LGBTQ+ Youth Initiative Announcement
Fleishhacker Foundation announces new three-year grantmaking initiative for LGBTQ+ youth who are facing separation from their families of origin, lack of shelter, or housing insecurity.
Program Description and Application Procedures
February 7, 2023. The Fleishhacker Foundation was established in 1947 to improve the quality of life in the San Francisco Bay Area. Our work is rooted in the core values passed down by our founders of equity, fairness, and a commitment to “repairing the world” in the spirit of tikkun olam. Through our long-standing support of education and the arts, we have a strong tradition of directing resources and attention toward people and groups that have been historically marginalized and denied access to the opportunities they need to thrive.
Building on this important tradition, the Fleishhacker Foundation is pleased to announce a new three-year grantmaking initiative to support Bay Area organizations that provide services that are uniquely tailored to lift up and nurture LGBTQ+ youth who are facing separation from their families of origin, lack of shelter, or housing insecurity. We do so in acknowledgement of the following:
LGBTQ+ youth are 120% more likely to experience homelessness than non-LGBTQ+ youth. This situation often stems from a lack of acceptance that young LGBTQ+ people experience both in and outside of the home. [1]
According to a recent survey conducted by the Trevor Project, LGBTQ+ youth experiencing homelessness or housing instability have higher rates of mental health challenges, victimization, being in foster care, and food insecurity, compared to their stably housed LGBTQ+ peers. Specifically, LGBTQ+ homeless or housing insecure youth had:
Two to four times the odds of reporting depression, anxiety, self-harm, considering suicide, and attempting suicide.
Nearly six times greater odds of reporting that they had been in foster care at any point in their life.
More than three times greater odds of being physically threatened or abused due to their sexual orientation or, among transgender and nonbinary identity, gender identity.
More than three times greater odds of reporting food insecurity in the last month. [2]
The San Francisco Bay Area is home to an array of dynamic and innovative nonprofit organizations that offer highly effective services designed to meet the distinctive needs of LGBTQ+ youth and help them to flourish.
The Fleishhacker Foundation seeks to strategically invest in Bay Area LGBTQ+ organizations and other Bay Area nonprofits that provide caring, responsive social, physical and mental health, housing, educational, and/or career development services specifically designed to help LGBTQ+ youth successfully transition to healthy, thriving, economically self-sufficient adulthoods.
[1] Missed Opportunities: Youth Homelessness in America, Chaplin Hall at the University of Chicago and Voices of Youth Count, 2017.
[2] Homelessness and Housing Instability Among LGBTQ Youth, The Trevor Project, February 3, 2022.
Goals and Overview
The goal of this initiative is to support Bay Area service providers to address the needs of LGBTQ+ youth and young adults (up to age 25) facing homelessness or housing insecurity. We have a particular interest in organizations that:
Work with LGBTQ+ youth and their families to prevent youth from being homeless as well as those that provide youth with critical support when they cannot return to their families of origin;
Engage and empower LGBTQ+ youth of color;
Provide social programs and mental health services to help LGBTQ+ youth find community and support;
Provide housing and basic needs support such as housing assessments, referrals, and the distribution of food, toiletries, and other necessities;
Provide services to promote educational and career development that help LGBTQ+ youth improve their financial health, achieve educational goals, or gain career-oriented work experience; and/or
Offer health and wellness services such as HIV/PrEP use counseling, medical appointments, insurance navigation, and the like.
The Fleishhacker Foundation will consider requests for general support from Bay Area LGBTQ+ youth organizations as well as program support for other Bay Area nonprofits with a proven track record of providing services that are specifically designed to meet the unique needs of this population. Requests for special projects or capacity building will also be considered.
Grants will range between $10,000 and $20,000. The Foundation will initially award one-year grants. These grants may, however, be renewed through a streamlined process for a second and perhaps third year.
Eligibility
Applicants must be:
Organizations incorporated as 501(c)3 nonprofits (including fiscal sponsors applying on behalf of a fiscally sponsored project) that offer programs that are specially designed to meet the unique needs of LGBTQ+ youth.
