BRATTLEBORO — The New England Center for Circus Arts (NECCA) was recently awarded a $3,500 grant to support the LGBTQ+ community in Vermont.
The award by the Vermont Community Foundation's Samara Fund marks the second year in a row that the community-directed fund has helped ensure that LGBTQ+ Vermonters are connected, healthy, appreciated, safe, and empowered at the circus arts nonprofit.
After receiving a first grant from the fund in 2020, NECCA launched a scholarship program that grew out of an understanding that a disproportionate number of scholarship applicants identified as LGBTQ+.
“These are often marginalized or at-risk students that are sometimes at an economic disadvantage because of lack of family support,” school leaders wrote in a news release.
They said that this scholarship program has awarded $1,000 to each of three professional students.
The grant also helped a number of youth students attend recreational programming when they would otherwise not be able to participate.
With the additional funding, NECCA says it will be able “to continue providing a safe space in which LGBTQ+ people can grow and thrive by supporting and empowering the LGBTQ+ community across all of [our] programs, teaching them skills for future employment and actively providing an environment that is centered around community connection and caring.”
This is especially timely, since the pandemic left a disproportionate number of LGBTQ+ and BIPOC persons unemployed.
“A majority of NECCA's LGBTQ+ students report that they are better able to maintain positive mental health while at NECCA,” said NECCA's Executive Director Jenna Struble.
“Circus arts allow connection with the body and emotional expression,” she said. “Our staff approach the person as a whole in order to foster confidence and resilience.”