PROVIDING MUCH‑NEEDED TARGETED SUPPORT
Nearly 50% of The Our Fund Foundation’s grants from its endowed funds are directed at the following community concerns. Community members who wish to support one or all these initiatives should reach out to David Jobin at
DJobin@TheOurFund.org.
Addressing Methamphetamine in Southeast Florida Gay Community
Broward and Miami-Dade County health professionals have voiced concern regarding the prevalence of methamphetamine use in the gay community and its correlation to health and wellness. Currently, there is a heightened need and interest in increasing efforts to understand and respond to methamphetamine usage and addiction in South Florida’s gay community. The Our Fund Foundation supports a 3-year Broward House initiative to build capacity in this arena to develop an intervention pilot test, develop messaging and social marketing campaigns and establish a community action plan, among other activities. The first phase of the initiative concludes in 2024 and findings and next steps will be shared with the community. The Foundation is committed to making an investment in this local capacity building effort to effectively understand and respond to the high incidence of methamphetamine usage in South Florida’s gay community.
Addressing LGBTQ Elder Isolation
Older LGBTQ+ people are twice as likely to live alone, twice as likely to be single, and 3 to 4 times less likely to have children, compared to their non-LGBTQ peers. Homebound or neighborhood-bound LGBTQ older people can often have little weekly contact with the outside other than visits with health professionals, and virtually no contact with members of the LGBTQ+ community. To combat these issues, The Our Fund Foundation partners with National SAGE to brings its Friendly Visitor program to Broward County.
Modeled on SAGE’s NYC Friendly Visitor program, SAGE at Sunshine, the Fort Lauderdale program operates from Sunshine Cathedral, a Metropolitan Community Church (LGBTQ+‐affirming). The program offers social support to homebound elders through weekly visits and calls by volunteers.
If you are interested in becoming a volunteer or a participant of the program,
go to www.sageusa.org/friendlyvisitors‑fl.
Addressing the Distinctive Needs of Transgender Individuals
As transgender individuals become more open members of the LGBT community, their special health care needs are becoming more well known. Because of low incomes and unemployment rates double the national average, many transgender individuals lack health insurance. Even when insured, transgender individuals have great difficulty in finding culturally competent health providers and those with experience in hormone administration or sexual reassignment surgery. The complexities of recently passed anti-trans legislation in Florida compounds all of these problems. With such high levels of unemployment, one in eight transgender individuals work in the underground economy such as sex or drug work greatly increasing their risk for HIV, STDs, and violence.
The South Florida Transgender Fund at The Our Fund Foundation was established to stimulate private philanthropy and initiate grantmaking for projects prioritizing the transgender community. Grants from the fund support transgender-serving agencies and transgender people in Broward and Miami-Dade Counties and advance advocacy around the harmful disparities facing transgender individuals.
Addressing LGBTQ Youth Homelessness
28% of LGBTQ youth reported experiencing homelessness or housing instability at some point in their lives — and those who did had two to four times the odds of reporting depression, anxiety, self-harm, considering suicide, and attempting suicide compared to those with stable housing. To improve the lives of LGBTQ youth living outside of stable housing, The Our Fund Foundation’s funding was instrumental in launching a pilot program administered by partner agencies Sunshine Cathedral, SunServe, and FLITE Center. The Sunshine Pride House is a 12-bed facility that provides a lifeline for unhoused LGBTQ youth. It is a safe, inclusive, and affirming home for LGBTQ youth with wrap-around services including life coaching, case management, GED programs, STD screenings, and more..
