Calling all Friends: Volunteers, Donors, Sponsors & Corporate and Community Partners!

Rainbow Foundation of Hope is a Canadian registered charity founded in Vancouver in 2014. Our Mission is simple: acquire and grant funds to other Canadian charities to enable the safe migration of LGBTQ+ refugees under a global humanitarian crisis.

These 100% volunteer-based efforts have provided over $300,000 in grants and millions of Aeroplan Miles across Canada since 2015. We are gearing up for Year 6 of STRUT in 2021, but this time we are going VIRTUAL!

We are proud to host the first ever VirtualSTRUT Launch party where we pay tribute to all of you as donors, recipients, volunteers, sponsors, and partners. As always, this event is FREE for all to attend thanks to our generous supporters.

We thank our media partner for helping us get the word out across Canada.

We are grateful for the financial support to help us launch this event.

Percy Rosenberger, CIM – PI Financial

Corporate and media partnerships ensure your donations are 100% directed to grants we administer across Canada.

We are an Ecosystem of HOPE.

YOU have brought us into being a National Movement from coast to coast and this would not have been possible without all your help and continual generosity. 

Join us on July 21, 2021 at 6:00 pm PDT for some exciting announcements about the future of HOPE.

RSVP by going to STRUT4Hope.org and register.

With Love & Respect,

Rainbow Foundation of Hope has just awarded two grants to a new charitable partner, the Universalist Unitarian Church of Halifax (UUC).

As the sponsorship agreement holder (SAH), UUC is working in partnership with Rainbow Refugee Association of Nova Scotia (RRANS) to resettle queer refugees from the Middle East to Atlantic Canada.

Growing a national network of community partners has been a priority of Rainbow Foundation of Hope (RFOH) as part of the first strategic initiative undertaken by the Board of Directors in early 2016.

Both UUC and RRANS will work to privately sponsor three LGBT+ refugees with Ubuntu Canada Refugee as the constituent group (CG). One CG is working to resettle a queer Azerbaijani couple in Turkey and the other is looking to resettle a queer Syrian in Lebanon.

With grants that have now been issued to Canadian charities from Nanaimo, B.C. to Halifax, Nova Scotia we are proud to be present from coast to coast and in six provinces: B.C.. Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia.

We formed Rainbow Railroad USA in 2015 with the goal of increasing the number of pathways available to LGBTQI displaced persons entering the United States. However, the 2016 election presented significant challenges for our work – with the Trump administration’s egregious ‘Muslim Ban’, the drastic reduction in admissions for refugees and the rejection of the right to claim asylum at the southern border. 

Thankfully, with your support, we were still able to engage policy makers in the State Department and build international coalitions to support LGBTQI refugees.

Elections have consequences: with Biden signing a memorandum on advancing the rights of LGBTQI people abroad – which specifically mentions LGBTQI refugees – an important door has opened. 

So, in these first 100 days – a period critical to any presidency – what concrete actions can we expect from the Biden administration that will make a real difference in the lives of LGBTQI migrants and people who experience persecution internationally? And how will that impact our work here at Rainbow Railroad?

I’ve pulled together a cross section of partners that I’m honored to moderate and discuss this very issue with to provide you insight about how this administration’s new tone might translate into real and lasting change.

Be a part of the conversation. Join us for this live virtual event on Thursday March 11 at noon EST. Please click here to RSVP – a link will be sent to you via email immediately prior to the event to join. 

There will also be an opportunity to ask questions of the panelists. Questions will be addressed during the live event as time permits. 

In solidarity,

Kimahli Powell

Did you know RFOH has partnered with LOUD Foundation to offer joint scholarships that support education and training needs for LGBT+ refugees and newcomers?

Applications close on January 31st. Residents of B.C. are encouraged to apply. Click HERE for more information on the application process.