The holiday season is officially underway, and DVLF is once again celebrating with its annual TOY event, which aims to empower the LGBTQ+ community and honor the progress the community has made. This year, TOY takes place on Dec. 7 at 7 p.m. at the Loews Hotel Philadelphia.
The festive event will feature a silent auction, open bar, and grants presentation for the 2024 Emerging Needs Grantees, in addition to music provided by Philadelphia’s own DJ Sharyn Stone throughout the night. Attendance and/or sponsorship will contribute to DVLF’s mission to empower and support the LGBTQ+ community via grant opportunities, scholarships, advocacy and education.
This year, the grantees include a range of local organizations, all focused on empowering, supporting and celebrating the LGBTQ+ community. Those organizations are as follows:
Asylum Pride House
Asylum Pride House, founded in 2022, provides housing and necessary resources to LGBTQ+ immigrants seeking protection in the United States with the mission of welcoming, supporting and affirming LGBTQ+ asylum seekers. Asylum Pride House aims to address the needs of this community via long-term housing, resources such as food and clothing, and case management services. Currently, Asylum Pride House runs a five-bedroom apartment in Philadelphia that can house up to six individuals. During residents’ stays, they receive individualized referrals to relevant services and guidance as they navigate their transition to life in the United States. Referrals and services focus primarily on mental and physical health resources, legal aid, job readiness resources, and ESL classes, among others. Asylum Pride House’s case management services are also available to anyone in the Pennsylvania area who would benefit from accessing community resources.
The Attic Youth Center
The Attic Youth Center is Philadelphia’s only LGBTQ+ youth center and serves LGBTQ+ youth between ages 13 and 23 who represent many intersectional marginalized identities. Many youths served by The Attic come from low-income households and are at higher risk for housing and/or food insecurity. The center’s mission is to help create opportunities for LGBTQ+ youth to grow and develop into healthy and independent adults within a safe and supportive community and increase societal acceptance of LGBTQ+ youth. To achieve this goal, The Attic provides a number of services, including social events, mental health counseling and internship opportunities.
Eastern PA Trans Equity Project
The Eastern PA Trans Equity Project (EPTEP) is a trans-led nonprofit organization that supports transgender Pennsylvanians and advocates for social justice. EPTEP has a four-pronged approach to this mission, which includes: supporting services, basic needs assistance, empowerment programs, and education and training programs. The supporting services combine mentoring, peer support groups, and case management, and the basic needs assistance includes funding for food, medical care, utilities, clothing and transportation for transgender individuals. The empowerment programs entail legal name-change assistance, educational scholarships and workforce development programs, and the education and training programs provide education both to members of the trans community and those who serve them. EPTEP also prioritizes advocacy, which includes working with employers, parent groups, and government and service agencies.
Prevention Meets Fashion, Inc.
Prevention Meets Fashion, Inc. is a nonprofit organization that implements a fashion-based approach to education about the sexual and reproductive health needs of queer and Black communities. Prevention Meets Fashion, Inc. achieves this through partnership and collaboration with various businesses, organizations and institutions and through the organization’s many programs and services. Some of these services include support groups; an internship program; a sex education program; and myriad fashion programs, including the Affirming Fashion Program, Social Justice and Fashion Program, and STEAM Fashion Program. The goals of Prevention Meets Fashion, Inc. include education, advocacy, and empowerment, especially pertaining to the unique needs of BIPOC and LGBTQ+ individuals.
Siloam Wellness
Siloam Wellness is a holistic wellness center located in Philadelphia that provides care to individuals living with HIV/AIDS through its services dedicated to the health of mind, body and spirit. The mission of Siloam Wellness is to empower and support this community with support groups, retreats, individual supports, and bodywork therapy. Siloam Wellness also has partnerships with the Philadelphia 76ers, United Healthcare, AmeriHealth Caritas and the Salvation Army Kroc Center and has sponsored and co-sponsored multiple basketball and football camps that combine sports instruction with motivational education, including stigma-free education about HIV.
Uplift Center For Grieving Children
The Uplift Center For Grieving Children (Uplift) was founded in 2000 and provides free tools and resources to youth and their caregivers as they heal from grief and loss. Uplift’s clinicians use evidence-based research to offer services that are trauma-responsive, culturally informed and easy to access. This year, Uplift launched the Chill Out Plan, a safety plan for youth suicide prevention. This plan incorporates a worksheet with editable fields in which youth can list emergency contacts, coping strategies, and reasons for living, among other details. As a next step, Uplift aims to create a version of the Chill Out Plan that caters specifically to the LGBTQ+ community and distribute this updated plan to community centers, residential facilities and LGBTQ+ organizations throughout Philadelphia.
DVLF TOY event will take place at 7 p.m. on Dec. 7 at the Loews Hotel Philadelphia, 1200 Market St. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit dvlf.org/toy-2024.