Howard Brown Health Center has announced the receipt of two important grants from the United Way of Metropolitan Chicago.
'We at UWMC are very excited to partner with Howard Brown on these very important programs,' said Kathleen Cangemi, Program Manager, Special Funding, United Way of Metropolitan Chicago. 'Howard Brown continues to strive toward excellence in meeting the needs of Chicago's communities through creative, forward-thinking, and innovative programming. That is what UWMC's Venture Investment Fund Program is all about.'
The first grant is an FY06 Venture Investment grant of $86,000 for Howard Brown's Violence Recovery Project. The Violence Recovery Project provides culturally competent mental health care for LGBT victims of interpersonal and stranger violence. This is accomplished through the provision of individual and group therapy, as well as specialized support groups also available at Howard Brown. The program is designed to break the social and psychological isolation experienced by victims of violence, and provides sustained support for the availability of longer term counseling and psychotherapy. These services are provided at either no cost, or on a sliding scale, so that limited finances is not a barrier to care.
The second grant is an FY06 Venture Investment grant of $78,828 for the Broadway Youth Center's LGBTQ Mentor Program. The Mentor Program ensures that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning ( LGBTQ ) youth, ages 14 to 20, lead healthy, high quality lives by connecting them with caring, trustworthy adult members of the LGBTQ community. The mentors are committed to developing meaningful relationships, both individually and within a group setting, which will encourage the development of healthy peer norms among all youth participants. The goal of these relationships is to address the feelings of isolation and internalized homophobia that are often experienced by LGBTQ youth, while also providing them with fun, age-appropriate activities that will promote their exploration of healthy interests like the arts, sports, or activism.
'We are proud to partner with United Way of Metropolitan Chicago,' said Michael Cook, Howard Brown President and CEO. 'Receiving support from such a renowned organization is vital to our continuation of these programs, and we are so appreciative that the United Way recognizes not only the importance of these programs for our community, but the diversity of the recipients that will benefit from their success.'