Akron Community Foundation Gay Endowment Fund Reaches $100,000 Milestone

The Gay Community Endowment Fund at the Akron Community Foundation surpassed $100,000 in grantmaking with recent awards (November 20, 2009) totalling $29,268. Every year since awarding its first grants in 2005, the fund has invested in local nonprofit initiatives that promote the well-being and full inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender citizens in the greater Akron area. The following grants were awarded this year:

Battered Women’s Shelter, for Reach OUT 2010, which seeks to improve services to GLBT victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, $4,400

CASA Board Volunteer Association Inc., for the “Speak Up Speak Out” youth advocacy unit, which trains advocates for abused and neglected GLBT youth in the juvenile court system, $4,300

Child Guidance & Family Solutions Inc., for a community education project that aims to increase awareness of the consequences of intolerance in the GLBT population, $2,000

Community AIDS Network, to help facilitate the merger of Akron Pride Center with CAN, $5,000

Fusion Magazine, to support the magazine, which strives to unify people of different backgrounds and orientations, $1,500

University of Akron, Women’s Studies Department, for the LGBTQ: Inclusion, Advocacy and Empowerment project, a year-long series of programs at the University of Akron, $3,000

Violet’s Cupboard Inc., to provide peer advocates for people who have recently been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, $5,568

Weathervane Community Playhouse Inc., for the production of “The Sum of Us,” a play about the relationship between a widower and his gay son, $3,500