Pride Foundation was among the recipients of the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation's COVID-19 response funding, as part of our focused support of underserved communities in Washington state.

We spoke with Pride Foundation’s Director of Programs and Strategy Jeremiah J. Allen and Senior Program Officer Kim Sogge about the ways COVID-19 impacted the Pacific Northwest’s LGBTQ+ community and their hopes as we emerge from the pandemic. 

We understand there was a lack of data on the pandemic’s impact on LGBTQ+ communities, but are there any stats you can share that underscore COVID’s impact?  

Jeremiah: In every area – whether it’s employment, education, mental health and suicide – historically there’s been a lack of data on the LGBTQ+ communitiesy. The pandemic exacerbated this. 

One example is unemployment. LGBTQ+ community members already disproportionately suffer from unemployment. I recently saw a stat collected by a national LGBTQ+ organization. Before the pandemic, 15% of LGBTQ+ adults and 17% of LGBTQ+ adults of color were unemployed. Today, 22% of LGBTQ+ adults and 24% of LGBTQ+ adults of color are currently unemployed.

But a lot of communities across our region and across the country don't collect those data points. When the government or local municipalities are thinking about their policies, they aren’t using data for their work impacting our community. As a result, LGBTQ+ communities were really left out of a lot of the different government services such as some of the COVID relief that was out there.
 

What are your greatest concerns for the community coming out of the pandemic?

Jeremiah: One of the things that I think a lot about is our tendency as a society to go back to the way things used to be. My biggest concern and worry is that we will. This will disproportionately impact LGBTQ+ communities. 

My other concern is around the progress we’ve made in equity. The social and racial unrest throughout 2020 definitely impacted LGBTQ+ people, specifically Black LGBTQ+ groups and the work they are doing. My fear is once everything starts going back to normal that people will stop looking for the changes we need to make. 

Kim: We must continue moving forward. As an organization that's something that we're pushing for as well. We need to use the pandemic as an opportunity to continue to push for change and work in our communities too.
 

What gives you hope coming out of the pandemic? How has the foundation changed in the last year and what excites you about this?

Kim: The way our organization and staff team adapted, shifted, and changed gives me hope. We are committed even more clearly to our values. I think that the more we display this with our community partners and peers, we’ll hopefully push the sector forward and change the way we care for one another as well as the communities that we’re serving.

Jeremiah: The pandemic made it possible for us to shift and deepen our commitment to our values in ways that I think would have taken several years. Our Crisis Community Care Fund is a good example of this. 

The fund was proactive, didn't require applications, and pushed money out to organizations in a trust-based way. It’s something that should’ve happened before and will radically shift our grant making for the future. I want nothing more than for the LGBTQ+ community to feel empowered, to feel they have all the tools they needed, and feel trusted.

Does the Crisis Community Care Fund have a future when the pandemic is over? 

Kim: For as long as we’ve existed we’ve always needed to be responsive to the community needs. The fund showed us that we could move funds quickly with no strings attached and gave us a model for how we can continue. At least for the next two years it will be around as our community rebuilds from the pandemic.