work ~ money ~ CLASS ~ POVERTY ~ HOMELESSNESS Resources I am personally connected with and also local/Washington state ones are listed first, > then national, international and internet-only ones. To be is to do. ~ Socrates    /    To do is to be. ~ Plato & Jean-Paul Sartre To be or not to be. ~ William Shakespeare    /    I am what I do. ~ Martin Buber We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.  ~ Kurt Vonnegut Do be do be do. ~ Frank Sinatra Bread & Roses - Olympia - is part of The Catholic Worker Movement and serves, in love, the homeless, the poor, and the marginalized of Thurston County. They operate a transitional shelter for women. http://www.breadandrosesolympia.org/  The Family Support Center - a community resource center offering a variety of services and programs for children and families in the heart of historic downtown Olympia. http://www.familysupportctr.org/ The Olympia Union Gospel Mission - a street outreach ministry serving hundreds of men, women and children and working to help individuals break the cycle of homelessness and poverty. Meals, hygiene, and services are ways they reach out and make a difference in people's lives and in the community. They offer hot meals, hot showers, a medical, dental, and vision clinic, a Sunday church service, and a prayer meeting. "Services are available to anyone in need, regardless of belief or status." http://www.ougm.org/ Olympia Workers Resource) - an educational resource for working people in the Olympia, Washington area. Links to resources and information pamphlets. http://olympiaworkers.blogspot.com/ Peace for the Streets by Kids from the Streets (PSKS) - Seattle - support and services for area homeless youth and young adults. Founded in 1995, PSKS was a response to the growing number of homeless youth coupled with the significant shortage of available services for them. PSKS is a unique organization that uses the talents and experiences of homeless and formerly homeless young people to develop service strategies for their peers. PSKS programs: Core Membership, LEAP (Lasting Employment Advancement Program), RISK (Re-Inventing Steps to Knowledge), Donut Dialogues (a forum for peaceful interaction between police officers, local business owners, and homeless youth), Arts Initiative, Step Beyond, HYPE (Homeless Youth for Peace and Empowerment), Stepping Stones. http://www.psks.org/ The Pride Foundation - A community foundation working to strengthen the lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual community today and build an endowment for tomorrow. They fund organizations and scholarships in the Pacific Northwest states of Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho and Alaska. http://www.pridefoundation.org The Statewide Poverty Action Network - Washington - works to address the root causes of poverty with real solutions, to ensure everyone in Washington State is able to meet basic needs and have opportunities to prosper. http://www.povertyaction.org The Volunteer Center of Lewis Mason and Thurston Counties - for over 30 years, the Volunteer Center/RSVP has been helping solve problems in Lewis, Mason & Thurston Counties. The mission of the Center is to multiply resources to solve community problems through volunteer service. The all-ages Volunteer Center sponsors the Retired & Senior Volunteer Program. RSVP involves volunteers over the age of 55 to solve problems in our communities. http://volctr2.brinkster.net/ VolunteerWashington.org - where Washington citizens can find ways to volunteer locally. It's all part of the 3-year Washington Alliance for Volunteer Engagement plan to provide Washington citizens with universal access to volunteer opportunities; and the 1-800-Volunteer.org national network. http://www.volunteerwashington.org/ Welfare Rights Organizing Coalition (WROC) - Washington state based with offices in Seattle and Olympia - working to change the welfare system so that it treats welfare recipients fairly and with dignity. WROC is made up of families who currently receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and families who have left TANF for low wage jobs and receive subsidies for child care, medical coverage or food stamps. WROC conducts Know Your Rights clinics for low-income parents and organizes Make Change groups for parents who use a particular community service. They offer referrals to volunteer legal advocates and community resources; training on how to talk to legislators; skill training in public speaking and working with the media. http://www.wroc.org and http://www.myspace.com/olywroc An Uncommon Legacy Foundation - dedicated to enhancing the visibility, strength, and vitality of the lesbian community. Legacy invests in our future by awarding academic scholarships to lesbian students and grants to projects or organizations that address lesbian issues and by promoting lesbian philanthropy. http://www.uncommonlegacy.org Buying for Equality 2007: A Guide to Companies, Products and Services That Support Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Equality - from The Human Rights Campaign You can read the report, download a pdf copy and order a print version from http://www.hrc.org/buyersguide/ The Corporate Equality Index is a tool from The Human Rights Campaign to rate American businesses on how they are treating gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees, consumers and investors. Companies use the index as a road map to equal treatment for GLBT Americans in the workplace and