HMI Awarded Grants for LGBTQ+ Youth Programs

With the support of government grants, Hetrick-Martin Institute (HMI) is able to implement special projects and initiatives designed to expand upon and/or augment its current scope of programs and services for the well-being of LGBTQ+ young people. This past year, HMI was awarded two new public grants through the following initiatives.

Advantage After School Program
New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCSF)

In summer 2019, the NYS OCSF awarded funds to HMI to support its after school programming, which provides a range of complementary, wrap-around supportive services to LGBTQ+ youth. The programming touches on areas of need that most profoundly hinder the development of LGBTQ+ young people—such as lack of access to a supportive community and services that promote physical health and mental well-being, emotional resilience, academic achievement, job readiness and artistic creativity. To address these needs, HMI’s Advantage After School Program offers Health and Wellness, Academic Enrichment, Arts and Culture, and Job Readiness Programming services.  

CAMP Coalition Program
NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH)
Administered via the NYC Fund for Public Health

HMI was granted funds by the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), administered by the NYC Fund for Public Health, in December 2019 in support of the CAMP Coalition Program, specifically, the Engaging Youth Who Engage in Substances (EYES) Coalition, which HMI leads. The EYES Coalition’s mission is to maintain a proactive and youth-driven network of agencies, substance abuse treatment providers, legal and educational constituents, and youth-serving organizations to represent and address the specific needs and challenges surrounding substance misuse and treatment of NYC’s LGBTQ+ youth community. The EYES Coalition’s core goals are to:

• link youth to treatment programs and services that are inclusive and responsive to their needs;
• engage a broad and diverse network of youth service and health care providers to deliver these services; and
• develop strategies, tools, and trainings that are relevant and responsive to the needs of LGBTQ+ young people, while collaborating with coalition members to prevent youth from engaging in substance misuse.