Happy Pride Month, Chicago! I hope all of you have been enjoying summer so far and living life to the fullest! As a queer owned business, Pride Month has always been a very special time for Foursided - especially since our store on Broadway is directly on the parade route! For this month’s blog post, we wanted to highlight some of the fantastic LGBTQ+ charities in Chicago that we have supported this past year. We love when organizations reach out to us for a donation for an upcoming event or charity fundraiser (it’s a great way to help our community and learn about new charities in our area!) but it’s always extra special when we get to help the Chicago queer community.
Right down the road from our Lakeview locations is the Center on Halsted. Located at 3656 N. Halsted, the Center has been supporting LGBTQ+ health, wellness, and cultural enrichment since 1973. The Center on Halsted is a place the truly embraces the importance of community. It’s difficult to condense all that the Center does within a short blog post - from events and youth programming, grants for likeminded organizations, therapy and counseling, STI testing and resources - it feels like the resources provided are endless! One service I found invaluable was that they offer free letters of support for gender affirming surgeries. I know from personal experience that getting a gender affirming surgery is a long and stressful process, but knowing that there was a way to get this letter quickly and for free was a weight off my shoulders.
Another LGBTQ+ community center in Chicago that is doing wonderful work is Brave Space Alliance. Brave Space Alliance, “strives to empower, embolden, and educate each other through mutual aid, knowledge-sharing, and the creation of community-sourced resources as we build a world of liberty and justice for all.” What sets Brave Space Alliance apart from other queer community centers is that they have always uplifted the needs of Black and Brown transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals - the most vulnerable and marginalized members of the LGBTQ+ community. Located on Chicago’s South Side, Brave Space Alliance provides programs and services based upon their four guiding pillars of dignity: health, housing, food, and identity - “Our programs and spaces are designed to be welcoming and affirming, ensuring that every participant, ally, and advocate who walks through our doors knows that they belong in our community.”
Foursided will also be sponsoring both Lakeview and Uptown’s floats in the Chicago Pride Parade! The parade is put in annually by PRIDEChicago, an organization that “honors the legacy of those who came before us while investing in the future of LGBTQ+ communities in Chicago and across Illinois.” The very first Chicago Pride Parade was a small gathering back in June of 1970 inspired by the Stonewall Uprising the previous year. The Chicago Pride Parade was the first of its kind in the nation, followed by New York City and San Francisco the following day.
If you are interested in a donation or sponsorship from Foursided, we’d love to hear from you! Feel free to email customerservice@foursided.com with details about your event and we’ll see if we’re able to help out!
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