When did the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan begin funding LGBT issues?
Why was The HOPE Fund established? The first LGBT grant from a competitive fund at the Foundation can be traced back to 1993. Affirmations Community Center applied for and received a grant for a leadership development program for young people in the LGBT community. It was about a year later that The HOPE Fund was formed, thanks to a matching grant opportunity from Funders for LGBTQ Issues (then known as the National Gay and Lesbian Community Funding Partnership.) A terrific team of local LGBT leaders came together to help the Community Foundation raise the match. These leaders then helped to put the HOPE Fund Development and Grant committees in place to help build and oversee The HOPE Fund once it was established. Is there a specific success story from this time period that foundation leaders still reference? The thing that seemed to please people most about this period was the willingness of the Community Foundation trustees to include HOPE in its family of funds. Keep in mind that ou