marketplace. Center for Gender Sanity - the 'Transitions That Work' consulting service for transsexuals who plan to transition on the job, their coworkers, and their employers has lots of resources on their excellent website. There are tips for people planning to transition on the job, a "Diagram of Sex and Gender"  teaching tool, lists of employers with transgender nondiscrimination policies and jurisdictions with nondiscrimination laws, and more.  http://www.gendersanity.com City Year - part of AmeriCorps (a domestic program like the Peace Corp) where 17 to 24 year-olds can do a year of full-time community service, leadership development, and civic engagement. It's goals are: "to generate transformative community service, break down social barriers, inspire citizens to civic action, develop new leaders for the common good, and improve and promote the concept of voluntary national service."  http://www.cityyear.org Note from Gabi -- I have a problem with City Year's slogan: "Young enough to want to change the world, old enough to do it."  which I consider to be an ageist attitude. Hello? When are we too old to want to change the world or too young to do it? The Colin Higgins Foundation - Colin Higgins was a screenwriter, director and producer. He is remembered for films including Harold And Maude, Silver Streak, Foul Play and Nine To Five. He created this foundation in order to further his humanitarian goals before he died of AIDS in 1988. The foundation assistis organizations that build the power and leadership of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and two-spirit youth. It has established two scholarship programs in memory of Colin Higgins at The Stanford University Department of English and The UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television to support graduate students and filmmakers whose work enlightens and enriches the human spirit. (The universities administer the scholarship programs.) The foundation also bestows Youth Courage Awards to individual LGBTQ youth who have demonstrated bravery in the face of discrimination, intolerance and bigotry based on gender and/or sexual orientation. http://www.colinhiggins.org The Complete Guide to Transgender in the Workplace - a book by Vanessa Sheridan. (ISBN: 0313365849) - With the shift toward increased visibility for transgender workers occurring in many organizations throughout corporate America, Vanessa's new book is designed to meet the informational needs of business professionals who are -- or soon will be -- addressing these significant workplace transgender issues. This book can help organizations with useful tools, tips, guidelines, policy examples, practical information,  and a variety of resources that will enable business leaders and organizations who have transgender employees. It will also help workers struggling with their identities and will give strength to those who are secure, but have yet to come out. http://www.vanessasheridan.com/books.htm Co-op America - a not-for-profit membership organization whose mission is to harness economic power—the strength of consumers, investors, businesses, and the marketplace—to create a socially just and environmentally sustainable society. Their programs empower you to make changes in your personal life and join together with others in economic action for a better world. Co-op America programs include: Living Green, Green Energy, Fair Trade, Climate Action, WoodWise, Boycotts, Sweatshops, Responsible Shopper, and Shop & Unshop. http://www.coopamerica.org/ An Epidemic of Homelessness - a December 2006 report by Nicholas Ray about homeless lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth from The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and National Coalition for the Homeless. Statistics, experiences in the shelter system and critical issues facing LGBT homeless youth, policy recommendations and more.  http://www.thetaskforce.org/downloads/reports/reports/HomelessYouth.pdf (192 page pdf file) FinAid: Financial Aid for Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Students - general, regional and campus-specific scholarship information. http://www.finaid.org/otheraid/gay.phtml Funders for Lesbian and Gay Issues (formerly the Working Group on Funding Lesbian and Gay Issues) - working to increase philanthropic resources to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender organizations, programs and projects. Individual donors and grantmakers from private, public, family, corporate and community foundations who advocate for increased support of LGBT issues within organized philanthropy. Publications/research and funding resources. http://www.lgbtfunders.org The Racial Equity Campaign - a multi-year initiative by Funders for LGBTQ Issues to create healthy grantmaking institutions that embody fairness and inclusiveness and support the leadership of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people of color and their organizations. Through a community-based grantmaking initiative, original research and an array of grantmaking resources, the campaign aims to stimulate broader philanthropic support for LGBTQ communities of color.  