During Pride Month, we celebrate a strong LGBTQ+ community in the Greater Twin Cities, including the fact that for LGBTQ+ youth experiencing homelessness, community can provide a stable foundation for lifelong success.
Greater Twin Cities United Way’s Arise Project envisions a future where all LGBTQ+ youth experiencing homelessness have the support and resources they need to reach their full potential. Because queer youth get the best support from organizations that embrace their unique strengths and needs, Arise has created one-of-a-kind grants for nonprofits to expand their services and programming equitably for LGBTQ+ young people.
“Arise Project is a different way of engaging with philanthropy, where we see fundraising and donations being given by a community to support their own community specifically,” said Arise Project supporter Erin Flicker.
Support Arise Project and your donation will help ensure LGBTQ+ youth experiencing homelessness get the culturally responsive support that makes the biggest difference for them to thrive.
Even though research shows that culturally specific nonprofits produce better outcomes in their communities, nonprofits with Leaders of Color and those focusing on LGBTQ+ individuals are less likely to have access to broad philanthropic networks and dollars.
So to ensure the most effective nonprofits have a seat at the philanthropic table, Greater Twin Cities United Way prioritizes organizations whose leadership is reflective of and deeply engaged with the communities they support.
Arise Project is one way Greater Twin Cities United Way invests in culturally responsive care. Our housing partnerships beyond Arise Project also bring this approach to life. Two examples are Ujamaa Place, which provides holistic, culturally responsive transformation for young African-American men experiencing inequity at the intersection of race/ethnicity and poverty; and Ain Dah Yung Center, which provides a healing place within the community for American Indian youth and families to thrive in safety and wholeness. Learn more about our work in housing.