Hartsdale, NY—May 25, 2023
The HVCS Legacy Fund in the Westchester Community Foundation has awarded grants totaling $128,000 to support transgender and gender nonconforming youth in the Hudson Valley. A grant to the New York Transgender Advocacy Group will help it relaunch its Youth Advocacy Fellowship Program, a six-month leadership development program that provides training, mentorship, and skill building opportunities for TGNCNBI youth in Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster, and Westchester counties. The Dutchess County Pride Center will create a series of educational workshops, as advised by its Youth Board, on issues related to transgender youth. The Center Lane program at Westchester Jewish Community Services will expand its Gender Euphoria program.
The HVCS Legacy Fund was created by the board of Hudson Valley Community Services to carry on the history and legacy of that organization, which had a strong reputation for service delivery to the most vulnerable, underserved, stigmatized and disenfranchised communities, including people living with HIV and AIDS, people who inject drugs, incarcerated and formerly incarcerated persons, LGBTQ+ community members, and newly arrived immigrants.
In this, its inaugural round of grants, the HVCS Legacy Fund prioritized programs that build toward a future of justice for transgender and gender nonconforming people regardless of race, ethnicity, disability, class and other forms of discrimination.