Located and primarily offering programming in San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Sonoma, San Mateo, and/or Santa Clara counties.
Organizations with strong support from their Board of Directors as evidenced by the percentage who make annual gifts.
Not eligible are:
Fundraising events and galas.
Capital or endowment campaigns.
Review Criteria
The most important considerations in assessing requests are:
Does the organization have a strong track record of and sound plan for providing effective services to help LGBTQ+ youth to thrive?
What are the organization’s programmatic plans for the coming year, how many youth does it intend to serve, and what role does it play in service delivery structure for LGBTQ+ youth in the Bay Area?
Does the organization engage and empower youth of color?
How well has the organization responded to the impact of COVID-19, and how viable are its plans for the future?
Is there strong evidence of Board and community support for the organization; specifically, what percentage of Board members made financial contributions and what other income has been raised or generated within the last year?
Does the organization use its resources efficiently and well, seeking to collaborate and share resources when appropriate
What are the financial needs of the organization?
Application Procedures
A streamlined application process has been designed to minimize the administrative burden of fundraising on resource-stretched community-based organizations. It includes sending a brief Letter of Inquiry that provides standard information about the organization and its LGBTQ+ youth services. A limited number of full proposals will then be invited to closely align the number of applications with available funding.
Letter of Inquiry Procedures
Organizations that meet the eligibility criteria above may email a short Letter of Inquiry with the subject line “LGBTQ+ Youth Initiative: LOI” by April 1, 2023 to [email protected].
The communication should provide a brief description of the organization, its key programs, and its programming for LGBTQ+ youth. Please include information about the organization’s annual budget size, the annual budget for LGBTQ+ youth services (if different), the location(s) of the programming, the unduplicated number of youth served by the LGBTQ+ programming during the last year, and how its impact is evaluated. Please also indicate the request amount (up to $20,000).
LGBTQ+ youth organizations may request general support, and other Bay Area nonprofits may request general support for their LGBTQ+ youth programming. If funding is being sought for a special project or a capacity-building effort, please describe it.
Application Guidelines
Invited applicants will be asked to provide the following in a full proposal:
A brief description of the organization that provides its mission and history, a short summary of its programs, the communities it serves (including any readily available demographic information), and the unduplicated number of youth it benefits annually.
A proposal narrative that provides a description of the organization’s programming plans for LGBTQ+ youth for the year ahead, focusing on activities between November 15, 2023 and October 15, 2024, and a description of key goals, including the estimated number of LGBTQ+ youth to be served by each program area, the total unduplicated number of LGBTQ+ youth who will be served, and a description of how impact will be tracked or demonstrated. Requests for special projects or capacity-building initiatives should provide the same information.
The organization’s budget for the current fiscal year, with itemized income and expenses.
A financial statement or audit for the organization’s last completed fiscal year, with itemized income and expenses.
A list of confirmed and pending funders for the year.
A list of the organization's Board of Directors with their affiliations and the percentage of Board members who made a financial contribution within the past year.
Non-LGBTQ+ youth specific organizations: A program budget for the organization’s LGBTQ+ youthprogramming, with itemized income and expenses. A project budget is also required for special project and capacity-building requests.
Timeline
The Foundation will inform prospective applicants by May 15, 2023 if a full proposal is invited. The deadline for a full grant proposal is July 15, 2023. Decisions will be communicated in November 2023.
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About the Fleishhacker Foundation
The Fleishhacker Foundation is a family foundation located in San Francisco, California. It was established in 1947 to improve the quality of life in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Foundation makes grants to local, community-based organizations and artists in two main areas: Arts & Culture and Education. Education grants are awarded to local organizations that provide literacy services to K-5 students from under-resourced Bay Area public schools. Arts grants are made to local small to mid-sized visual and performing arts organizations, arts services organizations, and films by Bay Area filmmakers. The Foundation’s Eureka Fellowship Program also provides unrestricted grants of $35,000 to Bay Area visual artists, making the Eureka awards among the largest fellowships for visual artists in Northern California.
For more information visit www.fleishhackerfoundation.org or follow the Foundation on Facebook and Instagram