A Foundation Serving The Local LGBT Community Honors Some Hometown Heroes
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A community fund that provides financial and technical support to organizations and projects that serve the local LGBT community held its 10th annual Heroes awards ceremony Sunday at the Hotel Monaco on Independence Mall.
Delaware Valley Legacy Fund Executive Director Samantha Giusti says this year's recipients include Mayor Jim Kenney, long regarded as an ally to the gay, lesbian, and transgender community. The Youth award goes to 23-year-old Ibrahim Vick's, who, not finding support at home when he was a teenager, went looking for a community of his own.
"What it allows us to do is to spotlight those who've made a difference on behalf of the LGBT community here in the Philadelphia region," Giusti said.
Vick's says he found the best LGBTQ specific youth centers.
"I was able to find the Attic Youth Center in Center City Philadelphia, which is one of the nation's only LGBTQ-specific youth centers."
Since then, Vicks has been a leader at the Attic and other organizations, and attends Temple tuition-free as a Point Foundation Scholar. He's looking at grad school, with an eye to serving the community that's helped him achieve so much.
"Being able to provide safe spaces where people can find kindred spirits, and community, and family, is really important in the work that I do."