Project Thrive Has the Resources You’ve Been Looking For
By Judy Bokao
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is a staple of the LGBTQ+ civil rights movement. The HRC is an American non-profit that was founded in 1980 to support pro-fairness congressional candidates. After five years, it rebranded to fight for equal rights for LGBTQ+ people. Over the years, HRC has become one of America’s most well-reputed and effective mainstream advocacy organizations.
Project Thrive is one of the organization’s campaigns. The project is a multi-year national campaign focusing solely on creating inclusive support systems and more equitable communities for queer youth. It is a collaborative effort to address the many shortcomings of the current system that overlooks the needs of LGBTQ+ youth. The project identifies different opportunities for queer youth, raises awareness, collects resources to address the issues most queer youth face in the current America. Project Thrive brings together people from different professions, such as the nation’s largest health, education, child welfare, legal, and juvenile justice organizations professionals. Together these professionals combat the challenges and barriers faced by LGBTQ+ young people.
Project Thrive has five goals: actively promoting well-being for LGBTQ+ youth within all youth-serving professions; providing the resources and tools needed for these disadvantaged youth’s professional development; reducing the disparities in mental and physical health outcomes among queer youth; creating safe learning environments and inclusion in schools; ensuring that queer youth can experience permanent, supportive connections with caring adults and family networks.
One of Project Thrive’s newest projects is called Back to School 2023. This project is designed to promote the safety and inclusion of LGBTQ+ youth in learning institutions. They intend to break down anti-LGBTQ+ biases and stigmas and provide safe, inclusive environments where everyone can thrive. The project is bringing together over 4.9 million professionals across America dedicated to working on the change they want to see in the LGBTQ+ community.
Over the past couple of years, there has been an alarming rise in bullying and violent homophobic attacks in schools across America. The numerous anti-LGBTQ+ laws passed in states like Texas and Florida have only worsened matters. Many queer students are finding it hard to focus on school since they feel unsafe and unwanted. This has greatly affected their school attendance, academic performance, and overall well-being. This project comes at the right time and is trying to deal with these disparities at the root cause.
Project Thrive also has other resources set in place to help empower and raise awareness in the education sector. Some include Teach for America, which empowers queer educators by sharing resources, support networks, and advice for LGBTQ+ educators and allies.
Yet another resource, WorthIt is a financial wellness platform for queer community members. WorthIt provides the tools to navigate discriminatory systems and gain economic stability. It offers financial literacy classes to LGBTQ+ individuals aged 18–44 and starts them on their economic wellness journey.
Currently, Project Thrive is also working with the American Academy of Pediatrics to continue supporting Gender Affirming care for minors. This comes at a time when such treatments have been banned it in 19 states.
Another project under Project Thrive is “Equality Rising: LGBTQ+ Workers and the Road Ahead,” which raises awareness on being out, discrimination, safety and the many issues that affect LGBTQ+ workers in the United States.
Project Thrive plays a massive role in ensuring a safe and inclusive environment for many LGBTQ+ individuals in America. It focuses primarily on safeguarding mental health and supporting youth political engagement in the queer community. It also helps in dealing with the unwarranted anti-LGBTQ+ legislation that the community has recently faced.
Such organizations are our strongest defenses as we defend our human rights in the queer community. The work they do can’t go unacknowledged, and the services they provide are vital. We need all the resources we can as a community to keep ourselves safe and safeguard our rights to equality.
About the Author:
Judy Bokao is 20 years old and was born in Ethiopia but relocated to Nairobi two years ago. She is passionate about everyone having equal rights and is also big on conservation and speaking up for our planet. Judy loves reading and photography and is just a free-spirited young lady trying to grow into a woman her mom can be proud of.
