Equity Foundation provided a grant to the Human Dignity Coalition (HDC). This is an organization that has worked for the last 20 years to advance and safeguard human rights, dismantle oppression and promote equality for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community in Central Oregon. Thanks to your donations, Equity continues to provide grants to worthy organizations that share our vision of equality for everyone. Your donations ensure that we can continue to give grants to organizations like HDC.
Here’s a first-person account of how the Equity Foundation grant helped a 17 year old high school student in Bend:
“In the simplest words, Human Dignity Coalition has made an irreversible impact on my life. As a lonely 17 year old, a budding activist, and as a person searching for something honest, HDC did more for me in my senior year of High School than I ever thought possible. When I moved to Bend in the summer of 2010, I was in a state of exploration fueled by restlessness. I had ideas but no sense of how to make them palpable. I had curiosity but no outlet in which I could tackle my questions.”
“The spirit of my new home asserted itself through the voice of Human Dignity Coalition and it persisted only through the tremendous work HDC does for this venturing hub of Central Oregon. As I opened my heart to my new habitat, it seemed that everyone I met had been encapsulated by Human Dignity Coalition in one way or another. Whether the organization was aware of it or not, every way I turned, in despair or distress, HDC had a gust of security to wash over me. Their support materials gave me the capacity and the conviction to learn and accept my sexuality in its fullness.”
“For anyone on the precipice: orientation, expression and identity are these prodigious things that can all but devastate you if you’re trying to tackle them alone. Human Dignity Coalition’s mere presence in Central Oregon acts as a force to extract fear from the process of discovery. All around the world, far too many young people are forced to tackle these times of confusion and insecurity alone. And for many, it proves to be unbearable.”
“I say with the deepest honesty I have that without Human Dignity Coalition, my journey too would have been unbearable. When I arrived in Bend, I was undeniably broken. I was harboring a conglomerate of thoughts and feelings that were assuredly killing me.”
“In the nick of time, HDC found me and with a tender hand, led me to a place of confidence and vibrancy I thought I’d never achieve. In just over a year, I have grown from an estranged teen to a driven young adult. I attribute the strength I’ve gained in this time to Human Dignity Coalition and the support they so graciously offer to the inhabitants of Central Oregon.”
