As diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives are targeted and erased across the U.S. federal government, the Johnson County Board of Supervisors discussed dispersing over $10,000 to pro-LGBTQ+ organizations at their Wednesday work session meeting.
Representatives of multiple LGBTQ+ support organizations presented at the work session in the hopes of receiving grant funding. Johnson County’s Transgender Advisory Committee discussed providing funding to Lavender Legal and Trans Mutual Aid Fund. Both are nonprofit organizations that provide support and services for Iowans who identify as members of the LGBTQ+ community.
The potential funding would include a grant of $2,500 to Lavender Legal and $10,000 to Trans Mutual Aid Fund for the 2025 and 2026 fiscal years to assist in each organization’s nonprofit work. The funding is identified by the board as emergency funding due to both organizations losing funding for their work.
Specifically with Iowa’s Trans Mutual Aid Fund, Storm O’Brink, one of the coaches at Iowa’s Trans Mutual Aid Fund, explained that the money the organization receives is typically dependent on donations from the public.
“Considering what our monthly expenditures are for giving aid, we will run out [of funding] around March,” O’Brink said.
O’Brink said funding depends on donations from the community, which can vary depending on the time of year and other factors.
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“We haven’t received many grants up until this point,” O’Brink said.
If granted, the funding will support the legal services Lavender Legal provides to LGBTQ+ people and allow Iowa’s Trans Mutual Aid Fund to continue providing small grants to Iowans seeking gender-affirming care.
While a majority of the board discussed the logistics of providing the grant to the organizations, Supervisor Lisa Green-Douglass said she felt the matter warranted further discussion, bringing up how the grant was being given outside of the cycle when the board typically writes grants.
“We’re writing a grant that wasn’t a competitive, open process that others could apply to and maybe receive that money,” she said.
In turn, Supervisor Mandi Remington said these emergency funds are important for those in the community who need them, and it is difficult to predict if donations alone will be enough to support the organizations.
“It’s hard to know, as a person being served by the organization, when exactly you would need that assistance because appointment times can be moved, things can happen,” Remington said. “That’s another reason why I would support making that exception. Not only is their input of finances unpredictable, but so is their output and service schedule.”
The board will decide whether they approve the funding during a formal session. The agenda for that session has not yet been released.