The Campaign for Southern Equality (CSE) has created a rapid response grant round to quickly route funds to individuals, families, and community organizations affected by COVID-19 across the LGBTQ South.
The grant round of $25,000 will be distributed through CSE’s Southern Equality Fund.
Applications are open now and specifically focused on the pandemic’s impact on LGBTQ across the South. The grant round has three categories: emergency assistance for individuals and families, community response grants, and frontline grants to direct service providers.
To receive individual and family emergency assistance, LGBTQ Southerners are able to apply for immediate financial support of $100. CSE will distribute a total of $10,000. Learn more here.
Anyone can also apply for a grant of up to $500 to fund a project to meet the needs of LGBTQ Southerners in response to the coronavirus. CSE will distribute a total of $7,500. Learn more here.
Staff from CSE will also direct grants to frontline organizations providing direct services to LGBTQ Southerners at high risk of being impacted by COVID-19. This $7,500 grant category will support at least three grants to community partners.
“In times of crisis, we know that LGBTQ people and other marginalized communities are at greater risk of experiencing increased disparities,” said Rev. Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, the executive director of CSE. “We’re hopeful that this new infusion of funding to support individuals, families, and grassroots activists will be one way to provide immediate relief from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Southern Equality Fund has always been about responding to our community’s urgent needs while investing in the next generation of Southern LGBTQ organizers, and that’s what’s at the core of this COVID-19 grant round, too: Helping people who are hurting and encouraging innovation for grassroots action that makes a difference.”
If you wish to apply for any of these grants, you can here.