A local organization received a $25,000 grant to support the continued HIV/AIDS prevention and advocacy work for transgender and gender-nonconforming communities in Philadelphia.
The Trans Equity Project, a program of GALAEI, received a grant from the Walter E. Hering Fund #2 from The Philadelphia Foundation, which works to strengthen economic social and civic vitality in Greater Philadelphia.
“The Philadelphia Foundation is proud to have a long tradition of supporting LGBTQ+ organizations and programs, and this grant is in keeping with that commitment,” said Pedro A. Ramos, the foundation’s president and CEO.
“We were an early founder of AIDS programs, have been named among the top five community foundations nationally to fund LGBTQ issues and have supported the Philadelphia Trans Health Conference through the Mazzoni Center for five years. Our grant to GALAEI’s Trans Equity Project supports a vulnerable population and addresses an ongoing community need.”
According to GALAEI Executive Director Nikki Lopez, funding from the grant will be used to increase mobilization efforts, organizing, leadership development and other general program support for the transgender community.
“The support from the foundation came at a critical time for our communities as we experienced a devastating budget cut from the city’s health department,” Lopez said in a statement. “Due to citywide national budget cuts in HIV prevention work, we lost almost half of our funding for the Trans Equity Project.”
The project provides peer-based support for trans or gender-nonconforming individuals. The program offers HIV-prevention counseling and education on sexual health.
“Because of this donation from the Philadelphia Foundation, we will now avoid staff layoffs and can continue to do the critical work of providing essential programs for our communities,” said Christian Lovehall, Trans Equity Project coordinator, in a statement.
“With this grant, we can continue organizing around our experiences with transphobia, racism, economic injustice, transmisogyny, ableism, incarceration and other intersecting oppressions that affect trans and gender-nonconforming individuals,” Lovehall said.
The grant will allow the organization to continue building on its mission of creating trans equity for those most marginalized in the city, he added.