Texas Pride Impact Funds (TPIF) foundation today (Tuesday, Nov. 12) announced 17 grant recipients across Texas receiving a total of $120,000 for LGBTQ programs and services.

After six years of planning. The foundation’s mission is informed by the organization’s landmark 2017 IMPACT! Texas needs assessment, according to TPIF President Ron Guillard. This is TPIF’s second year of grants, and they support a variety of community projects aligned with  TPIF’s funding priorities: education, healthcare, social support, seniors and youth.

Intersectional projects and programs that address rural communities, communities of color and transgender persons were given additional consideration, as these LGBTQ communities are known to have the greatest gaps in services and support, Guillard said.

This year’s recipients are organizations in smaller cities around the state — including Corpus Christi, Eagle Pass and Lubbock — as well as organizations serving multi-county regions in the urban centers of Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio.

Guillard said that studies support TPIF’s formation and grant recipient selection.

“Nationwide research conducted by Funders for LGBTQ Issues compared the five most populous states per capita funding to LGBTQ non-profits from corporate, public and family foundations,” he said. “Findings show Texas funding significantly lags behind New York, California, Illinois and Florida, by up to 440 percent.

“The gross imbalance here is that Texas is home to nearly 10 percent of the [country’s] LGBTQ population,” he continued. “It is TPIF’s earnest mission to help local organizations, because we see them doing critical work serving the needs of the large LGBTQ communities of Texas in a scarce environment.”

This year’s TPIF grants range in value from $3,500 to $10,000, with many focusing on healthcare capacity building, LGBTQ youth populations and organizations targeting issues facing transgender Texans.

Guillard said, “We are proud to be able to again support a great slate of organizations meeting today’s needs for LGBTQ Texans young and old. We continue to strive to meet today’s needs, as we become lasting stewards to address the needs of tomorrow.”

To date, donors have made over $3,900,000 in gifts and legacy commitments to Texas Pride Impact Funds.

The 17 grant recipients

  • AIDS Services of Austin: $8,000 for short-term/crisis intervention counseling services for LGBTQ persons of color who are HIV-positive or high-risk HIV-negative individuals in the 10-county region surrounding Austin.
  • ASHWell Medical Clinic (Austin): $5,000 capacity building for gender care in a safe, caring and judgement-free space at low and no cost, depending on income. Gender-affirming care for disadvantaged LBGTQIA persons is both life-changing and self-empowering in the absence of care or culturally non-sensitive care.
  • The Coalition For Aging LGBT (Dallas): $10,000 providing the opportunity and building capacity to improve and protect the quality of life of older LGBT adults in North Texas in the areas of health, housing, advocacy, financial security and social services. CFA LGBT works alongside community partners, providing resources and refuge for vulnerable seniors who may have limited options or knowledge of quality care and a need for social engagement opportunities.
  • Coastal Bend Wellness Foundation (Corpus Christi): $10,000 operational funding for the first LGBTQ community center in the 12-county Coastal Bend region. The CB Pride Center will house support groups for LGBTQ youth, CB Trans Alliance and LGBTQ adults age 55 and older. Services include computer access, job search assistance and LGBTQ family programming and workshops on financial health and health/wellness.
  • Eagle Pass SAFE: $3,500 towards a targeted media campaign, “(PrEP)aradas,” aimed at Latina matriarchs in the Southwest Texas Border Region to address the interrelated issues of homophobia and lack of sexual health knowledge.
  • Fiesta Youth (San Antonio): $8,000 for a pilot, five-day summer camp designed to foster the resilience of LGBTQ youth in San Antonio. Anticipated outcomes for attendees include increased resilience, self-compassion and social connectedness and decreased depression and anxiety.
  • Lesbian Health Initiative (Houston): $5,000 for general operating expenses toward programming that connects LGBTQ+ women, predominately in communities of color and transgender populations, to routine healthcare through education, access and advocacy/barrier reduction.
  • The Montrose Center/Hatch Homeless Youth (Houston): $5,000 for rapid rehousing and wraparound services with the goal of self-sufficiency, defined as the ability to pay rent, utilities and cover most expenses such as food and clothes. The program is supplemented with case management teaching life skills, job training, career counseling and financial planning education.
  • Out Youth (Austin): $10,000 for the expansion of school-based clinical services (SBS) for the more vulnerable, isolated communities in and outside the Austin area. The evidence-based curriculum provides weekly support group therapy in the school setting for LGBTQ+ youth and allies with various intersectional aspects of identity.
  • Promise House (Dallas): $5,000 for the LGBTQ transitional living program designed to change the lives of homeless youth by empowering them to become independent adults and to gain resilience and self-acceptance in the nurturing environment they need to move toward a better future.
  • RAICES (San Antonio): $5,000 for an LGBTQ immigrant initiative, providing legal representation to LGBTQ+ immigrants. The project will ensure they know their rights and have assistance navigating the asylum process and will help address other gaps in representation and advocacy for LGBTQ+ immigrants.
  • Resource Center/Youth First (Dallas): $5,000 for programming and activities four days a week to decrease high-risk behaviors, improve self-esteem and reduce social isolation among North Texas middle and high school LGBTQ youth.
  • Texas Legal Services Center (Austin): $10,000 through KIND Medical-Legal Partnership (KIND MLP), Texas Legal Services Center (TLSC) collaborates with health care organizations to address the health-harming legal needs of LGBTQ+ patients and community through direct legal services, training and education, and policy advocacy. TLSC operates statewide and an average of 30 percent of clients served through KIND MLP come from non-urban areas.
  • Texas Tech LGBTQIA (Lubbock): $3,500 general operating support for the University’s Office of LGBTQIA Education & Engagement, which functions to lead social progress in the region. The office has numerous on and off campus LGBTQIA initiatives including employment, social support and Youth.
  • Thrive Youth Center (San Antonio): $10,000 for general operational expenses for safe, secure housing for homeless LGBTQ young adults ages 18 to 24 in Bexar County with clients at or below the county’s poverty level. Thrive provides counseling, life skills classes, case management and other resources to help clients develop self-sufficiency, secure and maintain employment and pursue educational goals.
  • TXRX Labs (Houston): $7,000 project support targeting members of the LGBTQI community of Houston, specifically trans people, with help in finding employment. This grant will provide technical skills training in welding for 15 people and job preparation for at least 20 people and will culminate in a job fair held to bring trans friendly employers together with job seekers.
  • UT Health San Antonio (San Antonio): $10,000 for general operations at The Pride Community Clinic, which serves LGBTQ patients. Housed at the Alamo Area Resource Center, the clinic’s environment eliminates barriers to gender and sexual minority health care, provides free care to those who lack access due to stigma and/or being uninsured and educates future health professionals about the unique needs of these populations.

TPIF operates as an LGBTQ community foundation and serves as a catalyst for LGBTQ organizations and philanthropists in the state by connecting communities of volunteers and donors to improve the lives of the state’s population of more than 930,000 LGBTQ adults and youth.

A “First Hundred Funders” campaign, a multi-year financial commitment, is underway for supporters who believe in the strategic, long-term purpose of TPIF. The Dallas Foundation is the fiscal sponsor of TEXAS PRIDE IMPACT FUNDS. For more information, to donate or volunteer, visit Texas Pride Impact Funds online  or email info@txpif.org.