News & Stories
Building LGBTQ+ Belonging in Northern Michigan
Benzie Area Pride Network saw a need for regional opportunities for queer people. Started by Susan Wenzlick and her transgender daughter, the group launched in 2023. Like its neighbor Up North Pride, a Traverse City institution serving the local 2SLGBTQ+ community, Benzie Pride provides a safe, nonjudgmental space for people to express themselves in community with one another. Both of these local organizations are recipients of our diversity, equity, inclusion grants from our 2024 cycle. The grants support their mutual focus on building queer community in northern Michigan.
Benzie Pride’s grant is already funding general operating support, which has allowed Susan to purchase more books for the organization’s monthly Little Queer Library at Bella’s Café in Frankfort. The funds will also pay for marketing efforts and community events while removing financial barriers for event attendees.
“Operating support is absolutely vital,” said Susan. “This is how we keep the lights on, pay for advertising, keep people coming to events. The flexibility to use the funds where they’re needed is huge.”
Grant funding has also helped the organization attract other donors, with Betsie Bay Furniture and Bella’s Café holding fundraisers benefiting Benzie Pride.
Similarly, general operating support has proven vital to Up North Pride, with much of it supporting Traverse City Pride Week events since 2022. Up North Pride’s 2024 grant is going towards monthly programs to build community throughout the year.
“Lots of people are telling me they want to get out and enjoy themselves, but they don’t feel safe in this particular social climate,” Adrienne Brown-Reasner, Up North Pride’s Executive Director, explained. “With these smaller events, we can support and uplift each other, and highlight that no one is alone.”
Aside from beloved Pride Week events, which draw thousands to the region, Up North Pride has also created a vetted online directory of local businesses with robust anti-discriminatory policies.
“It’s really important that people see it’s not just a few businesses supporting LGBTQ+ community members,” said Adrienne. “It’s also the Community Foundation, donors, and so many local organizations.”
Mimi and Gary Appel are two of many such donors to the Community Foundation’s diversity, equity, inclusion funds. Though the couple originally met in Santa Cruz, CA after launching their careers in education, they eventually returned to their home state and Benzie County, where Mimi was born. Both Mimi and Gary worked to provide students with equitable access to educational resources and have volunteered with multiple nonprofits to cultivate a more just society.
“We feel a deep sense of gratitude to the Community Foundation’s leadership for their steadfast commitment to the deep values that nourish thriving communities,” said Mimi
“The first time we heard that local support for diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts existed, I felt so heartened by this investment in the Grand Traverse region,” Gary added. “The Community Foundation is an organization that exercises real leadership in our community.”
The Appels are excited that their donations to the Community Foundation will help local LGBTQ+ communities celebrate exactly who they are.
“Working with the Community Foundation is an opportunity to lift people up,” said Mimi. “It sends the message that we’re better together when everyone is succeeding.”
Writer: Jen DeMoss