http://www.lgbtracialequity.org/ The Gay Financial Network - daily news, investing, personal finance, insurance, business, real estate, retirement, career, family, arts & living and more.  http://www.gfn.com/index.cfm The Gay & Lesbian Athletics Foundation - focuses on the acceptance and visibility of LGBT athletes in the professional, amateur, and recreational athletics. GLAF provides education, mentoring, and training on issues of sexual orientation and sport ~ fosters support networks for athletes and athletic organizations promotes positive role models and healthy lifestyles through athletics ~ and advocates inclusion, recognition, understanding, and respect among all members of the athletics community. http://www.glaf.org  Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Scholarship Resources - a database that lists scholarships for glbt people, for community service to glbt service organizations, for the study of glbt culture, and for the children of glbt parents. http://www.washburn.edu/sobu/broach/glbt-scholar.html Gender, Identity, and New Developments in Employment Law - this joint publication of the The Legal Aid Society, Employment Law Center, and The National Center for Lesbian Rights is a resource for attorneys and advocates working to create discrimination-free workplaces for transgender employees. http://www.nclrights.org/publications/toc.htm The Gill Foundation - works to secure equal opportunity for all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity by providing grants to nonprofit organizations, strengthening the leadership and managerial skills of nonprofit leaders, increasing financial resources to nonprofit organizations, strengthening democratic institutions, and building awareness of the contributions people of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities make to American society.  http://www.gillfoundation.org Housing Works - New York City - a community-based AIDS service organization dedicated to providing housing, healthcare, job training, and vital supportive services to homeless people with AIDS and HIV, Cylar House Art Therapy Gallery, Intensive Community-Based Case Management Program, The Print Positive Silk Screening Project, Peer Initiative/Deaf AIDS Services Project, Community Advocacy and Advisory Services, The Works Catering, and much more. The Values of Housing Works Handbook is great. http://www.housingworks.org HRC's WorkNet - domestic partner benefits, non-discrimination policies, transgender issues, sample workplace policies, news in the workplace, and more. WorkNet can help you find information on: how to get domestic partner benefits at your company, which employers have LGBT-friendly policies, what you should do if you've been discriminated against at work, and he law in your state. http://www.hrc.org/worknet Idealist.org - run by Action Without Borders is a global network of individuals and organizations working to build a world where all people can live free and dignified lives in a healthy environment. This site lists organizations, jobs, and more in 153 countries. http://www.idealist.org LGBT Community Foundations - established to meet the needs and improve the quality of life for members of LGBT communities, focusing on programs and resources on supporting new and emerging groups and building capacity of existing LGBT organizations both through direct grants and technical assistance, and on encouraging, promoting and educating LGBT people on how to become effective philanthropists. http://www.lgbtgiving.org Military Community Services Network (MCSN) - working to create social support structure for gay troops and their families, to get LGBT troops the help they need when they are denied by the military, and to increase the effectiveness and impact of organizations and people whi provide social services to LGBT military service members, their partners and families. http://www.mcsnfamilies.org  Minnesota Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender Educational Fund - a list all the GLBT Scholarship programs they know about in Canada & the USA. Includes: scholarships for GLBT students by state, scholarships for students with GLBT parents, internship programs for GLBT Students, and other lists of GLBT scholarships. http://www.scc.net/~t-bonham/EDLINKS.HTM Money, Myths, and Change: The Economic Lives of Lesbians and Gay Men - by M. V. Lee Badgett, associate professor at the University of Massachusetts. "How does the standard of living of gay men and lesbians compare with that of heterosexuals? Do homosexuals make financial and family decisions differently? Why are the professional lives of gay men and lesbians dissimilar from those of heterosexuals? Or do they even differ?" published Spring 2001 by The University of Chicago Press http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/hfs.cgi/00/14215.ctl Also, here is an article about the book, Study Refutes Myth of Gay & Lesbian Wealth on the DataLounge site:  http://www.datalounge.com/datalounge/news/record.html?record=16329  The Multicultural Foodservice & Hospitality Alliance (MFHA) - promotes diversity in the hospitality and foodservice industries. http://www.mfha.net/ The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans (NCHV) - the resource and technical assistance center for a national network of community-based service providers and local, state and federal agencies that provide emergency and supportive housing, food, health services, job training and placement assistance, legal aid and case management support for hundreds of thousands of homeless veterans each year. NCHV also serves as the primary liaison between the nation’s care providers, Congress and the Executive Branch agencies charged with helping them succeed in their work. http://www.nchv.org NCHV's Background & Statistics - most often asked questions concerning homeless veterans, homeless veteran fact sheet, incarcerated veterans, number of homeless veterans and VA beds by state.  