FLoatarama 2023 Grants:

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.