Westchester County has funded The LOFT’s Helpline since the early 1990s, and has been one of the first counties in the entire nation to offer acknowledgment much less resources to the LGBT community through The LOFT’s Helpline.

However, this all unexpectedly changed yesterday when, without advance notice, The LOFT received notification from the Westchester County Department of Social Services that the grant was immediateley terminated due to county budget cuts. Although the $22,000 annual grant is small in comparison to the rest of the county’s budget, to The LOFT it is much, and what is done with it helps a community that now more than ever needs these services. With little movement on equality for the LGBT community in many areas, and with LGBT youth bullied to the point of suicide, now is not the time to terminate funding for The LOFT Helpline.

What You Can Do:
If you’re a Westchester resident, please contact your County Legislator, and ask them to restore The LOFT’s Helpine Funding. Although it was not the County Legislature that caused the cut, they are now in possession of the County Budget, and may have the power to restore it. This grant is vitally important to The LOFT and its ability to provide the Helpline services our community has needed.

Click Here for a list of contact information of Westchester County Legislators.

Click Here for text to use if you’re going to email your County Legislator.

The LOFT’s Helpline has been an asset to the LGBT community for over thirty years. Last year, The Helpline received 3,764 contacts, ranging from crisis calls from LGBT youth, to parents whose children have just come out to them, from LGBT seniors looking for doctors who might be gay-friendly, to those looking for information on HIV/AIDS.