out inthe mountains

Bv TED Looev AND EUAN BEAR

e Samara Foundation of Vermont
I' has awarded scholarships and .
grants totaling $28,500 to five high
school seniors and 13 organizations serv-
ing the Vermont LGBT community. _
Samara first awarded grants in 1998 and
now has awarded over $175,000 through-
.out the state. While there is a core of '
community organizations that apply every
year, recipients and amounts change from
year to year. , - .
Five Vermont high school seniors
— three were honored last year — will each
receive $1,000 Samara Scholarships for
2004. The five scholarship‘ recipients
include: Elise Corbally, Claire Benjamin,
Christopher Stowell, Nicole Couillard,
and Robin Sunquiet. To celebrate the fifth
anniversary of their Scholarship Program,
the Samara Scholarship Committee, along
with Board and staff members, gathered
at the Waiting Room in Burlington to
announce the 2004 recipients. Also pres-

“en: was-zea »Lr.:{ci;.~if t Hannah Hafter

who recently graduated frorfif Mount
Holyoke. 0

The Samara Scholarship was
established as an investment in the future
of Vermont students who oppose discrimi-
nation and prejudice and who stand for V
the elimination of homophobia in our .
society. Nineteen Vermont high school
seniors have been recognized as Samara
Scholars since the awards were estab-

lished in 2000.

This year’s grants show a slight
shift in emphasis, if emphasis can be
inferred by looking at the amounts given.
One factor in the shift, according to both
Samara Foundation Director Bill Lippert
and long-time Grants Committee member
Howdy Russell, involved the Unity
Project. AIDS services organizations are
not eligible to apply for direct-service
funding from the Unity Project, a restric-
tion instituted by the donors. Therefore,
the Samara Foundation put a little more
emphasis on that area of need, said
Lippert, without abandoning other groups
that were eligible to apply for Unity
Project funding. '

Another priority, according to —
Lippert, was “to put money where it
would really make a difference in peo-
ple’s lives being saved.” Russell men-
tioned under-served populations, includ-
ing lesbians, elderly, and transgenders, as
priorities set by the foundation’s board.
“There’s always youth as a priority, and
that’s due to the wishes of the giver of the
original fiinds. But we define that fairly
broadly,” he explained.

HIV prevention outreach to men
in Bennington County was the focus of a
$1,500 ($100 less than last year) grant
awarded to the AIDS Project of Southern
Vermont. Serving 10 of the 14 counties
in Vermont, Vermont CARES was also
awarded $1,500 ($100 less than in 2003).
The Vermont People with AIDS Coalition
was awarded $3,000 (up $1750 over last

year’s grant) to help fund scholarships for
people who are HIV—positive. $1,200 was
awarded to the AIDS Community
Resource Network’s (ACORN) Hepatitis
C counseling and Testing Program.

V Outright Vermontiwas awarded
$4,500 (the same amount as last year) to
be used to leverage matching gifts in their
2004 major donor campaign.

A $3,000 grant to Mountain
Pride Media ($1,000 less than in 2003),
publishers of Out in the Mountains, aims
to support fair media coverage and
enhance communication for the LGBT
community of Vermont.

The Vermont Freedom to Marry
Task Force received $1,750 for the
redesign of their fair booths and updating
their handouts.

A $1,000 grant ($300 less than
last year).was awarded to SafeSpace, a
social change and social service organiza-

tion working to end physical, sexual, and ,

emotional violence in the lives of lesbian,
gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and
questioning people.

Transgender Day of .
Remembrance received $1,200 to support

I their goals of building community aware-

ness around transgender issues, creating
opportunities to recognize and mourn
transgender people lost to violence and
discrimination, and to empower transgen-
der community members and other mem-

. bers of the LGBT and general

communities.
Education and outreach was the

 

Samara Foundation Awards $28,500

focus of a $750 to Equality Vermont to
work with organizations on educating
their members on transgender issues." .-

The R.U.l.2? Community Center
received $1,500 ($400 less than last year)
to help in their transition to a their new
facility and support the further develop-
ment of the David Bohnett Cyber Center.
' Celebrating our communities’
achievements was supported by a $1,800
grant to P.R.I.D.E. Vermont ($800 more
than last year), while the Amelia Earhart
Underground Flying Society received _ '
$800 to support their 25th anniversary
gala in the Upper Valley.

The Samara Foundation, with
offices in Burlington, is.one of a network
of gay and lesbian community founda-
tions across the county. Samara
Feundation is a charitable foundation
whose mission is “to support and
strengthen Vermont’s gay, lesbian, bisexu-
al and transgendered communities today
and build an endowment for
tomorrow.” V’

F or further information about giving or
' granting opportunities contact Bill

Lippert, Executive Director; Samara
Foundation of Vermont, PO. Box 1263,
Burlington, Vermont 05402. Call
802.860. 6236 or email at bill@sama-
rafouna'ation.o_rg_. ’

Ted Looby is the Administrative Assistant
at the Samara Foundation.

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