We are excited to announce that the Mama Bears Giving Circle has granted the following amounts to our Spring 2023 Grant Winners through funds collectively donated over the past 6 months!
- Kaleidoscope Youth Center $19,000
- Resilience1220 $17,457
- Equality Crew $19,000
- TransFamily Support Services $15,000
Learn more about the great work of these organizations below.
The KYC Community Wellness Initiative is an expansion of KYC’s current programming with an intersectional focus on the emerging mental health and wellness needs of LGBTQIA+ youth and young adults. This initiative works to implement sustainable community-based wellness programs that improve the lives of adolescents; identify health conditions and environmental factors that are associated with barriers to wellness, and aid in improving the social determinants of health and wellness as it relates to LGBTQIA+ youth and young adults. Clinical approaches include trauma informed, wrap-around services to support young people in meeting their basic needs and building a strong sense of self and self-esteem through affirmation and empowerment, and holistic health and wellness activities.
Resilience220 has a track record of offering support and services that LGBTQ+ youth and family members trust and utilize. We are one of the only nonprofits that provides mental health counseling, support groups and other community-based wellness programming for LBGTQ+ youth in the mountain communities we serve. This funding will support Resilience1220’s LGBTQ+ resilience promoting activities over the grant period.
Funding will also support an LGBTQ+ Inclusion Panel to reduce stigma around mental health and help families and community members foster a positive identity and sense of belonging among LGBTQ+ youth in these communities. Additionally, this funding will cover bullying prevention and resilience promoting activities in the schools.
The Equality Crew (TEC) is launching My Crew, a small group mentoring program housed in a drop-in site for LGBTQ+ youth in Northwest Arkansas. My Crew is designed to ensure that LGBTQ+ youth are getting their social and emotional needs met through strong and consistent mentorship and peer community-building. The Equality Crew is uniquely poised to provide group-based mentoring and a drop-in facility for LGBTQ+ youth which will directly address many of the barriers this population often faces in accessing traditional youth mentoring programs.
The success of and response to The Equality Crew’s events, and the LGBTQ+ youth community response to our recent online survey (over 300 respondents) demonstrates that LGBTQ+ youth trust our organization to be welcoming to LGBTQ+ youth. The drop-in facility is uniquely designed to accommodate small group mentoring, individual counseling, and small group activities. Additionally, it is centrally located near public transit and bicycle routes, with ample security infrastructure.
TFSS Youth Programming advances social equity for transgender and GNB youth through the provision of no-cost mental and behavioral health interventions that are intended to help youth and their families successfully navigate their journeys. Activities offered to youth include support groups, a mentor program, referrals to vetted medical and mental health professionals and assistance with navigating the insurance and medical processes.
