2015 Samara Fund Grantmaking Report

Annual Report 2015
the samara fund
at the
Vermont Community
Foundation
Supporting Vermont’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Allied Communities
Pride Center of Vermont’s 2014 Pride Festival, Burlington
Honoring Our History, Moving Forward Together
Since joining the Vermont Community Foundation in 2011, the Samara Fund has awarded over
$200,000 in grants and scholarships, growing every year. With a record high $72,506 awarded
in 2015, Samara’s goal is to award at least $100,000 each year by 2017.
Despite our gains, the need is as strong as ever. Excellent work
is being done and the Samara Fund helps make it happen.
Please contribute today.
Cherie Tartt and Yolanda, hosts of
a popular public access live call-in and
variety show on VCAM that aired in the late
1990s and early 2000s, reunited in 2015
at the 20th Annual Winter is a Drag Ball
to film one more live episode. Two of the
most visible grassroots LGBTQ and
HIV/AIDS activists during the “Take Back
Vermont” era, Cherie and Yolanda played
an important role in the history of Vermont’s
struggle for LGBTQ rights.
A $2,500 grant will support digitizing all
episodes of this groundbreaking TV show,
currently available only on VHS tapes.
2015 Samara Grant Awards and Scholarships
We awarded $60,506 in grants to 16 LGBTQ
and HIV/AIDS organizations and projects
across Vermont.
Chandler Center for the Arts – Randolph – $4,000
for the Chandler Pride Theater Festival.
Common Ground Center – Starksboro – $5,400
for Camp Outright, a summer camp for queer youth.
Green Mountain College – Poultney – $3,000
for a web-based telenovella-style mini-series by and
for LGBTQ college students.
Green Mountain Crossroads – Brattleboro – $5,000
for community building in Windham County.
Lamoille Union High School – Hyde Park – $250
for hosting the 2015 Annual QSA Summit.
Outright Vermont – Burlington – $5,900
for queer youth leadership programs statewide.
Pride Center of Vermont – Burlington – $8,400
for the annual Vermont Pride Festival and
“Coming Out Later in Life” events for people over 50.
Richford School District – Richford – $1,000
for a new queer-straight alliance for grades 7-12.
Rivendell Interstate School District – Orford, NH – $556
to add LGBTQ literature to the Academy’s library.
Vermont Performance Lab – Guilford – $5,000
for a residency with queer performance artist Ain Gordon.
Continuing our partnership with the Vermont
Student Assistance Corporation, we awarded six
$2,000 scholarships to exceptional LGBTQ and
Allied student leaders.
Kalob Daniel Gabree, Fairfield, will attend Johnson State
College. As President of GLOW (Gay, Lesbian, or Whatever),
Kalob helped to create an anti-bullying campaign on campus.
Lilith C. Dyke Gragg, Chester, will attend Smith College.
The leader of CIRCLE (her school’s GSA), Lilith has been
“the first to speak out when an issue arises, not to scold
but to educate.”
Mariah C. Holroyd, Hartford, will attend Johnson State
College. As President of Rainbow Squad, Mariah “chooses
to find ways to allow others the opportunity to lead projects.”
Tia Hunt, Addison, will attend Northeastern University.
At her school’s Peace One Day celebration, Tia courageously
spoke about her experiences as an out gay female in her
rural school.
Alexia Long, Burlington, will attend Boston University.
Alexia helped create Outright’s Peer Education Program,
training students to speak at middle schools on being
an ally against bullying. Kyle Shekinah-Roark, South Royalton, will attend
Pratt Institute. In a school presentation, Kyle talked about
how he had always known in his heart he was male, helping
his high school to better understand transgender issues.
Better Together The Samara Fund
is grateful for the support of all our
donors, including the following people
who made gifts in 2014.
The Samara Fund Donors
Anonymous (4)
Mary Loney & Linda Hollingdale
Robert C. Aldrich
& Kenneth G. Kornfield
Anita M. Long
Joe Bertolino
Molly Bidwell & Susan Klaiber
Joseph A. Boisse
& David L. Williams
Jason P. Lorber
Pamela Macy
Carol Maloney
Lawrence T. & Sheila R. Markin
Naomi Bossom
Mary W. Mathias
John P. Bouffard
James Mcfadden
John Byer & Mac Lippert
Allan Michaud & Stephen Booth
Steven A. Cadwell
Francesca G. Moravcsik
Joan Carson
Donald L. Morrison
Concept2, Inc.
