The City of Cincinnati and Community Shares of Greater Cincinnati are accepting proposals over the next 30 days for $500,000 in available funding to support the mental health and safety needs of trans and gender nonbinary youth in the city.
“We applaud the Mayor and City Council for allocating funding to support a population whose daily lives have been upended by state and federal legislation and policies divorced from science,” said Community Shares CEO T. Duane Gordon. “Parents of trans youth want their kids to survive and thrive. We will identify programs and projects that will help them accomplish that goal.”
Proposals are due no later than 5 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 28. Details are available at cintishares.org/transgrants, and the full Request for Proposals is posted at cintishares.org/s/final-rfp.pdf.
“We are investing in services that recognize and respond to the unique challenges that transgender and nonbinary youth experience as they try to survive and thrive, said City of Cincinnati Human Services Director Deanna White. “The grants will focus on filling gaps in currently available services identified in a February 2025 community needs assessment conducted by Interact for Health. We are reinforcing the City’s commitment to the dignity and well-being of all its community members.”
Eligible applicants include any 501(c)3 nonprofit or a program fiscally sponsored by a 501(c)3 nonprofit serving trans and gender nonbinary youth through age 24 within the City of Cincinnati. Priority will be given to organizations with annual operating budgets of less than $1 million and those with demonstrated experience serving trans and gender nonbinary youth, BIPOC youth, and youth from a range of socioeconomic levels.
Applications will be evaluated by an independent review committee including experts in the sector as well as trans and nonbinary youth with lived experience. Reviewers will receive a modest stipend for their time sponsored by Interact for Health.
The funding was approved in November by Cincinnati City Council following introduction of an ordinance by Councilmember Mark Jeffreys, allocating $250,000 per year for two years from unappropriated surpluses in the Cincinnati Health District Fund. Community Shares, which has operated for 30 years as the region’s federation of social justice charities, was chosen to manage the grant selection process. 🔥
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