Update: Thank You for Helping QEJ Through Its Crisis
Dear Friend,
Last week we reached out to our supporters because we needed your help. QEJ faced a major cash flow crisis due to political fighting in Albany which stalled $40,000 in funding we were awarded in late summer of 2009.
Thanks to the generosity of supporters like you, we raised $18,000, also meeting the matching gift of $11,000 created by friends of QEJ . Because of this support, we did not have to furlough staff and shut down operations. This funding will help us continue to our unique work organizing and advocating for the thousands of those in our community who are homeless, poor, working class, and largely people of color marginalized from the mainstream LGBT community.
We at QEJ are so deeply humbled and overwhelmed by this outpouring support. To our friends and communities, THANK YOU for standing with us and supporting QEJ’s work for justice. This support will help QEJ continue our essential operations in the weeks ahead. To show you our appreciation, QEJ staff made a short video to thank all of you for helping us in this critical time. Click here to see our message.
You should know that QEJs efforts to expedite the release of the grant also paid off, as we finally received the contract this week from Albany to receive our long-awaited funding. This will set us back on track in the next month when we should receive the money.
A compounding factor for with the cash flow crisis was the fact that QEJ was also told that we had move by the end of this month. Our landlords did not renew their lease with the building and we were in a position of looking for a new home for QEJ while dealing with the immediate crisis, facing the real possibility of being without a home in addition to furloughing our staff. Thankfully this worst case scenario did not come to pass! We found a new space that will help us to further serve our constituencies better. Details about our move will be coming next week.
Again, THANK YOU so much for your generosity, good-will and support. QEJ is lucky to have you as our ally in our fight for a more socially just world. We could not be more grateful to have you as our supporter.
With much appreciation,
Kenyon Farrow
Executive Director
P.S. - You know it took us more than one take to make this video. And just for you, we prepared another video of our outtakes. Click here to see our case of the giggles.
Update on QEJ’s financial crisis and next steps: What you can do NOW to sustain QEJ!
Dear Friend,
As you may already know, earlier this week, QEJ faced the real possibility of having to furlough our staff, suspend vital services for its constituents and temporarily close its doors today. This was due to a cash flow crisis created by the delay in the release of a promised $40,000 grant by New York State that has been stalled for months due to political fighting in Albany.
To meet this crisis head-on, we at QEJ mobilized quickly. We cut expenses, our Board gave what they could, QEJ reached out to close friends and a generous Foundation began the process of advancing a grant to us. But we needed to be liquid immediately.
As a last recourse, QEJ turned to our base for help as your on-line gifts go directly to QEJ. Thanks to individuals like you, since Monday, QEJ has been able to raise $9,000 so far. We at QEJ are so deeply humbled and overwhelmed by this outpouring support. To our friends and communities, THANK YOU for standing with us and supporting QEJ’s work for justice. This support will help QEJ continue its bare essential operations in the weeks ahead.
Now, our goal is to reach at least $11,000, as friends of QEJ have pooled their resources and promised to match up to $11,000 to meet the crisis if we can raise that ourselves. QEJ needs your help in a final push to raise that $2,000 difference.
With additional support from you, we will be able to secure this generous match, and with enough support, QEJ can be fully operational. Please consider making a gift today of $100 to help us reach our goal. Gifts of any size are deeply appreciated and will go a long way in supporting QEJ as the leading national voice on behalf of low-income and poor LGBTQ people.
QEJ is just just short of reaching our goal. Please help QEJ maximize our efforts to sustain QEJ and its work until the New York State grant is distributed. Thank you for your generosity and consideration.
And thank you, so much, for helping QEJ continue our critical work for the most marginal within the LGBTQ community and our unique voice for sexual & gender liberation and economic justice. One of QEJ’s greatest resources is our supporters, and we are so fortunate to have YOU as our partner in the fight for a more socially just world.
With the utmost gratitude,
Kenyon Farrow
Executive Director
P.S. You can further support QEJ by forwarding this e-mail on to your friends, loved ones and communities and asking them to donate to QEJ as well. Thank you again for your consideration.
Emergency: QEJ Urgently Needs Your Support TODAY!
Dear Friend–
On behalf of Queers for Economic Justice, I write to respectfully ask that you consider making an emergency gift of $100 to QEJ today to help us meet an unexpected financial crisis. Your gift will also count towards a matching gift of up to $11,000 created to meet this crisis. To those who have already given, thank you so much for your support.
