LGBT Community Fighting For More Funding In Lorain

LORAIN, OH — An anonymous donor is helping bolster Lorain County's LGBT Community by offering a matching program for donations to the LGBT Community Fund of Lorain County. The fund, which was created Sept. 7, 2016, is meant to create a supporting voice for members of the area's LGBT community and bring attention to the lack of services and support for the community in the region.

The donor is offering to match up to $3,000 in donations to the fund, says the organization's founder David Borocz-Johnson. The goal is to push the fund over $10,000 by Sept. 7, 2017.

“The LGBT Community Fund of Lorain County provides a permanent endowment for local support and increased access to services for those who want to earn a living, feel safe in their community, and take care of the ones they love,” Borocz-Johnson explains.

Both Lorain County and the state of Ohio lack wide-ranging protections for LGBT community members, including employment discrimination. Borocz-Johnson also says there is no dedicated funding to support the county's LGBT community. (To stay up to date on local stories, subscribe to the Patch Avon-Avon Lake newsletter. As news breaks and the story develops, you will be the first to receive updates from Patch.)

“I am deeply grateful to the donor who put up this challenge grant,” Borocz-Johnson adds. “My own coming out correlated with starting this fund last year because it felt hypocritical to advocate for the community from the closet. It was a frightening experience but I've been deeply moved by the support from my family and friends. I hope I can help create a more inclusive and compassionate culture in the county so others can feel safe to come out and be themselves, which is not the case for many currently.”

He noted that while surpassing $10,000 for the fund is the initial goal, Borocz-Johnson would like to see even more donations come in. Having about $10,000 in the fund means the LGBT Community Fund of Lorain County can award about $500 annually in grants.

Borocz-Johnson provided the following examples of possible future grant recipient projects:

• LGBT-focused direct services, such as couples and individual counseling,
• LGBT-focused health care, and legal and financial education.
• It could also fund research regarding LGBT living circumstances, such as rates of experiencing discrimination in various industries or median income to educate the general public and inform policy.
• And closely tied to education, it could fund advocacy efforts to pass non-discrimination policies protecting LGBT individuals.

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