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Resources by Region

Below are several great resources for regions in Massachusetts and nationally!

Central Mass

Sexual Health 

  • Aids Project Worcester - APW was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation in 1987 to provide education to the community about HIV/AIDS and services to individuals and families infected with HIV disease.

Anti-Violence

  • Pathways for Change - The mission of Pathways for Change, Inc. is to provide quality and multicultural services to those whose lives have been impacted by sexual violence and to provide education geared toward ending violence, serving Central Massachusetts.

Youth

  • Supporters of Worcester Area GLBT Youth (SWAGLY)- SWAGLY is a social support group for LGBTQIA+ youth and allies who are 22 years old and under. It is the Worcester branch of the AGLY network, and is partnered with AIDS Project Worcester.

  • Love Your Labels - The mission of Love your Labels is to support LGBTQ+ youth through art, fashion, and design and work with families and communities to create inclusive and loving space everywhere.

Western Mass

Advocacy 

  • ACLU of MA: Northampton Office - The ACLU of Massachusetts—a private, nonpartisan organization with more than 82,000 supporters across the Commonwealth and over 100,000 online activists—is a state affiliate of the national ACLU. They defend the principles enshrined in the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights, as well as the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. Learn more about the history of the ACLU of Massachusetts, the range of issues they cover, and the national ACLU's work and history.

  • Immigration Protection Project of Western Massachusetts - The ACLU of Massachusetts’ Immigrant Protection Project (IPP) is a coordinated regional effort by attorneys and organizations to provide immigrants in Western Massachusetts with referrals for legal assistance and connections to other services.

Family Services 

  • 18 Degrees - 18 Degrees promotes the well-being of children and youth, and the strength of families to build better communities in Western Massachusetts. They provide education, parenting skills and support, prevention and intervention, advocacy, and life skills across a spectrum of programs serving children, young people, individuals and families in four areas: early education and care; foster care and adoption; child and family well-being; youth and community development.

Youth 

  • Out Now Youth - The only queer youth organization in Springfield Massachusetts, Out Now provides a safe space for queer youth and allies to learn about themselves, develop leadership skills, explore the history of the LGBTQ movement, and much, much more. 

Homeless Services 

  • DIAL/SELF - DIAL is a community-based non-profit agency that has been serving the youth and communities of Western MA since 1977. They provide a wide array of services that foster youth empowerment and community service. Over the course of the last four decades, more than 40,000 area youth have been served by the agency in Franklin, Hampshire and Hampden Counties and the North Quabbin region.

  • Service Net - If you are without a place to call your own – or are at risk of losing your home – Service Net offers a progressive pathway out of homelessness through Shelter and Housing programs in Northampton, Greenfield, and Pittsfield.

Greater Boston 

Advocacy 

  • ACLU of MA: Boston Office - The ACLU of Massachusetts—a private, nonpartisan organization with more than 82,000 supporters across the Commonwealth and over 100,000 online activists—is a state affiliate of the national ACLU. They defend the principles enshrined in the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights, as well as the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. Learn more about the history of the ACLU of Massachusetts, the range of issues they cover, and the national ACLU's work and history.

  • Disability Law Center, Inc. - The Disability Law Center (DLC) is the Protection and Advocacy agency for Massachusetts.  DLC is a private, non-profit organization responsible for providing protection and advocacy for the rights of Massachusetts residents with disabilities. DLC receives federal, state and private funding but is not part of the state or federal government.

  • GLAD - Through strategic litigation, public policy advocacy, and education, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders works in New England and nationally to create a just society free of discrimination based on gender identity and expression, HIV status, and sexual orientation.

  • Health Law Advocates (HLA) - Health Law Advocates (HLA) is a 501(c)(3) public interest law firm whose mission is to provide pro bono legal representation to low-income residents experiencing difficulty accessing or paying for needed medical services. HLA is committed to ensuring universal access to quality health care in Massachusetts, particularly for those who are most at risk due to such factors as race, gender, disability, age, or geographic location. With its partner organization, Health Care For All, HLA combines legal expertise with grassroots organizing and policy reform to advance the statewide movement for universal health care access.

