Gay and Lesbian fund for Dallas event coordinators and board members including Sharon Fancher, above, far right. Left, the emergency rescue vehicle GLFD funded with an event in 2016. (Photos courtesy GLFD)

Gay and Lesbian Fund for Dallas raises funds for important community projects and raises awareness as a vital community partner

DAVID TAFFET | Senior Staff Writer
taffet@dallasvoice.com
The LGBT community has always been generous to charitable organizations throughout North Texas. But the Gay and Lesbian Fund for Dallas has made some of that charitable giving more visible. Organizers hope to continue that tradition and expect that Green Tie for Green Haus, on March 24, will raise more than $100,000 for the East Dallas project that addresses homelessness.
The Shared Housing Center Inc. has three basic housing programs that address homelessness. The first is the home share program, which matches someone with too much house — typically a widow struggling to remain independent — with a roommate who needs an affordable place to live — low-income, often a recently divorced person or a student.
Roommates are matched based on common interests, and the program cuts across cultural, ethnic, gender, religious, economic and multi-generational lines.
The next program is a group residence that offers crisis intervention, education and employment assistance, budgeting and financial management classes, social and recreational programming, counseling and other services like daycare or after-school programming. Not only does it provide a place to live, it also addresses the underlying causes of homelessness.
Finally, Green Haus is a new transitional and semi-permanent housing option for homeless or near-homeless individuals and families now under construction in East Dallas. Residents will have a shared community building that will include a computer lab and a common garden and playground area that the GLFD event will fund.
Like other GLFD projects, the funded area will be named for the group with signage indicating it was donated by the Gay and Lesbian Fund for Dallas.
Board President Sharon Fancher said when GLFD was founded, beneficiaries weren’t excited about having an affiliation with the organization. But as the organization proved how much money it could bundle, the list of organizations applying has steadily grown.
In the former Women’s Museum in Fair Park, GLFD donated money to build the Gay and Lesbian Fund for Dallas Orientation Theater. Despite the fact that an overwhelming number of the displays throughout the museum were about lesbians, including the largest single exhibit housed in the museum’s collection — photos by lesbian photographer Annie Leibovitz — the sign on the orientation theater was the only time the word lesbian was used in the museum.
GLFD funded the lounge outside the dean’s office in the School of Education at Southern Methodist University. At the time the lounge opened, SMU was regularly included in the Princeton Review’s list of 20 most homophobic campuses in the country.
The most recent project funded a medical emergency van for the SPCA. Two dogs and a cat are prominently painted on the sides of the truck but a large GLFD logo on each side is also prominently featured. The van can be seen traveling throughout the DFW area.
In addition to event-driven projects, GLFD bundles money for arts organizations like Dallas Theater Center, AT&T Performing Arts Center and Dallas Museum of Art. Any savvy arts organization knows it has LGBT supporters, but the fund helped raised awareness of just how much.
And wondering how well you or your partner will be treated in the emergency room? GLFD was a major donor to Parkland Hospital, and a plaque hangs in the consultation room in the emergency department.
Green Tie for Green Haus from 7-11 p.m. on March 24 at Seven for Parties, 150 Turtle Creek Blvd. Tickets at GLFD.org/greentie.