WAYOUT SEATTLE
wayOUT's newest chapter is located in the Emerald City itself, Seattle. Having been established just months before the Covid-19 pandemic, this incredible team has had no choice but to embrace agility and innovation in their approach to fundraising.
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With a history of championing LGBTQ+ rights as early as 1973 and permitting LGBTQ+ bars and night clubs since the 1930's, Seattle is a pinnacle of LGBTQ+ culture. Today, Seattle has the highest rate of LGBTQ+ couples & families in the United States.
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Our team here is small but mighty, hoping to inspire Seattle's rich culture to wayOUT's mission of empowering LGBTQ+ youth to feel safe being who they really are.
ABOUT wayOUT SEATTLE
To refuse to listen to someone's cries for justice until the request comes in a language you feel comfortable with is a way of asserting your dominance over them in a situation.
— Ijeoma Oluo
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chapter values
WAYOUT SEATTLE X RUTH ELLIS CENTER
wayOUT Seattle has selected Ruth Ellis Center as their inaugural Grant Recipient. Drawn to the organization's embrace of intersectionality of LGBTQ+, BIPOC, and women, this chapter could not have found a more worthy partner.
Founded in 1999, Ruth Ellis Center (REC) has established a national reputation for quality and innovation in providing trauma-informed services for lesbian, gay, bi-attractional, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ+) youth, and young adults, with an emphasis on young people of color, experiencing homelessness, involved in the child welfare system, and/or experiencing barriers to health and wellbeing.
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In 2019, REC provided 5,200 units of integrated services to 520 unique young people who identify as LGBTQ+.
HOW WILL RUTH ELLIS CENTER USE THE GRANT?
The funds from the wayOUT Seattle 2020 grant will be directed towards Ruth Ellic Center’s Center for Lesbian & Queer (CLQ) Women & Girls Program. The CLQ can serve upwards of 75 women a year aged 13-30. As part of the CLQ, Ruth Ellis Center plans to break ground on a new 43 unit Permanent Supportive Housing complex in 2020.
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The CLQ offers eight service areas for positive youth and young adult development:
