A charitable gift will enable the Shenandoah LGBTQ Center to take an important step toward long-term sustainability.
According to Shenandoah LGBTQ Center Executive Director AnhThu Nguyen, the initial gift was given to the Community Foundation of the Central Blue Ridge as seed funding. The “catalyst” gift is a commitment to contribute $50,000 to galvanize the community to support the organization’s work for the long term. Not just the important issues of today, but into the future as well.
“This gift impacts future generations of LGBTQ community members here. Everyone who might be looking for a new home – and is desperately searching for a place that is safe – might be able to see the existence of this fund, and see the existence of this Center, and be comforted that there are folks that support their lives and their thriving,” Nguyen said.
Long-term sustainability is always an issue for new nonprofit organizations.
“We are six years old as an organization this year,” Nguyen said. “The existence of this fund means that there’s a possibility that there’s long-term, sustained support. Our hope was always to become fully rooted in the fabric of this community. We are now one step closer.”
Designed as a supportive network where LGBTQ of all ages can thrive as equal, healthy supported community members, the Shenandoah LGBTQ Center is committed to addressing unique challenges faced by the community locally.
“Because we use a lens of equity, a lot of our programs are really designed to directly support our most vulnerable. Our Hope House program serves unhoused youth. Our Community Health Worker program supports individuals and families in their journey or transition. What we’re finding is that we’re building a broader community. So much of our work is community building, and so that spans across community stakeholders and different populations,” Nguyen said.
David Greiner and James Gray are two such community stakeholders. They hope their seed gift is the spark that helps others give toward the Shenandoah LGBTQ Center’s sustainability efforts.
“Starting this fund is one small step,” Greiner said. “Hopefully, others become aware of the fund, and it drives additional funding, both for this fund as well as ongoing operating funds to really help this organization thrive.”
Greiner and Gray stumbled upon Staunton during the COVID-19 pandemic. Greiner said that the individuals, the history and the architecture impressed them enough to move to Staunton. They were pleasantly surprised to find the existence of the Shenandoah LGBTQ Center.
“I was really surprised how few people knew about the center – even people within the LGBTQ community – that were not involved,” Greiner said. “And I thought: ‘There’s opportunity to bring the greater community together with this Center.’”
Greiner has served on a number of boards in the nonprofit sector, so they wanted to focus their support for the Shenandoah LGBTQ Center on long-term sustainability. Greiner initiated conversations with the Community Foundation of the Central Blue Ridge with their plan.
“Having experience with a community foundation where we came from, we realized that having a fund at a community foundation would bring additional visibility and credibility,” Greiner said. “It shows the community that: ‘This is an established organization. It’s sustainable. It’s going to be around.’ Hopefully, it results in more funding for the organization.”
Dan Layman, CEO of the Community Foundation, believes that gifts like Greiner’s and Gray’s are what help new nonprofits put deep roots in a community.
“I think of catalyst funds as ‘seeds’ planted by caring community members,” Layman said. “The hope is for those seeds to grow and provide nourishment for our community, but that requires contributions from many for those seeds to realize their full potential. Our community is already the beneficiary of many catalyst funds that are now contributing to our quality of life, and we hope that will be the case for this fund as well.”
Greiner’s and Gray’s other huge inspiration for providing seed funding was reading a book about a former Stauntonian, William Haines.
Born in Staunton, Haines has a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame and is known as Hollywood’s first openly gay star in the 1930s.
Haines ultimately opted to give up acting rather than hide his lifestyle.
“We borrowed a book from a friend, and learned the incredible story of Billy Haines,” Greiner said. “It’s just eye-opening that he was born here, and he had to leave here to be his true self. We thought: ‘Today people don’t have to leave. People can be their true selves. They can connect through the Center and find ways to live lives they truly want to live.’”
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Rebecca Barnabi
