$10,000 Invested in HIV/AIDS Prevention, Arts, and Education

Since its founding in 1985, Pride Foundation has awarded over $164,000 in grants to organizations serving Alaska’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community or that are engaged in HIV/AIDS service and prevention. This year—with the help of volunteers from Anchorage, Juneau, and Fairbanks—the community foundation awarded $10,000 to five Alaskan organizations. It was the first year that funding decisions were made by Alaskan volunteers who reviewed grant applications, interviewed applicants, and made the tough decisions about which organizations would receive funding.

“It was the first year that Pride Foundation actually has had a local staff person on the ground to recruit Alaskan volunteers and facilitate their decision-making process,” explained Tiffany McClain, Pride Foundation’s Anchorage-based Regional Development Organizer. “They took the responsibility very seriously and brought a level of insight and understanding to the process that people less familiar with our region may not have been able to.”

Here is a list of Pride Foundation’s 2011 grantees:

Alaskan AIDS Assistance Association (Four A’s) – Anchorage—to fund a mobile outreach van that will allow them to provide rapid HIV testing, syringe exchange, and other crucial services in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley.

Revive the Red Tent Productions – Fairbanks— to support the costs of rehearsal and performance space for an upcoming theatrical production about the experiences of lesbians growing up and coming of age in Fairbanks.

Out North Contemporary Art House – Anchorage – general operating support of their ongoing efforts to showcase the work of LGBTQ artists and provide a space for artistic collaboration among people from marginalized communities.

West Valley High School Gay-Straight Alliance – Fairbanks—to assist with the costs of their annual trip to Pride Conference so that they continue to learn and gain valuable tools to enhance their efforts to promote diversity in inclusion in their school and greater community.

Juneau Pride Chorus – Juneau – to support the cost of creating a web page that will help them build a more diverse, statewide audience to support their mission of promoting tolerance through music.

Four of the five organizations are first-time Pride Foundation grantees, including Revive the Red Tent Productions. “The money from Pride Foundation allows our production company to write and produce a two-woman show about the Fairbanks lesbian community,” says Anna Gagne-Hawes, President of Revive the Red Tent. “Being given the opportunity to connect our Fairbanks LGBTQ community to other communities in Alaska and beyond is truly a chance for Revive the Red Tent to grow and learn.”