Last week’s cuts to queer Latinx social-justice organization Galaei’s Trans Equity Project, a sexual-health and HIV-counseling program serving Philadelphia’s trans community, will not be reversed, said interim director Francisco Cortes.
The cuts reduced the hours of two full-time employees to part-time status and eliminated their health benefits, Cortes said.
In January, Galaei received a $25,000 grant from the Walter E. Hearing Fund. Galaei posted on its Facebook page May 25 that “due to the change of scope from the primary funder, our sustaining support for the Trans Equity Project was cut in half. The Galaei Board’s spirited efforts thus far have fallen short of the amount needed to avoid the reduction of hours and accessibility of the Trans Equity Project.”
Galaei is not in a position to allocate other internal funds to offer a lifeline to the program, said Cortes.
“The major funding resources for each of the programs are specifically allocated for the work that that particular program does,” he explained.
“So we weren’t able to move money from the testing program or the youth program, because each is specifically allocated to do those services. The restrictions are written into the grants.”
Cortes said his board of directors has come up with a plan that includes applying for multiple grants, along with fundraising efforts that the board has implemented.