Why QEJ is seeking your help
Over the past few months, the fighting in Albany has held nonprofit groups hostage by stalling disbursements of promised grants. This has left QEJ $40,000 in the hole, as we were expecting our grant by now. QEJ is a lean organization, and so this delay is nothing short of devastating. We have no alternative but to turn to our supporters in this most dire time.
Why QEJ needs your immediate support
Without your support today, we cannot make payroll this friday and continue our important work on behalf of the most marginal people in the LGBTQ community, including:
· Ongoing support groups in shelters for homeless LGBTQ people in New York City
· Advocacy on behalf of LGBTQ people on welfare
· Public education on the effects of the economy on poor LGBTQ people
Your gift will count now more than ever. Click here to make a difference.
What QEJ is doing to meet this crisis head-on
• We’re working with our allies in Albany to expedite the release of our grant. One of our Foundation partners is also advancing a grant to us. However, both efforts take time, and we need immediate support
• Our Board has given what they can and is reaching out to secure support
• We’ve cut down on all but the most essential expenses
• A group of QEJ’s friends promised to pool their money and make a gift of up to $11,000 if we can match it. Since Monday, thanks to supporters like you, we’ve raised $7,230. We are humbled by such generosity, but still need your help to reach our goal by this Friday.
Your gift matters now more than ever
Please consider making an emergency gift of $100 to QEJ by clicking here. We are grateful for anything you are able to give, and all gifts, regardless of size, will allow us to continue our critical work for poor and low-income queers. On behalf of the Staff, Board, and constituencies we serve, thank you so much for your good-will and solidarity during his critical time.
With deepest appreciation,
Kenyon Farrow
Executive Director
P.S. You can further support QEJ by forwarding this e-mail on to your friends, loved ones and communities and asking them to donate to QEJ as well. Thank you again for your consideration.
Emergency: QEJ Urgently Needs Your Support TODAY!
Dear Friend–
I’m writing to humbly ask that you consider making an emergency gift of $100 to QEJ today. QEJ was told for months that a $40,000 government grant we are counting on would come in by now, but politics in Albany stalled NY State’s legislative agenda last fall and delayed the disbursement of grants to nonprofit groups, including QEJ. This has caused an unexpected cash flow crisis for us this month. As a result, we are turning to our supporters as a last resort.
Without your support, QEJ will not be able to pay its staff this Friday and continue its critical work as the leading national voice addressing the needs of low-income and poor LGBTQ people. We need you to keep our doors open. We are a modest organization, and any gifts we receive goes towards making our work possible. Thanks to the support of individuals like you, QEJ’s Welfare Warriors will very soon be releasing a report about the lives of low-income LGBTQ New Yorkers, with an accompanying documentary. We also recently celebrated a victory with several of our ally organizations whom together pushed to make getting public assistance much easier for transgender and gender non-conforming New Yorkers. QEJ’s effective and groundbreaking work will not continue if we don’t hear from you today.
We’ve already taken steps to address this crisis. A Foundation that supports QEJ has graciously agreed to advance a grant to QEJ, but that takes time, and we need the support immediately, and it will only meet part of our needs. QEJ’s Board has given what they can and a few of QEJ’s close friends have pledged to make gifts totaling 11 thousand dollars if our supporters can match this amount. Please look into your heart and do what you can to help us reach this goal. Your gift will go directly to supporting QEJ’s work.
At this critical time, please consider making an emergency gift of $100 to QEJ by clicking here. Gifts of all sizes are appreciated and will allow us to continue our pioneering work. Thank you for your understanding, generosity and continued support of Queers for Economic Justice. We deeply appreciate you as our partner for justice.
With much gratitude,
Kenyon Farrow
Executive Director
Welfare Justice Campaign Delcare Victory; Reina Featured in Gay City News
After 5 years of struggle, the Welfare Justice Campaign declares victory for transgender and gender non-conforming New Yorkers accessing welfare. Gay City News writes;
Appearing at a February 17 press conference at the Housing Works Bookstore in Soho, Reina Gossett, a representative of Queers for Economic Justice, hailed the breakthrough, which won final approval in December from HRA Commissioner Robert Doar, but cautioned, “We still have far to go. In the past, similar city policies have failed in the training phase using inadequate curriculum and trainers lacking cultural competence. We need everyone’s support to insure that all HRA employees are trained.”