  • Massachusetts Commission on LGBTQ Youth - Their mission is to eradicate discrimination in the Commonwealth by investigating and prosecuting Complaints of Discrimination that occur in Employment, Housing, Public Places, Access to Education, Lending, and Credit. They also offer training to help prevent discrimination from occurring.

  • BAGLY - The Boston Alliance of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Youth, is a youth-led, adult-supported social support organization, committed to social justice and creating, sustaining, and advocating for programs, policies, and services for the LGBTQ+ youth community.” 

  • JRI - JRI is a leader in social justice, with over 100 diverse programs meeting the needs of underserved individuals, families and communities. They are committed to excellence, delivering targeted services that support the dignity of each person. 

Anti-Violence 

  • SpeakOUT Boston - Since 1972, SpeakOUT Boston has conducted peer-led training programs to prepare LGBTQIA+ community members to effectively tell their personal stories to create positive social change.

  • Fenway Health’s Violence Recovery Program - Free counseling and advocacy, specializing in services to the LGBTQIA+ community. Fenway Health’s Violence Recovery Program (VRP) provides counseling, support groups, advocacy, and referral services to survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and anti-LGBTQIA+ hate violence. VRP staff have specialized training and experience in working with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQIA+) individuals. 

  • The Network/La Red - The Network/La Red is a survivor-led, social justice organization that works to end partner abuse in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, SM, polyamorous, and queer communities. Rooted in anti-oppression principles, their work aims to create a world where all people are free from oppression. They strengthen our communities through organizing, education, and the provision of support services. 

  • The Violence Recovery Program at Fenway Community Health Center - Free counseling and advocacy, specializing in services to the LGBTQIA+ community. Fenway Health’s Violence Recovery Program (VRP) provides counseling, support groups, advocacy, and referral services to survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and anti-LGBTQIA+ hate violence. VRP staff have specialized training and experience in working with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQIA+) individuals.

Eating Disorders

  • Rainbow Road Virtual Eating Disorder Treatment - Walden’s Rainbow Road Intensive Outpatient Program is a unique day treatment program providing eating disorder support for LGBTQ+ patients by LGBTQ+ providers. Rainbow Road is open to anyone 18+ who identifies as being part of the LGBTQ+ community. 

Sexual Health and HIV 

  • Youth on Fire - Youth on Fire (YOF), a program of AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts, is a drop-in center for homeless and street-involved youth, ages 14-24, located in Harvard Square, Cambridge.

  • MAP For Health - Over the 25+ years since Massachusetts Asian + Pacific Islanders (MAP) for Health’s inception, the API community in Boston has grown to comprise nearly 10% of the city’s total population. They continue to provide health counseling and support, referral and screening services, and general health promotion and advocacy for APIs in the Boston metro area and beyond.

  • Aids Action: Boston - Their mission is to stop the epidemic and related health inequities by eliminating new infections, maximizing healthier outcomes for those infected and at risk, and tackling the root causes of HIV/AIDS. 

  • Fenway Health - The mission of Fenway Health is to enhance the well-being of the LGBTQIA+ community and all people in our neighborhoods and beyond through access to the highest quality health care, education, research and advocacy.

Homeless Services 

  • The Home for Little Wanderers - Serving children and youth from birth to 22, The Home makes a positive impact on over 12,000 lives each year through a network of services including behavioral health, therapeutic residential and special education, adoption and foster care. In addition, a number of innovative programs provide specialized assistance to youth transitioning to adulthood from state systems of care. 

  • Short Stop Transitional Housing (Boston) - The Shortstop Program consists of two family-style homes, comprising of four individual apartments for young adults ages 18-24. Their mission is based on the premise that every young person deserves a safe and supportive living environment in order to reach their potential and become a productive member of the community.

  • Waltham House - Waltham House is the first residential group home designed specifically for LGBTQ youth in New England, and one of only three of its kind in the nation. Its founding principles are that every child deserves to live in an environment in which they feel safe, respected, supported and cared for by those around them.

