Please support our efforts to create safe spaces and professional programs for South Coast LGBTQ+ individuals, families, and allies
Dear South Coast LGBTQ+ Community Supporter:
Ten years after The South Coast LGBTQ+ Network's founding, we find ourselves in a highly polarized and antagonistic 2024 election year where LGBTQ+ people everywhere are under constant attack by political extremists determined to roll back years of progress in human rights.
Over 500 local and state-sponsored anti-LGBTQ+ policies are making their way through legislatures, and a shocking number are being passed with the intent to discriminate, dehumanize, and terrorize millions of queer, gender-expansive, and transgender and gender non-conforming youth – as well as their caregivers and teachers. Even basic diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI) programs designed to provide a minimum of protection to LGBTQ+ individuals in the workplace are being challenged and rolled back all across the nation.
Against this backdrop, The South Coast LGBTQ+ Network is more determined than ever to work with our partners in the community to create safe spaces and professionally-managed programs for LGBTQ+ individuals, families, and allies. For those of you who aren't familiar with our organization, we are a volunteer-led nonprofit, and while we rely on grants and sponsors for the majority of our operating funds, we count on the generosity of individuals like you to help us grow. That's why we're asking you to make a 100% tax-deductible donation today.
Some of the accomplishments The South Coast LGBTQ+ Network is able to achieve with your input, encouragement, and financial support include:
Creating specialized programs managed by licensed social workers that support the most vulnerable LGBTQ+ youth, older individuals, and transgender people among us.
Producing South Coast Pride and other major events that welcome, celebrate, and empower LGBTQ+ and allied individuals in our community.
Engaging with LGBTQ+ parents and guardians everywhere, with the support of teachers and administrators in local-area schools.
Creating public forums such as our World AIDS Day conference and Monkeypox Symposium to draw attention to our community's unique healthcare needs.
Opening new LGBTQ+ Community Resource Centers in Taunton and Fall River while finishing construction of a new South Coast LGBTQ+ Community Center in downtown New Bedford that will soon become a safe and nurturing space for the community.
Creating an annual public memorial in honor of all the victims of fatal transgender violence in the United States.
We have big plans for the future, but how much we can accomplish depends in large part on how much you can donate to help us build a diverse and inclusive community we can all be proud of.
We realize economic and political uncertainty may limit how much people can spend this year. And we know there are many other wonderful nonprofits worthy of your support. Our hope is that you'll find a spot on your gift-giving list for The South Coast LGBTQ+ Network so that we can continue to provide and expand on the services the LGBTQ+ community needs now and in the future.
On behalf of the entire South Coast LGBTQ+ Network family and all the people we serve, we thank you for being there for us!