As the nation confronts the significant and unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Campaign for Southern Equality has created a rapid response grant round to quickly route funds to individuals, families, and community organizations across the LGBTQ South. The grant round will be distributed through CSE’s Southern Equality Fund.
This page houses information and a link to the application for Emergency Assistance for Individuals and Families in Western North Carolina. It is made possible due to support from the Community Foundation of Western NC and is eligible for people living in one of the counties listed below.
Don’t live in Western NC? Use this link to apply for an Emergency Assistance Grant.
Updates to the COVID-19 Rapid Response Grant Process
Update October 26, 2021
The Campaign for Southern Equality’s COVID-19 Emergency Assistance Grant round, part of our COVID-19 Rapid Response Grant Program, is now open. Learn more below.
This grant round is made possible due to support from the WNC Bridge Foundation. To stay tuned about this grant program, please sign up for our email list in the footer of this website or by clicking here.
Where Do You Live?
Our partners at the Community Foundation of Western NC are sponsoring $18,000 in Emergency Assistance Grants specifically for LGBTQ people living in Western North Carolina.
To apply, you must live in one of these counties in Western North Carolina: Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Swain, Transylvania, Watauga, Wilkes, Yancey.
How It Works
Through this grant round LGBTQ people in Western North Carolina were able to apply for immediate financial support of $250. Applicants can use the funding for basic needs like groceries, rent/mortgage payments, prescriptions or medical bills, prevention supplies, and more.
We’ve made the funding application short and simple. Please note that the Campaign for Southern Equality team is working remotely and will be working to process grants as quickly as possible, on a rolling basis.
Criteria to Receive Funding
The following are required in order to receive funding:
- You must be a member of the LGBTQ community.
- You must live in one of these counties in Western North Carolina: Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Swain, Transylvania, Watauga, Wilkes, Yancey
- This emergency funding is designed to route funds quickly to people already experiencing the health and financial impacts of the pandemic and its secondary consequences, with a focus on people and communities who are at particularly high risk.
Priorities
These priorities also guide our funding decisions:
- Individuals that are disproportionately vulnerable to the health risks of COVID-19, including senior citizens, people with immune conditions, and people with chronic disease.
- Applicants who are first responders, health care providers, and employees in the industries that have already been impacted by the economic downturn resulting from COVID-19.
- People of color, trans and nonbinary people, people with low incomes, and people living in rural areas.
Ready to Apply?
The Campaign for Southern Equality’s COVID-19 Emergency Assistance Grant round, part of our COVID-19 Rapid Response Grant Program, is now open. Learn more and apply below. This grant round is made possible due to support from the WNC Bridge Foundation.
Please keep in mind that you once you start your application, you are unable to save your progress. To make it easier to prepare your application ahead of time, please see the application questions below.
APPLICATION QUESTIONS (CLICK TO EXPAND)
- First Name
- Last Name
- Pronouns
- Phone
- Street Address
- Zip Code
- Where are you based?
- Most grants will be processed electronically through Venmo or PayPal; if you require a paper check, how should the check be made out (name of individual)?
- If you require a paper check, where should the check be mailed? (street address, city, state, zip):
- How would you use the $250 emergency grant?
Options; meals/groceries, medication or other healthcare needs, rent - Demographic information (Optional): Gender identity, sexual orientation, race
- How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted you?
- Please check this box if your income has been negatively impacted by COVID-19.
Special Thanks
The Campaign for Southern Equality is grateful for our partner organizations and donors across the South who are helping to support the COVID-19 Rapid Response Grant Round.
This grant round is made possible by the Community Foundation of Western NC.
Big thanks to Blue Ridge Pride, East Fork Pottery, Gender Benders, Southern Vision Alliance, We Are Family, and the Families and Workers Fund, a funders collaborative that includes the Ford Foundation, Schmidt Futures, and Open Society Foundation for their donations for Emergency Assistance Grants. And, for their support of the Southern Equality Fund and the COVID-19 Rapid Response Grant Program, thank you to foundations including Arcus Foundation, Community Foundation of Western NC, Freeman Foundation, Laughing Gull Foundation, Amy Mandel Fund, the Momentum Fund, the Jesse Smith Noyes Foundation, the Out in the South Initiative of Funders for LGBTQ Issues, WNC Bridge Foundation, and the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation.
Donate to Support the COVID-19 Rapid Response Grant Round
Want to donate to Campaign for Southern Equality’s COVID-19 Rapid Response Grant Round? Click here and your gift will go directly to a grant supporting LGBTQ Southerners impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Return to Southern Equality Fund program page to see all components of SEF, including grassroots training webinars, spotlights on grantees, and more.
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