  • Youth on Fire - Youth on Fire (YOF), a program of AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts, is a drop-in center for homeless and street-involved youth, ages 14-24, located in Harvard Square, Cambridge.

Southeastern Mass

Sexual Health 

  • Health Imperatives - Their mission is to improve the health and well-being of low-income or vulnerable families and individuals in Southeastern Massachusetts.

Cape Cod and Islands 

Youth 

  • We Thrive - The CIGSYA House is a place where young people can enjoy meetings, drop in times and special events where there is camaraderie and support, in a peer lead, adult advised environment, free from judgment based on inherent differences. The CIGSYA House program is youth driven, peer led, and adult advised, offering an array of supportive services to people 22 and under who adhere to the organization's basic principles of respecting differences.

National/Global 

Advocacy 

  • GLAAD - GLAAD rewrites the script for LGBTQ acceptance. As a dynamic media force, GLAAD tackles tough issues to shape the narrative and provoke dialogue that leads to cultural change. GLAAD protects all that has been accomplished and creates a world where everyone can live the life they love.

  • Human Rights Campaign (HRC) - The Human Rights Campaign has spent 40 years creating the most powerful movement for equality our country has ever seen. But despite this progress, our most marginalized are still suffering from violence, discrimination and fear. Their goal is to ensure that all LGBTQ people, and particularly those who are trans, people of color and HIV+, are treated as full and equal citizens across our country and around the world.

  • National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) - The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) is the first national LGBTQ legal organization founded by women and brings a fierce, longstanding commitment to racial and economic justice and our community’s most vulnerable. Since 1977, NCLR has been at the forefront of advancing the civil and human rights of our full LGBTQ community and their families through impact litigation, public policy, and public education. Decades ago, NCLR led the way by establishing the first LGBTQ Immigration Project, Transgender Rights Project, Youth Project, Elder Law Project, and began working to end conversion therapy through what is now the Born Perfect campaign.

Parents and Educators 

  • Teaching Tolerance - Teaching Tolerance provides free resources to educators—teachers, administrators, counselors and other practitioners—who work with children from kindergarten through high school. Educators use their materials to supplement the curriculum, to inform their practices, and to create civil and inclusive school communities where children are respected, valued and welcome participants.

Anti-Violence 

  • National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs - AVP empowers lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and HIV-affected communities and allies to end all forms of violence through organizing and education and supports survivors through counseling and advocacy.

  • Understanding Bullying and Cyberbullying - Online Schools is your comprehensive introduction to an online education. With increased availability and an ever-expanding range of courses to choose from, online enrollment is growing at an astounding rate. From elementary schools to the best online colleges, online schools vary in terms of methodology, cost, and quality. 

  • Advocates for Youth - Advocates for Youth partners with youth leaders, adult allies, and youth-serving organizations to advocate for policies and champion programs that recognize young people’s rights to honest sexual health information; accessible, confidential, and affordable sexual health services; and the resources and opportunities necessary to create sexual health equity for all youth. 

Sexual Health 

  • Avert - Avert is a UK-based charity that has been providing accurate and trusted information about HIV and sexual health worldwide for over 30 years.

  • GLBT Near Me - The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) National Help Center, founded in 1996, is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization that provides vital peer-support, community connections and resource information to people with questions regarding sexual orientation and/or gender identity. 

  • I Wanna Know - iwannaknow.org offers information on sexual health for teens and young adults. This is where you will find the facts, the support, the resources to answer your questions, referrals, and get access to in-depth information about sexual health, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), healthy relationships, and more. 

  • RAINN - RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) is the nation's largest anti-sexual violence organization.

  • SIECUS - SIECUS envisions an equitable nation where all people receive comprehensive sexuality education and quality sexual and reproductive health services affirming their identities, thereby allowing them to access and enjoy sexual and reproductive freedom, as they define it for themselves. 

Homeless services 

  • True Colors United - True Colors United implements innovative solutions to youth homelessness that focus on the unique experiences of LGBTQIA+ young people. 

  • National Runaway Safeline - NRS serves as the national communication system for runaway and homeless youth.