Hirsh, PRC ED Brett Andrews, Horizons Foundation’s Roger Doughty and Jewelle Gomez, and the DeFrank Center’s ED Aejaie Sellers at Horizon’s Luncheon at the Hotel Nikko. Photo by Rink.

Horizons Foundation, a philanthropic social justice organization, serves the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community throughout the Bay Area and beyond. For over 25 years, they have been meeting the needs, advancing the rights, and celebrating the lives of LGBT people through a diverse range of programs, services, and initiatives. Their innovative work both responds to and anticipates the needs of the community they serve. Celebrating the ability to help LGBT organizations financially, Horizons distributed the 2007 Community Issues Grants at a luncheon on Dec. 14 at the Hotel Nikko.

The cornerstone of Horizons Foundation’s grant-making portfolio is their annual Community Issues grants, which are awarded to LGBT organizations and projects throughout the nine Bay Area counties. They proudly announced this year’s grants, which once again address a wide range of issues and needs in the LGBT community. A total of $213,607 in grants was made in four areas: Arts & Culture, Awareness & Civil Rights, Community Building, and Human Services & Health.

“This was a highly competitive group of proposals, and even more requests than usual,” said Jewelle Gomez, Horizons’ Director of Grants and Community Initiatives. “The selections should make our community very proud.”

The grantees and their purposes were announced as follows: AIDS Legal Referral Panel - $7,250 for the Immigrant HIV Assistance Program, as part of ALRP’s free and low-cost legal assistance for people living with HIV/AIDS; Asian and Pacific Islander Family Pride - $2,000 for Project BASIC MESSAGE, as part of API Family Pride’s support and education work to end the isolation of API families with LGBT members; Bay Area Bisexual Network - $2,000 for supporting a vibrant, multicultural bisexual community in the Bay Area and promoting better understanding of bisexual lives; Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry - $8,000 for the Asian Pacific Islander Roundtable, as part of CLGS’s education, research, community building, and advocacy efforts to shape a new public discourse on religion and sexuality; Children’s Book Press - $8,000 for reproduction of Antonio’s Card/La Tarjeta de Antonio, as part of the press’s work publishing multicultural and bilingual children’s literature; Community United Against Violence (CUAV) - $7,250 for work preventing and responding to violence against and within the LGBTQQ communities; Family Builders by Adoption - $9,500 for the No Place Like Home Project, which matches families with LGBTQ youth waiting in foster care; Fresh Meat Productions - $8,000 for artistic programs that support the creation, development, and staging of multidisciplinary work that reflects the transgender experience and builds community; Gay Asian Pacific Alliance - $8,000 for programs and events supporting gay/bisexual Asian/Pacific Islander men; Gay-Straight Alliance Network - $10,000 for the Campaign for LGBTQ-Inclusive Sexual Health Education, as part of GSAN’s efforts connecting youth activists in GSAs; Gente Latina de Ambiente - $5,000 for education, advocacy, health, HIV/AIDS prevention, and emotional support programs for Latino LGBT people in San Mateo County.

This is the second part of a two-year grant; Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center (LYRIC) - $7,250 for health, education, community building, and leadership programs for LGBTQQ youth; Lesbian Health & Research Center at UCSF - $5,607 for a comprehensive program of activities to enhance clinical practice and inform policy about the health needs of LBT women; Lyon-Martin Women’s Health Services - $6,500 for healthcare and support services for women and transgender people. This is the second part of a two-year grant; Marea Media - $8,000 for the Tomboys and Ladies: The Gender Outlaws and the Women Who Love Them film project; Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana - $6,000 for a series featuring leading LGBT contemporary artists, as part of MACLA’s support for new Latino art; Old Lesbians Organizing For Change, San Francisco Bay Area Affiliate - $2,000 for safe and supportive network opportunities for older lesbians; Openhouse - $8,000 for developing mixed-use, mixed-income senior housing and support services that welcome the LGBT community. This is the first part of a renewable grant; Our Family Coalition - $8,000 for social, educational, and advocacy programs for LGBT parents and prospective parents; Outlet Program - $8,000 for programs that support the well-being of LGBTQQ youth living on the mid-Peninsula; Positive Resource Center - $7,250 for employment services and benefits counseling for people living with or at risk for HIV/AIDS; Purple Moon Dance Project - $8,000 for dance programs that increase the visibility of lesbians and women of color and encourage social change. This is the first part of a renewable grant; Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project - $10,000 for programs promoting the creation and exhibition of films/videos that reflect the experiences and stories of queer women of color. This is the second part of a two-year grant; QueLACo (Queer Latino/a Artists Coalition) - $2,000 for the development, production, and presentation of multidisciplinary arts by and for queer Latinos in the San Francisco Bay Area; Radar Productions/Sorry You’re Poor Productions - $7,000 for “From the Margins,” a series of free literature programs exploring how demographic changes have affected San Francisco’s cultural productions; Rainbow Community Center of Contra Costa County - $7,000 for the multi-service LGBT community center serving central and eastern Contra Costa County; Regarding Susan Sontag Documentary Film Project - $7,000 for research for the documentary; SEW Productions/Lorraine Hansberry Theatre - $7,000 for the Chez Lorraine project to expand the relationship between LHT’s core audience and the LGBT community, with an emphasis on the African-American LGBT community; Sistahs Steppin in Pride - $2,000 for a dyke march and festival celebrating the rich cultural landscape and “herstory” of East Bay lesbians, bisexual women, and queer community; Song That Radio - $3,000 for social events and anti-homophobia educational programs for the Vietnamese-American community ; That All May Freely Serve - $4,000 for the Rainbow Witness of Faith Campaign, as part of the organization’s work advocating for LGBT inclusivity in the Presbyterian Church; Transgender, Gender Variant, and Intersex Justice Project - $5,000 for efforts to end human and civil rights abuses against transgender, gender variant, and intersex (TGI) prisoners in California and beyond; and Transgender Law Center - $10,000 for legal services, education, advocacy, and community organizing to address the discrimination faced by transgender people and their families. This is the first part of a renewable grant.

“We are seeing a darkening economic planet, and we know we have an election year that is going to be every bit as expensive as it is important,” said Horizons Executive Director Roger Doughty. “It’s going to put a lot of demands on all of us – our time, our energy, and our wallets. It’s going to be tough for a lot of the organizations, including those that are here now.” He then proposed a toast to a healthful and prosperous new year, thanking all the donors for their generosity now and in the future.