Fundusz dla Odmiany
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Mission Statement
We dream of Poland where LGBT+ people feel at home in every community. At last.
About This Cause
For a Change Fund | Fundusz dla Odmiany is a Polish LGBT+ non-governmental organization. Founded in May 2019 by several LGBT+ activists from Warsaw. During the years of activism, we recognized our privilege of having access to resources and contacts, and noticed how few LGBT+ equality initiatives happen outside of big urban centres. OUR AIMS 1. Strengthening and supporting those individuals and groups that wish to create open and accepting communities; passing on micro-grants to them, suggesting what smart LGBT+ support and alliance are, making their work easier. 2. Mobilizing allies to act and support LGBT+ people. 3. Building the community of people who work on grassroots and local levels to enhance LGBT+ equality outside of big urban centres. To increase LGBT+ people’s visibility and presence in smaller towns and villages, FCF established a mini-grant program using participatory grantmaking approach. The concept was thoroughly consulted with informal LGBT+ groups, NGOs, and activists from small towns. It is the first participatory grantmaking initiative aimed at LGBT+ people and groups in Poland – an approach aimed at building ownership, accountability, and trust. The Fund supports activists, allies, and groups in delivering projects enhancing LGBT+ equality and fostering dialogues in their localities. The grantees bring their expertise and knowledge of local structures and community dynamics, and decide themselves what projects would be most suitable, feasible, and needed in their community. Some indicative examples include: educating local community and wider public; legal, psychological, and social support; advocacy and legal actions; visibility campaigns; leadership, group, and community development. WHY WE WORK The need for normalization of LGBT+ people’s presence and visibility in small towns and villages is especially important today, when LGBT+ rights in Poland are increasingly used for political gains. During the election year, some media and politicians accuse LGBT+ people of pedophilia, “promoting” sexual orientation as a world view or lifestyle choice, and of attacking the traditions and family values of Poles. Some local councils pass resolutions declaring them “LGBT ideology free zones” (e.g. Świdnik), and a conservative weekly added an “LGBT free zone” sticker to its June 2019 issue. The escalation of these hostilities was notably apparent on June 20th in Białystok, when the city’s first Equality March was violently attacked by hundreds of hooligans chanting homophobic slurs, throwing stones, and assaulting March’s participants. Voices and attacks like these affect LGBT+ people’s safety, health, dignity, and well being. According to the 2017 Campaign Against Homophobia report, as many as 63% of Polish LGBT+ people experienced verbal harassment in the last two years, 69% prefer to not disclose their sexual orientation fearing discrimination, and 70% of young LGBT+ people have experienced suicidal thoughts. On the other hand, presence and visibility play an important role in the process of acceptance: research from Poland shows that among people who know at least one homosexual person, 62% support civil partnerships, and among people who think they do not know such person, the rate is 29%. LGBT+ groups and allies from small towns and villages have little access to funding, technical support, and networks. LGBT+ people are thus less visible in these places, the dialogue about their rights and equality is inadequate or nonexistent, and this absence breeds fear, prejudice, homo- and transphobia. For a Change Fund will change that by supporting LGBT+ people and allies who are best positioned to affect change, funding programs and initiatives that shift narratives around LGBT+ people and LGBT+ rights in villages and smaller towns. FCF prioritizes applications from groups working outside of big city centers where to date there were no projects aimed at LGBT+ people, working with and for nonbinary, transgender, intersex people, and who focus on non-heteronormative groups who experience intersectional discrimination, e.g. LGBT+ people living with disabilities, non-heteronormative women who live in villages and small towns, etc. FCF’s constituency are allies and LGBT+ activists from smaller communities, who apply for the grants and/or helping to disseminate information about the Fund. The allies include teachers, village administrators, librarians, family members of LGBT+ people and local activists from within and outside of the LGBT+ movement. The local activists include mainly young people, male, female, non-binary, transgender people who do not wish to or cannot leave their home towns and villages. Through the initiatives supported by the Fund, they gain visibility, initiate and foster dialogues on equality and rights, and lead the complex processes of social transformation. WATCH THE STORIES OF THE PEOPLE WE HELP: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXQ2fARikf410Yp0ouML9u3N3oj9vU3nD