FLoatarama LGBTQ Youth Fund

SunServe has provided vital mental health & wellbeing services to LGBTQ+ Youth for over 20 years, serving some of the most vulnerable members of our local community.

Rising anti-LGBTQ rhetoric in Florida, and the resulting trauma experienced by LGBTQ+ Youth, is further increasing demand for these critical services.

FLoatarama's $20,000 grant allows SunServe to address their most pressing Youth Center issues, including:

·  Maintain and grow capacity to keep up with demand for critical services.

·  Provide youth with safe spaces, life coaching and case management.

·  Provide mental health services for LGBTQ+ Youth and their families.

The tiny marching band formed in 1986 has grown into today's South Florida Pride Bands.

Their Youth Pride Band program brings together ~90 LGBTQ+ high school students and their allies from all over South Florida. It provides the opportunity to work with an outstanding artistic team and musician mentors, to network with other band students, to unite against bullying, and to celebrate diversity through music.

This grant continues FLoatarama’s support of the Youth Pride Band, and funds a Scholarship for the winner of the second annual FLoatarama Youth Pride Band Soloist Competition, who will also perform with the full Pride Concert Band in May.

For 15 years, National Voices for Equality, Education, and Enlightenment has been working to reduce bullying and prevent suicide among K-12 youth.

The discriminatory laws being passed in Florida are resulting in increased bullying, isolation, suicidal ideation, and self-harm among LGBTQ+ youth.

N.V.E.E.E’s AFFIRM program supports the unique needs of diverse LGBTQ+ youth and their families in South Florida through education, leadership and life skills development, mentorship, brave spaces, and community partnerships.

N.V.E.E.E invests in supporting young queer and trans leaders as AFFIRM Ambassadors who offer outreach and peer support to other LGBTQ+ youth in need, and serve as change agents in their schools and communities.

Stonewall National Museum, Archives & Library inspires and promotes understanding of the proud culture of LGBTQ+ people, and their significant role in American society.

Entering its 11th year, the Stonewall National Education Project supports LGBTQ+ youth through an annual symposium for teachers and school administrators to ensure thoughtful integration of LGBTQ+ history into the curriculum.

With participants from more than seventy school districts including Broward, Palm Beach, Miami-Dade, and 42 states nationwide, the 2024 symposium will be held 11-14 April 2024.

S.N.E.P has built a national network of educational professionals committed to presenting positive images of LGBTQ+ individuals, eliminating barriers to a quality education, and educating youth about LGBTQ+ history.

Founded in 2010, Thinking Cap Theatre is devoted to staging thought-provoking and socially-conscious theatre in South Florida.

The increasingly homophobic & transphobic political climate has put LGBTQ+ youth at increased risk of mental distress, physical harm, social ostracization, and marginalization.

“The Importance of Being Me” is an inspirational program that allows under-represented queer youth to create, share, and experience self-affirming, socially transformative art, and address their need for positive role models and LGBTQ+ history.

Participants engage in a two-week creative workshop led by professional LGBTQ+ artists and theatre practitioners, culminating in a live public presentation.

Founded 18 years ago, The Humanity Project offers proven anti-bullying programs to counter extreme laws such as Florida’s "Don't Say Gay" Bill.

“Antibullying Through The Arts” for elementary school students uses music, roleplaying, stories, & more to instill respect for the equal value of every child, and teach that “Bullying Hurts Everyone, and It Takes Everyone To Stop It!”

And “Humanity Club” provides arts-based activities teaching the values of “Equality For Each, Respect For All” to handpicked student leaders, typically young girls of color, who devise strategies enabling their entire school to prevent bullying.

By stopping elementary school bullying these programs build a solid foundation for bullying prevention in middle & high schools.

SunServe has provided vital mental health & wellbeing services to LGBTQ+ Youth for over 20 years, serving some of the most vulnerable members of our local community.

Rising anti-LGBTQ rhetoric in Florida is directly increasing demand for their services & case management, to the point where they now have a significant waitlist.

This grant will allow SunServe to:

·  Hire additional staff to address their growing waitlist.

·  Provide safe spaces & group sessions, triggered by Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill.

·  Help parents of LGBTQ youth who are looking to better support their children. 

For 40 years, Pridelines has provided essential services to support, educate, and empower South Florida's most in-need and at-risk youth and community, in safe and diverse spaces.

This award will fully fund Pridelines' CampOUT initiative: a 3-day youth development camp at Hugh Taylor Birch State Park, here in Broward County.

CampOUT will provide respite from hostility & harassment for ~50 LGBTQ+ youth who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, and will equip them with long-lasting knowledge of essential life skills and well-being.

The YES Institute has been serving South Florida for 26 years, with a mission to prevent suicide, violence, and discrimination, and ensure the healthy development of all youth through education on gender & orientation.

The grant will be used to facilitate 10 educational sessions, reaching a minimum of 400 professionals, in the Systems of Care, right here in Broward County.

This program will reduce the stigma of young people perceived as gay or transgender, equipping professionals to better handle situations regarding gender and orientation, and increasing their willingness to speak up when someone is bullied.

In 1986, a tiny marching band was formed in Miami as part of the lesbian & gay music movement. 36 years later, this band has grown into the 70-piece South Florida Pride Wind Ensemble.

And for the last 12 years, they’ve produced the Youth Pride Band, an annual honor band styled program that brings around 90 LGBTQ high school students and their allies together from all over South Florida.

This grant will support their youth program, and create a new Scholarship for the winner of the inaugural FLoatarama Youth Pride Band Soloist Competition, who will also perform with the full Pride Wind Ensemble at their concert in May.