Astraea's Bridge Fund was established to help support the work of our U.S. General Grants Program grantees between their 2003 grant and Astraea's next regular grants cycle. Organizations that were invited to apply were primarily lesbian autonomous organizations and also LGBTI/Progressive/Women's organizations with budgets under $150,000.

Unless stated otherwise, grants are for general operating support.

Aeromestiza Project (San Francisco, CA) runs The Size of Her Rage, an arts-based community education program focusing on lesbian domestic violence. Grant funded performances at The 7th Annual National Queer Arts Festival in San Francisco in June 2004. $6,000

Affinity Community Services (Chicago, IL) promotes visibility, empowerment and community-building by hosting support groups, social justice forums, informal discussions and poetry nights by and for Black LBT women and youth. $7,000

African Ancestral Lesbians United For Societal Change (New York, NY) uses open discussion workshops to address spirituality, as well as political and social change. They provide resources and referrals, and foster cultural and social interactions between African Ancestral women. $7,000

Appalachian Women's Alliance (Floyd, VA) is a grassroots coalition of low-income and working-women organized in regional "circles" tackling economic injustice, violence against women, racism and homophobia. Grant is for part-time salary and benefits for the lesbian field organizer. $5,000

Beyond Media (Chicago, IL) creates media that empowers underserved and under-represented women and girls to tell their own stories, shape their own identities and organize for community issues. Their Young Women's Media Empowerment Workshop & Video Production is a collaboration with Horizon's Community Services, and offers training in media literacy, media activism, production and distribution. $6,000

Charis Circle (Atlanta, GA) offers events and programs that empower women, men and children to work for a world where racism, sexism, homophobia, classism and all other oppressions do not exist. Grant is for their Capacity Building Project. $2,000

Christina Ibarra, Love & Monster Trucks (New York, NY) is a film that follows 18-year-old Maria, a first-generation Chicana and first-generation college student as she returns home to El Paso,Texas. $6,000

Liquid Fire Productions (San Francisco, CA) promotes the development of emerging lesbian artists of color and supports the creation and staging of their new work. Grant is for performances at the June 2004 National Queer Arts Festival. $5,000

Literary Exchange (Chicago, IL) addresses racism, sexism, and other forms of oppression through a variety of literary, social, and health related programs and events for girls, lesbians of color and other women. Grant is for Windows-to-Freedom and Women-in-Transition programs. $5,000

LVA/Lesbians in the Visual Arts (San Francisco, CA) is building a network of lesbian artists and promoting their work through exhibitions, panels, conferences, a journal and a website. $2,000

MACHA Theatre Co. (Valley Village, CA) builds social, cultural, and artistic bridges between straight and gay communities of various ethnicities. The grant is for production of a film The Nun and the Countess, a play about a 17th century lesbian poet (Sor Juana Inez de las Cruz) trapped in a nun's habit. MACHA will also conduct its second master class in playwriting, facilitated by award-winning Chicago playwright Cherríe Moraga. $5,000

OUT Now, Inc. (Springfield, MA) is a youth organization dedicated to the support, safety, understanding, acceptance, equality and liberation for the LGBT community at home, in schools and throughout society. Grant will support the on-going work of issues related to queer youth and the Prison Industrial Complex. $2,000

Purple Moon Dance Project (San Francisco, CA) encourages social change, peace and healing through the medium of dance, and provides artistic and community-based programs to increase the visibility of lesbians and women of color. $5,000

Queer Women of Color Media Arts Program (San Francisco, CA) organizes programs enabling emerging queer women of color film/video artists to complete their work and to reach their intended audiences. $5,000

The Network/La Red (Boston, MA) addresses domestic violence in relationships between women by educating communities about LBT battering and providing services for battered LBT women. Grant will support their visibility campaign. $3,000

United Lesbians of African Heritage (Los Angeles, CA) helps empower Black lesbians by hosting workshops and conferences, and by producing informational materials rooted in African American heritage and culture. $8,000

Wind River County Initiative for Youth (Cheyenne, WY) is a unique alliance of LGBT and non-LGBT people of Native American and Caucasian ancestry addressing racism, homophobia, classism and ageism by teaching prejudice reduction and empowerment skills. $5,000

Women Food and Agriculture Network (Atlantic, IA) co-sponsors conferences, leadership trainings and rallies that bring women's voices to issues of food systems, economic justice, globalization, trade and environmental integrity. Grant is for The Lesbian Farmers Outreach Project, a resource base for lesbian farmers in the Midwest. $7,000

Zami (Decatur, GA) empowers and affirms the lives of lesbians of African descent by offering educational scholarships, discussion groups and social activities. $7,000

Zuna Institute (Oakland, CA) is a national advocacy organization addressing the needs of Black lesbians in areas of health, public policy, economic development and education. Zuna's bi-annual conference bridges the gap between organizations and communities across the nation, and will be held in Dallas in 2005. Grant is for general suport and post 2003 conference report. $4,000

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