The Poland chapter of Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation also has a page with resources for Black refugees.
2. Support grassroots efforts to house LGBTQ+ and BIPOC refugees.
Polish activists Amanda Waliszewska, Joanna Wilkuse, and Anaid are sharing mutual aid calls for transportation needs and translators at the Polish border via their Instagram pages, and have shared resources for Nigerians and other Black migrants arriving in Poland. The organization Black is Polish is also working to coordinate safe housing for refugees via a crowdsourced spreadsheet.
Additionally, Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon, a historian specializing in Russian, Eastern European, and Soviet history, has consolidated crowdsourced resources for marginalized refugees in a LinkTree.
3. Support the following organizations.
Insight Ukraine
Insight is a local LGBTQ+ organization that provides legal, psychological, and medical support to queer and trans Ukrainians, among other forms of advocacy. In addition to connecting LGBTQ+ Ukrainians with crisis therapists, the organization is currently collecting funds “to cover needs in shelter, relocation to safer places, food, basic needs,” according to an Instagram post.
OutRight International
OutRight International is a global LGBTQ+ human rights organization headquartered in New York. It’s currently accepting donations on behalf of local LGBTQ+ organizations that are “preparing to receive LGBTQ+ people in search of shelter, safety, and security.” Since vetting the legitimacy of organizations that we might not be familiar with can prove challenging in times of crisis, OutRight could be a good choice to share funds with to ensure that aid will be going to organizations that need it.
“As we know all too well, in times of crisis, LGBTQ+ people who are already marginalized face higher risks and cannot count automatically on access to humanitarian and/or social assistance,” the organization wrote on its donation page. “Already, people are leaving Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and the eastern part of the country for, at the moment, safer rural areas and the western parts of the country, while neighboring EU countries work to prepare shelters for an influx of displaced people.”
At the time of publication, OutRight has raised $200,722 of its $250,000 goal.
QUA – LGBTQ Ukrainians in America
QUA is the first non-governmental organization of LGBTQ+ Ukrainians and their allies in the United States, according to the organization’s website. QUA provides social support and legal support to LGBTQ+ Ukrainians, as well as research on the state of LGBTQ+ rights in Ukraine. QUA organized a march for LGBTQ+ Ukrainians at New York’s Stonewall Inn this past weekend, and is also connecting refugees with Americans who are willing to provide aid, ranging from housing to childcare to donations of menstrual hygiene products. You can also donate directly to QUA here, and the organization says that funds will be used for emergency support for the Ukrainian LGBTQ+ community.
This article originally appeared on them.