http://www.nchv.org/background.cfm The National Organizer's Alliance - NOA works to advance progressive organizing for social, economic and environmental justice and to sustain, support and nurture the people of all ages who do that work.  NOA has links to employment opportunities at progressive organizations, a retirement pension program, and more. http://www.noacentral.org O-Files - coming out at work stories from The Gay Financial Network. http://www.gfn.com/ofiles/index.phtml Queers for Economic Justice - "committed to promoting economic justice in a context of sexual and gender liberation. Our goal is to challenge and change the systems that create poverty and economic injustice in our communities, and to promote an economic system that embraces sexual and gender diversity. We are committed to the principle that access to social and economic resources is a fundamental right, and we work to create social and economic equity through grassroots organizing, public education, advocacy and research. We do this work because although poor queers have always been a part of both the gay rights and economic justice movements, they have been, and continue to be, largely invisible in both movements. This work will always be informed by the lived experiences and expressed needs of queer people in poverty." http://www.queersforeconomicjustice.org The Queer Foundation's Effective Writing and Scholarships Program - dedicated to improving the lives of queer youth and raising funds to provide financial and administrative support by offering $1000 scholarships to talented and gifted writers who haven't graduated from high school and who expect to attend a  college or university in the U.S.. Winners of the annual essay contest promote queer studies to improve the lives of queer youth. Collected, the essays form queer-the-curriculum materials for use in high schools to benefit all LGBTQ students.   http://home.comcast.net/~threepennynovel/queerfoundation/ The ONE Campaign - working to help Americans raise their voice as ONE against the emergency of AIDS and extreme poverty, so that decision makers will do more to save millions of lives in the poorest countries. ONE is students and ministers, punk rockers and NASCAR moms, Americans of all beliefs and every walk of life, united to help make poverty history. ONE believes that allocating an additional ONE percent of the U.S. budget toward providing basic needs like health, education, clean water and food would transform the futures and hopes of an entire generation in the world's poorest countries. ONE also calls for debt cancellation, trade reform and anti–corruption measures in a comprehensive package to help Africa and the poorest nations beat AIDS and extreme poverty. http://www.one.org Out & EqualTM Workplace Advocates - champions safe and equitable workplaces for GLBT people, advocating building and strengthening successful organizations that value all employees, customers and communities. Services and programs include workplace related conferences, training programs, mailing lists and more. http://www.outandequal.org  Pride At Work is affiliated as a constituency group of the AFL-CIO (American Federation of Labor & Congress of Industrial Organizations) mobilizing mutual support between the organized labor movement and the LGBT community around organizing for social and economic justice. Pride At Work seeks full equality for LGBT workers in their workplaces and unions; works towards creating a labor movement that cherishes diversity, encourages openness, and ensures safety & dignity; educates the LGBT community about the benefits of union membership; and builds support and solidarity for the union movement in the LGBT community. http://www.prideatwork.org Project South: Institute for the Elimination of Poverty and Genocide - based in Atlanta, Georgia - a leadership development organization based in the US South creating spaces for movement building. We work with communities pushed forward by the struggle to strengthen leadership and provide popular political & economic education for personal & social transformation. We build relationships with organizations and networks across the US and global South to inform our local work and to engage in bottom-up movement building for social & economic justice. http://www.projectsouth.org The Rosenberg Fund for Children - founded by Robert Meeropol, son of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg - provides for the educational and emotional needs of children of targeted progressive activists, and youth who are targeted activists themselves. The RFC defines “targeted” as someone who has: lost a job; suffered physical or mental injury or disability; been harassed or discriminated against; been imprisoned; or died, as a result of their activism. “Progressive activities” are actions taken to further the beliefs that: All people have equal worth; World peace is a necessity; People are more important than profits; Society must function within ecologically sustainable limits.  