SAGE Announces $1.5 Million in New Funding from The Calamus Foundation and The Atlantic Philanthropies for New Strategic Plan
Resource type: News
SAGE (Services and Advocacy for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Elders) |
Calamus Gives One of the Largest Grants in Its History to SAGE.
CORRECTION: Please note the release distributed on Tuesday, December 9th was in error. The Atlantic Philanthropies grant to SAGE was not the Foundation’s first gift to an LGBT organization. Please use the corrected press release below to inform any future stories on this topic. If you have already run a news item on SAGE’s new funding, we kindly request a correction of this error. Thank you.
New York, NY – Today SAGE (Services and Advocacy for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Elders) is pleased to announce significant new support from The Atlantic Philanthropies and the Calamus Foundation. As economic shortfalls squeeze many nonprofits in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, SAGE is finding ways to secure long-term support for its critical work with LGBT older adults. Both grants represent multi-year commitments by Atlantic and Calamus, and a major investment in the vision of SAGE’s new Strategic Plan. The Calamus Foundation has awarded SAGE $1 million in a matching grant over four years, which is one of the largest awards that the Foundation has ever given. The Atlantic Philanthropies has awarded just under $500,000 over two years.
“We are honored by this generous recognition by both the Calamus Foundation and The Atlantic Philanthropies,” said Michael Adams, executive director of SAGE. “In challenging economic times, it’s important to be strategic in maintaining funding that sustains our work long-term. These multi-year grants are designed to help SAGE build for a long, successful future of serving and advocating for LGBT older adults across the country. Both awards have a strong component of funding SAGE’s capacity building, infrastructure, and implementation of our forward-looking new Strategic Plan. We are thrilled that Calamus and Atlantic are partnering with SAGE to support generations of LGBT seniors to come.”
The Calamus Foundation matching gift of $1 million over 4 years represents one of the largest awards that the Foundation has given to date. SAGE must match the Calamus funds with new contributions from individuals, foundations and corporations – leveraging the Calamus support to attract new funding from other sources. By partnering with the Calamus Foundation, SAGE will be well positioned to create a new generation of services for LGBT older adults in New York City; advocate on a national level for policy changes and funding to support LGBT senior programs; and provide technical assistance for the replication of SAGE’s service programs for LGBT seniors around the country.
“We are thrilled to award SAGE one of the largest grants in the history of The Calamus Foundation,” said Louis Bradbury, the President of The Calamus Foundation’s Board of Directors. “We were impressed by the substance of SAGE’s Vision and Strategic Plan and wanted to partner at a significant level to support this vanguard work. SAGE fills a unique role in both aging services and LGBT advocacy, and this investment in SAGE’s future will impact generations to come.”
The Atlantic Philanthropies grant of just under $500,000 is an anchor investment is designed to strengthen SAGE’s work by funding efforts to operationalize the agency’s Strategic Plan, as well as supporting a capacity building project to enhance SAGE’s Board of Directors. Funds from the Atlantic Philanthropies will also be used to support SAGE’s efforts to build a national LGBT aging network and to develop partnerships between SAGE and key agencies in the field of aging.
“LGBT people are an important part of this country’s older adult population, and Atlantic Philanthropies is pleased to have the opportunity to support SAGE’s innovative efforts to address their needs, said Stacey Easterling, Programme Executive at The Atlantic Philanthropies. “SAGE’s pioneering work in the field is key to insuring that LGBT Americans can obtain a reasonable quality of life in their later years. The Atlantic Philanthropies is proud to award this anchor investment in building an organization that so many rely on both to address daily basic needs and to advocate for systematic change at the local and national levels.”
About SAGE (Services and Advocacy for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Elders):
SAGE is the world’s oldest and largest non-profit agency dedicated to serving lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender seniors. Since its inception, SAGE has pioneered programs and services for seniors in the LGBT community, provided technical assistance and training to expand opportunities for LGBT older people across the country, and provided a national voice on LGBT aging issues. In 2008 SAGE is celebrating its 30th Anniversary. For more information, please visit www.sageusa.org.
About The Calamus Foundation:
The Calamus Foundation was established in 1994 by Saul Kaplan and has made significant contributions to qualifying charitable organizations since its founding. The Calamus Foundation makes grants to organizations for care and support services to individuals with HIV/AIDS and those which offer services to the GLBT community that promote and support its formation, growth, identity, general wellbeing and social and legal rights. To learn more, please visit: www.calamusfoundation.org.
About The Atlantic Philanthropies:
The Atlantic Philanthropies are dedicated to bringing about lasting changes in the lives of disadvantaged and vulnerable people. Atlantic makes grants through its four programme areas – Ageing, Children & Youth, Population Health, and Reconciliation & Human Rights – and through Founding Chairman grants. Programmes funded by Atlantic operate in Australia, Bermuda, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, South Africa, the United States and Viet Nam. To learn more, please visit: atlanticphilanthropies.org.