Call for project proposals: Addressing LGBTI homelessness in the EU

Why we are launching this programme

In 2020, the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) released a survey that estimates that one in five members of the LGBTI community in the EU experience homelessness, rising to one in three for trans people and nearly 40% for intersex people. Lack of institutional support, social rejection and identity-related family conflict are amongst the causes for LGBTI homelessness. Undeniably, the pandemic, deepening socio-economic inequalities and the rise of anti-LGBTI rhetoric, anti-trans attacks and the anti-gender movement further exacerbated the situation around homelessness of LGBTI communities, especially with youth.  

Yet, LGBTI homelessness remains hidden in Europe. We lack the data and the robust research to fully understand the prevalence, forms and dynamics of LGBTI homelessness in different local contexts in Europe. The lack of knowledge across the European Union leads to a lack of targeted services, absence of national policies specifically addressing the issue of LGBTI homelessness, limited funding, if any, for programmes that include or focus on unhoused LGBTI communities. Often, LGBTI organisations have to step up to support their communities in situations of homelessness where there are gaps in services and when assistance is unavailable or inaccessible.

It is well known that access to housing is a precondition for access to health, employment, education, and social services. This is why we are launching this programme, which will sustain the vital work of understanding the root causes and forms of LGBTI homelessness and advocate for improving access of LGBTI communities to services and housing.

The programme focuses on data collection, advocacy efforts, and/or collaboration between sectors, systems and services in addressing LGBTI homelessness.

Through this programme we want to enhance and advance the work of LGBTI organisations with considerable existing expertise in the field. We believe that having a small group of strong organisations with a strengthened experience in the area of LGBTI homelessness will bring new learnings and insights that can be shared with a wider movement and benefit other organisations who are at the beginning of their work on homelessness in their respective countries. 

Structure of the programme

The programme has two interconnected components:

• Financial support for the implementation of a project (20.000 euro per project), AND
• Peer-learning that will bring grantee partners together (on-line) on a regular basis to strengthen the network amongst organisations, enhance possible collaboration, exchange learning, share challenges and solutions.

Important! When you apply for funding under this call, please be aware that you commit to both of the components of this programme.

Aim of the programme

The aim of this programme is to:

• Bring together a small group of 6-7 LGBTI organisations across the European Union that have demonstrated experience in understanding, addressing and/or preventing LGBTI homelessness in their respective countries and/or regions;
• Support, strengthen and advance their work on LGBTI homelessness through a combination of grants and regular peer-learning/networking meetings.

Types of organisations we will support

LGBTI-run organisations that

• are based and work with LGBTI communities in the European Union; AND
• have demonstrated experience, history and track-record of working on LGBTI homelessness.

Non-registered organisations are eligible to apply if they partner with a registered legal entity that is able to receive funds from ILGA-Europe. This entity cannot be a physical person.

Your experience in working with LGBTI homelessness can be through investigating the root causes, analysis of the bigger picture, focusing on prevention and/or short-term solutions (for example, running shelters or providing services). The projects submitted to this programme, however, need to fall within the scope described below, in the section “Types of projects…”. This programme is not designed to support running a shelter and providing direct assistance.

Type of projects we are looking to support

We understand that the most immediate hands-on form of addressing LGBTI homelessness is providing shelter and other services. However, this call is designed to support systemic and sustainable efforts to address the gaps in the existing systems, not filling these gaps by own initiatives. Thus, we won’t be able to support the running of shelters or service provision. This call invites projects that aim at data collection, strategic collaborations with existing organisations and service providers working with homelessness, and advocacy with public authorities to ensure that practices and policies around homelessness acknowledge, account for and include experiences of LGBTI communities and pro-actively meet the needs of these communities.

Therefore, we are looking for projects that will fall into one, two or three of the following areas of work.

1. Data collection and research activities to map and/or document the scope, forms, root causes and consequences of LGBTI homelessness in a given local context*.

• Developing/strengthening alliances and partnerships with service providers and/or other partners working on homelessness and socio-economic justice with the explicit purpose of fair distribution of labour amongst the actors in this field and with focus on influencing their practices so they acknowledge experiences of LGBTI communities and pro-actively meet the needs of these communities

• Advocacy activities aimed at establishing new and strengthening existing contacts and collaborations with public authorities and governmental officials with an aim of developing, improving and implementing effective public policies to reflect the lived experience of homeless LGBTI people and meet their needs.

