D.C. Center, Latino GLBT History Project win grants

Members of the Latino GLBT History Project, which was awarded one of the two grants by the D.C. Office on Latino Affairs. (Washington Blade photo by Jonathan Ellis)

The D.C. Office on Latino Affairs announced on Oct. 19 that it has awarded a $30,000 grant to the D.C. LGBT Community Center and a separate $15,000 grant to the D.C.-based Latino GLBT History Project.

Roxana Olivas, director of the Latino Affairs office, told the Blade the D.C. Center grant is for several projects to be carried out jointly by the Center and Casa Ruby, a separate community center serving the D.C. Latino LGBT community.

“It’s for job development — basically to teach people starting with preparing resumes to actually finding a job,” Olivas said. “It’s for the Latino LGBTQ community.”

She said the grant would also involve the D.C. Center and Casa Ruby organizing a forum “to talk about LGBTQ issues in the Latino community.”

Olivas said the grant for the Latino GLBT History Project involves an education program.

“They will have different activities to educate the public on issues of the GLBT community and also to tell the history of the GLBT Latino population here in the District of Columbia,” she said.

David Mariner, director of the D.C. Center, said he’s looking forward to working with Ruby Corado, the founder and director of Casa Ruby, which is located in the city’s Columbia Heights section. The D.C. Center is located on the 1300 block of U Street, N.W.

“Our grant will enable us to expand our career development,” said Mariner. “We will be doing monthly career development sessions in Spanish at Casa Ruby.”