Congratulations to the Welfare Justice Coalition including Queers for Economic Justice, the TransJustice program at Brooklyn’s Audre Lorde Project, Housing Works, and the Sylvia Rivera Law Project.
2/19: Farrow Speaking on ‘Myth of a Post-Racial Society’
Post-Obama, has America become colorblind—and is that even a worthy or achievable goal in this country? How does the supposed “post-racial” society measure up to the reality of poor and working people’s lives, 60 years after the Black civil rights movement? Join a freewheeling discussion and celebrate the ongoing struggle for “Freedom Now!”
Speakers will include Norma Abdulah, a retired school teacher and longtime Harlem civil rights leader; Kenyon Farrow, from Queers for Economic Justice and co-editor of Letters from Young Activists; and Emily Woo Yamasaki, representing the Comrades of Color Caucus of Freedom Socialist Party and Radical Women.
Feb 17: Trans Victory! Welfare Justice Press Conference
On February 17 at 10am a press conference will be held at Housing Works Bookstore (126 Crosby St, between Prince and E. Houston) that will announce a victory for the Welfare Justice Campaign.
The Welfare Justice Campaign is a joint project of Queers for Economic Justice, Audre Lorde Project, Sylvia Rivera Law Project and Housing Works.
Click here to read the full press release.
Feb 15: NYC James Baldwin Film and Discussion with Farrow and Others
Brecht Forum - Film and Discussion
Monday, February 15 - 7:30pm
Take This Hammer follows author and activist James Baldwin in the spring of 1963, as he’s driven around San Francisco to meet with members of the local African-American community. He is escorted by Youth For Service’s Executive Director Orville Luster and intent on discovering: “The real situation of Negroes in the city, as opposed to the image San Francisco would like to present.” He declares: “There is no moral distance … between the facts of life in San Francisco and the facts of life in Birmingham.
“Someone’s got to tell it like it is. And that’s where it’s at.” Includes frank exchanges with local people on the street, meetings with community leaders and extended point-of-view sequences shot from a moving vehicle, featuring the Bayview and Western Addition neighborhoods. Baldwin reflects on the racial inequality that African-Americans are forced to confront and at one point tries to lift the morale of a young man by expressing his conviction that: “There will be a Negro president of this country but it will not be the country that we are sitting in now.”
Welfare Justice Coalition to Announce Win For Transgender New Yorkers
MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – February 5, 2010 Contact: Jen Roman, Kris Hayashi
E-Mail: jroman@alp.org
- Phone: 718-596-0342 x 32, 646-305-4177(cell)
HISTORIC VICTORY: WELFARE PROCEDURE APPROVED TO ADDRESS DISCRIMINATION AGAINST TRANS AND GENDER NON CONFORMING PEOPLE, BRINGING NYC CLOSER TO BEING INCLUSIVE FOR ALL NEW YORKERS.
NEW YORK CITY HUMAN RESOURCES ADMINISTRATION (HRA) APPROVES PROCEDURE
FOR SERVING TRANS AND GENDER NON CONFORMING CLIENTS
(New York City, February 5, 2010) – TransJustice of the Audre Lorde Project, Housing Works, Queers for Economic Justice, and the Sylvia Rivera Law Project will announce a victory for their Welfare Justice Campaign at a press conference on February 10, 2010 at 10AM at the Housing Works Bookstore, 126 Crosby Street (between Prince St. and East Houston), Manhattan, NY. On December 23, 2009 — after five years of organizing by Trans and Gender Non Conforming communities — the New York City Human Resources Administration (HRA) passed a procedure to stop rampant transphobic discrimination and harassment in New York City’s welfare system. Speakers include Jane Corbett, Executive Deputy Commissioner of HRA and members of the Welfare Justice Campaign.
Transgender and Gender Non Conforming people face extreme, abusive, unjust discrimination when trying to access government benefits in New York City. Some transgender people are denied the ability to even apply for benefits and told to come back when they “dress more like a girl, or boy.” Since 2005, Trans and Gender Non-Conforming (TGNC) communities in New York City have been fighting back by urging HRA to address the widespread Transphobia, discrimination, and harassment that Trans and Gender Non-Conforming people in New York City face when accessing public assistance. In 2005 HRA and a Citizen Advisory Transgender Sub Committee developed Best Practice Protocols for Serving Trans and Gender Non Conforming Clients (the new procedure is based on this document). Unfortunately, these protocols sat on the shelf for years and were never implemented nor adopted by HRA.