http://www.rfc.org   Social Justice Fund NW (SJF) - dedicated to addressing the root causes of social, economic, and environmental inequities. Each year, Social Justice Fund NW raises funds from its members and friends, and then grants that money to to strategic and effective community-based non-profit social justice organizations in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming. Using an extensive, thoughtful process, they annually grant to strategic and effective community-based organizations and allows you to assist many different social change causes with a single contribution backed by the experience and research of their staff and members. SJF's vision is of a world that is just, equitable, and environmentally sustainable for all. This multicultural world celebrates and supports diversity, community, intergenerational collaboration, and self-empowerment. Their image of success is a region with a thriving network of community-based organizations and coalitions and an increasingly equitable distribution and sharing of power and wealth. http://www.atrfoundation.org Sylvia Rivera Law Project - a collective organization founded on the understanding that gender self-determination is inextricably intertwined with racial, social and economic justice. Therefore, we seek to increase the political voice and visibility of low-income people of color who are transgender, intersex, or gender non-conforming. SRLP works to improve access to respectful and affirming social, health, and legal services for our communities. We believe that in order to create meaningful political participation and leadership, we must have access to basic means of survival and safety from violence. http://www.srlp.org Sylvia Rivera, 1951 to 2002 - a civil rights pioneer Sylvia Rivera was a veteran of the 1969 Stonewall uprising. Sylvia was a tireless advocate for all those who have been marginalized as the "gay rights" movement has mainstreamed. She fought hard against the exclusion of transgender people from the Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act in New York, and was a loud and persistent voice for the rights of people of color and low-income queers and trans people. More: http://www.srlp.org/index.php?sec=10&page=riverabio Tactical Philanthropy - the personal blog of Sean Stannard-Stockton. Sean is a principal and director of tactical philanthropy at Ensemble Capital Management. Since the blog’s founding in October of 2006, Tactical Philanthropy has become a leading voice in the online philanthropy conversation and a hub for people from donors to foundation executives to nonprofit employees to share their point of view. http://tacticalphilanthropy.com/ They Are Everywhere. But We Refuse to See Them. Queers Without Money - powerful article by Amber Hollibaugh, The Village Voice, June 20-26, 2001. http://villagevoice.com/issues/0125/hollibaugh.php National Advisory Council on LGBTQ Homeless Youth - includes national and local nonprofit organizations dedicated to advocating for increased support for LGBTQ homeless youth. http://blog.nyacyouth.org/2009/04/new-research-and-best-practices-for.html To further their goal of increasing community awareness, The National Alliance to End Homelessness and National Youth Advocacy Coalition have published three new documents in partnership with Lambda Legal, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and the National Network for Youth: National Recommended Best Practices for Servicing LGBT Homeless Youth, Incidence and Vulnerability of LGBTQ Homeless Youth – Research Brief, and A National Approach to Meeting the Needs of LGBTQ Homeless Youth. The National Alliance to End Homelessness - a nonpartisan organization committed to preventing and ending homelessness in the United States. http://www.endhomelessness.org/ TransEducate.com and the Transgender Education Partnership - formed by Jamison "James" Green and Donna Rose, internationally respected advocates for the transgender community with combined 50 years of business and management experience. They provide education about transgender issues in the workplace to executives and small business owners, diversity and EEO managers, supervisors and workgroups who desire better working relationships with their transgender, transsexual, or gender variant co-workers, customers, and business partners. The Transgender Education Partnership is an association of experienced, respected local and national transgender trainers and advocates working together to provide best-of-breed education, tools, and resources regarding gender variant, transgender, and transsexual people with respect to: workplace Issues ~ benefits - insurance, wellness ~ EEO, diversity training ~ best practices for diversity trainers seeking transgender expertise. http://www.transeducate.com/ Transgender Scholarship and Education Legacy Fund (TSELF) is dedicated to enhancing the visibility, strength and vitality of the transgender communities. TSELF is for transgender identified students in the helping and caring professions Including: social services, health care, religious instruction, teaching and the law. http://www.tself.org Workplace Discrimination: Gender Identity or Expression - from the Human Rights Campaign. Stories, references, resources, & sample policies. Includes reports: Transgender Issues in the Workplace: A Tool for Managers; Transgenderism and transition in the workplace: A Tool for Employees; Coming Out in the Workplace as Transgender; and Transgenderism and Transition in the Workplace. http://www.hrc.org/Template.cfm?Section=Transgender_Issues VolunteerMatch brings volunteers and service organizations together. They have an online database with opportunities broken into interest categories. You can search it from a 5 mile radius of your zip code to a whole state, and also they list 'virtual' opportunities. http://www.volunteermatch.org