Laura Moskowitz
John G. Crane
& David L. Chambers
Carmen Murray
Grant Crichfield
Jeffrey A. Nelson & Paul Mahan
Jeanie Crosby & Cynthia Baldwin
Laura Nowak
Daniel Drish & Ron Lenker
Russell M. Fellows & Bob Coates
Meg H. O’Donnell
& Patricia Orr
Gay & Lesbian Fund of Vermont
Brooke Pearson
Judy Geer & Dick Dreissigacker
Physician’s Computer Company
The landmark Henry Sheldon Museum Exhibit
The Gilmour-Jirgens Fund
David G. Rahr
Peter Gould
In 1804, more than two centuries before the
Supreme Court’s historic ruling on same-sex marriage,
one couple, Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake,
built a little house together in Weybridge, Vermont
and opened their own tailoring business. This action
marked the beginning of what many of Charity
and Sylvia’s neighbors would come to see and respect
as a 40-year marriage between the two women.
Mariel Hess
Mary Alice Schatzle
& Glendowlyn Howard
Charity & Sylvia
Last November, the Samara Fund contributed $1,500
to the Henry Sheldon Museum in Middlebury to put
on an exhibit and related events commemorating
the untraditional lives of these women. The exhibit,
on view from November through January, displayed
Sylvia and Charity’s letters, love poems, and the
striking image above of the two women’s silhouettes
framed by their braided hair. Charity and Sylvia were
buried together in the Weybridge Cemetery; the joint
headstone commemorating their relationship can
be seen there to this day.
Harry & Theo Howe
Raymond Huessy
James J. & Mary K. Hunter
Gale S. Hurd
Indian Tree Charitable Fund
Jamie Kanzler Memorial Fund
Christopher Janeway
Thomas P. & Ina Smith Johnson
Rona Klein
Kathy Lacroix
Pamela Myers & Ruth Dickey
Harry S. Scott
Jayne Sheridan & Stevie Spaulding
Leigh Steele & Joannie Wales
Maida F. Townsend
Upstairs Antiques
Bruce T. & Lillian H. Venner
Vermont Gynecology PC
John S. Walters & Dr. A. Evan Eyler
Fay H. Weber
David & Margot Wizansky
Denise E. LaPre
Richard M. Wizansky
& Todd W. Mandell, MD
Estate of Mary Alice Lippert
Ken Wolvington
Robert N. & Dency A. Lippert
Darlene Young
& Jerome E. Andrews, III
Andrea Livermore
The Samara Fund
Advisory Committee
Dr. Joseph Bertolino, Ph.D. of Lyndon*
John Byer of Jericho
Dr. A. Evan Eyler, M.D. of Montpelier
Emily Hawes of Montpelier
Carol Maloney of Middlesex (Chair)
Brooke Pearson of Montpelier*
Lydia Winter of North Bennington
Richard Wizansky of Guilford
*completed their service in the past year
25 Years of Caring & Advocacy
Contact Us
Four Vermont organizations have served those affected
by HIV/AIDS since the 1980s. Vermont People With
AIDS Coalition, the youngest of the four organizations,
observes its 25th anniversary this year. We applaud
these organizations’ commitment and longevity.
AIDS Project of Southern Vermont received $5,000 to support
their work in Windham and Bennington Counties. Founded
in 1988, direct services have morphed from mostly end-of-life
care to case management for people living with HIV.
HIV/HCV Resource Center received $3,000 for services
in Orange and Windsor Counties. Founded 26 years ago
by volunteers who wanted to help their friends who were sick
and dying, the organization expanded their mission to include
people affected by the Hepatitis C Virus and opened a syringe
exchange in 2006.
Vermont CARES received $5,000 to provide services to ten
counties in Northern and Central Vermont. The organization,
founded in 1986, launched a new campaign, “Getting Vermont
to Zero,” on National HIV Testing Day in 2015. The campaign
seeks to end new infections in Vermont by 2020.
Vermont People With AIDS Coalition received $5,000 for
statewide programming including their 25th annual educational
retreat. Made up of peers living with HIV/AIDS, the Coalition
seeks to improve quality of life through mutual support and
by serving as a unified voice for the HIV positive community.
the samara fund
at the
Vermont Community
Foundation
samarafund@vermontcf.org
802-388-3355 ext.295
www.vermontcf.org/samara
Photo Credit
David Garten, cover photo
Bill Simmon, p.2
Henry Sheldon Museum Collection, p.3
Roy Belcher, back cover