We are pleased to announce the recipients of our first round of 2SLGBTQIA+ Community Impact Grants. Community organizations serving 2SLGBTQIA+ Nova Scotians are receiving provincial support for 11 projects, and there is also funding for a provincial conference in Truro this fall. These investments support the Province’s first 2SLGBTQIA+ Action Plan, released earlier this year.

Grants have been awarded to the following organizations and projects:

• Crows’ Commons Co-operative, Springfield, Annapolis County – $4,820 to support planning for a five-unit affordable housing project in Springfield intended for queer, trans and disabled residents
• DalOUTT Club, Dalhousie University – $4,320 to lead a student-driven 2SLGBTQIA+ mural project at the Haley Institute of Animal Science and Aquaculture a Dalhousie’s agricultural campus in Bible Hill
• LakeCity Works, Dartmouth – $25,000 to deliver a third cohort of the Queer Careers employability program, expanding eligibility beyond youth to serve the broader 2SLGBTQIA+ community
• Lunenburg Foundation for the Arts – $19,700 to support a year-round series of arts, cultural and community-building initiatives led by Petite Queer Pride on the South Shore
• MacPhee Centre for Creative Learning, Dartmouth – $21,000 to support and sustain its gender and sexuality alliance programming for 2SLGBTQIA+ youth both in and outside of Halifax Regional Municipality
• Pictou County Pride – $25,000 to hire a community development manager to help develop a strategic plan and strengthen outreach, communications and partnerships
• Rural Communities Foundation of Nova Scotia – $5,154 for administration and liability insurance for the Rural Pride Fund, a pilot initiative helping grassroots Pride organizers in rural communities
• SeaHorse Sexual Health Centre, Sheet Harbour – $12,067 to expand outreach and services for queer and trans communities across the Eastern Shore
• Ship’s Company Theatre, Parrsboro – $18,000 to enhance its weekly Queer Drop-in program and support the theatre’s first Pride festival
• SHYFT Yarmouth – $25,000 to expand its True 2 You initiative to better support queer and trans youth under 25 in the tri-county region
• Undercurrent Youth Society, Glace Bay – $16,148 to deliver an eight-week affirming, nature-based summer experience for 2SLGBTQIA+ youth

Beyond the grant program, the Province is providing $50,000 to Truro Pride for hosting a provincial conference this year. The event will focus on strengthening connection, collaboration, knowledge-sharing and capacity across the 2SLGBTQIA+ non-profit sector in Nova Scotia.