*The documentation and research projects need to have a clear dissemination/advocacy plan that clearly explains how outcomes of documentation and research activities are going to be used in further work, including advocacy and alliance-building.

Key information

• ILGA-Europe aims to support up to 7 organisations with grants of €20,000 each.

• The project should be implemented within a period of 1 July 2023 until 1 July 2024, i.e. 12 months Only costs between 1 July 2023 to 1 July 2024 will be eligible. The final reporting will be due no later than 15 July 2024.

• Peer-learning meetings will happen on-line on a regular basis, approximately every two months during the project period. Over the course of 12 months, we will have up to seven meetings (up to three hours each). The first meeting will be a webinar to inform you on the financial and administrative requirements under this call. We invite you to account for this staff time in your budget.

Budget criteria

The types of costs covered through this fund are direct project costs and can include:

• Personnel costs
• Travel and event costs (both physical and digital)
• Costs related to obtaining external expertise and/or services associated with the implementation of the project
• Interpretation and translation costs
• Communication activities and campaigns related to the aim of this call, including social media and traditional media fees, production of materials, design, printing
• A fair proportion of administrative costs or core organisational costs which are linked to the implementation of the project (rent, utilities, IT, technology and telecommunications, accounting, administrative fees, fiscal sponsor fees, depreciation of new and existing equipment).

Under this call there is no budget percentage limitation to covering personnel and consultancy costs, as long as they are clearly directed towards the objectives of the call.

Organisational capacity building can be included. Projects can incorporate training, internal learning for staff and/or volunteers and other activities aimed at building the knowledge and skills needed for organisations to take on meet the broader purpose of this call.

Reporting and Communication

The reporting comprises of narrative reports and financial reports.

Narrative reporting: For the duration of the project we will have regular check-in calls with you – a one-hour call every three months. These calls will serve as an informal form of reporting on the content and administrative sides of the project. During these conversations we will discuss the project implementation, threats, opportunities, challenges, and possible capacity building needs. At the end of the project, you will have to submit a final narrative report using a template we will provide. The final narrative report covers key elements of the project implementation (evaluation of activities, reflection on the impact the project had on the local context, target groups and the organisation itself etc)

Financial reporting: Mid-way and at the end of the project, you will need to report financially on how the funds were spent. Financial reporting will require some basic knowledge of Excel and the applicant will require some basic administrative and financial systems in order to manage the grant (e.g. cash management, tracking of expenditure, record-keeping). Full information and guidance on reporting financial and administrative requirements will be provided to successful applicants.

We believe that the broader LGBTI movement can benefit from the learning of these projects. We would like to share learning from the work done under this funding with other LGBTI activists in Europe and Central Asia. This knowledge can be shared through articles, educational materials, online learning sessions among others. Sharing learning will be ILGA-Europe’s responsibility and we will work with you to identify what information can be shared in what ways, and with whom.

Key Things to Consider

In selecting proposals, ILGA-Europe will prioritise projects that:

• Respond to the framework, aim, objectives, and areas of work of this call
• Are implemented by LGBTI-run organisations in the European Union that have a demonstrated experience, history and track-record of working to address LGBTI homelessness
• Demonstrate clear understanding of their local context around LGBTI homelessness
• Present a clear plan for how the envisaged change is going to come about in these contexts
• Seek to establish practices/tools/solutions that can live beyond the project’s lifetime
• Have the potential to enhance the movement’s thinking on LGBTI homelessness (including structural root causes and effects) and working towards socio-economic justice for LGBTI communities in general. 

Deadline and Timeline

• Proposals should be submitted using the application form and budget template. The last day to submit your application (deadline) is 1 May 2023, Monday, 23:59 CEST.

• We will review applications and inform all applicants about the results of the selection via the e-mail address provided in the application by 5 June 2023.

• Contracts will be signed with organisations in June 2023. Successful applicants should be available to respond to requests during that period. The fixed start date for all projects is 1 July 2023.

• To submit an application or if you have any questions in the preparation of your project proposal, please contact: nadzeya@ilga-europe.org

Any questions?

All answers were returned via email and are published on this page, in order to support equal access to information among all applicants.

Application documents