Jane Corbett, Executive Deputy Commissioner of HRA and Kavita Pawria, HRA Director of Office of Refugee and Immigrant Affairs have been working along side community groups for the last two years to develop a HRA procedure on serving Trans and Gender Non Conforming communities. On December 23rd, 2009, after years of organizing and advocacy by the community, HRA Commissioner Robert Doar finally approved the new procedure. HRA Executive Deputy Commissioner Jane Corbett stated that, “After much cooperation both within the agency and with community leaders outside of HRA, the procedure was finalized and distributed to staff last December. We expect that this reinforcement of City rules will improve our customer service.”
According to Mya Vazquez, of TransJustice of the Audre Lorde Project, “Due to wide spread prejudice in order to survive we’re forced to apply for public benefits, yet when we go to welfare centers, we’re harassed, jeered at, and faced with discrimination because of our gender identities and/or expression.” She states that, “The ‘don’t ask, don’t tell campaign’ has taken up so much national attention and resources, yet the issues of daily survival that Trans and Gender Non Conforming People of Color deal with go unnoticed”.
Tracy Bumpus of Housing Works states, “This procedure is important because the greatest fundamental human right is to be free to love and live as our minds and hearts guide us. But for Trans and Gender Non Conforming people what is the value of freedom if we are afraid to seek the life sustaining services offered by HRA because we are discriminated against, made fun of and made to feel less than human. Hopefully this procedure will change the outdated ways of thinking that people seem unable to let go of.”
While approval of the HRA procedure is a major win, it is only the beginning. Reina Gossett, of Queers for Economic Justice states, “The approval of this procedure is a major victory for Trans and Gender Non Conforming communities, however we still have far to go. In the past, similar city policies have failed in the training phase using inadequate curriculum and trainers lacking cultural competence. We need everyone’s support to insure that all HRA employees are trained on the new procedure and that our communities are central to the development and implementation of these trainings.”
The Audre Lorde Project (ALP) is a Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Two-Spirit, Trans and Gender Non Conforming People of Color Community Organizer Center in NYC. TransJustice, a project of ALP, is a Trans and Gender Non-Conforming People of Color organizing group.
Housing Works provides homeless and low-income New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS and their families with housing, meals, medical care, drug treatment, social support, employment opportunities and other lifesaving services.
Queers for Economic Justice is a progressive organization committed to promoting economic justice in a context of sexual and gender liberation.
The Sylvia Rivera Law Project (SRLP) works to guarantee that all people are free to self-determine their gender identity and expression, regardless of income or race, and without facing harassment, discrimination, or violence.
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Last Chance to Support QEJ in 2009!
Dear QEJ Supporter,
We know that April 15th seems like a long way off. But your 2009 deductions end tomorrow night! It’s not too late to make a tax deductible gift to QEJ — one that will fuel our social justice work in 2010. We’ve made major advances this year in our campaign work locally and in raising the visibility of economic justice issues for queers nationally. There is much more work to do to ensure that working class, poor and low-income LGBT people receive justice in our society, but we’re hoping to continue to organize, and to make our communities visible in the LGBT movement, and in broader progressive movements across the country.
QEJ has always taken difficult and principled stances on issues that are sometimes unpopular with some elements of the LGBT community. Members of our board and staff have sometimes come under harsh criticism from bloggers or movement leaders for being divisive, reverse racists, complainers who aren’t realistic or practical in our idea of social change. We organize on the issues that are important to our base–that’s our queer agenda.
That is why we coordinate support groups for queer and trans people in the shelter system. That is why we organize queer and trans people on welfare to advocate for better welfare policies that expand access for trans and gender nonconforming people. That is why we organized a national mobilization of LGBT organizations to push for the inclusion of the public option in federal health care reform. Your donations help us continue to work on the issues that prioritize the lives of queer people at the margins of our movement.
Though we’re being told that we’re pulling out of the recession in 2010, we know that poor and working class queer people will still be unemployed and discriminated against at the welfare office, working in jobs with low wages, no health care for themselves or their families, and unable to take sick days without fear of being fired. After the economy recovers, our work will not be complete.
Won’t you make an end-of year donation to support true economic justice?
All of us at QEJ thank you for the support you’ve shown us over the years, and we wish you and yours a Happy New Year!
In struggle,
Kenyon Farrow