HRCF’s new platform, “WorthIt,” provides community-focused tools for economic wellness to combat economic injustice in the LGBTQ+ community.
As Pride month comes to an end, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRCF), an arm of the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) civil rights organization, launched a new financial wellness platform. “WorthIt” is the HRCF’s latest initiative designed to help members of the LGBTQ+ community navigate challenges within traditionally discriminatory economic systems in hopes of helping them attain financial stability.
“We know far too many folks in our community are focused on surviving. We deserve to thrive,” Human Rights Campaign president Kelley Robinson said in a Thursday press release shared with theGrio. “All across this country, LGBTQ+ folks, and especially Black and Brown and trans folks, are struggling to meet basic financial needs because of bias that makes everything from education to employment to banking a real challenge.”
According to the foundation, studies have found that LGBTQ+ adults face far more challenges in the workforce than their heterosexual and cisgender counterparts. With a higher likelihood of living below the poverty line, LGBTQ+ employees make 90 cents for every dollar earned by the average worker, and women in the community earn 79 cents for every dollar earned by men. The discrimination gap is especially high for “multiply marginalized” communities, the foundation said. More than a quarter of Black LGBTQ+ adults live below the poverty line, compared with 7.4% of white non-LGBTQ+ adults who live in poverty.
“While we continue to work to change policies and systems, we also know that resources built by the community and for the community can change lives. That’s why we created WorthIt — to help get folks closer to the financial freedom we all deserve,” said Robinson.
In partnership with LifeCents, a leading financial wellness organization, HRCF hopes to combat these disparities. Designed to cater to LGBTQ+ adults ages 18 to 44, WorthIt follows the precedents of similar successful programs like SAGECents, a financial wellness platform developed by the organization SAGE for LGBTQ+ elders.
As a part of HRCF’s dedication to economic empowerment through public education and research, WorthIt is designed to serve as a trusted home for basic financial resources. In addition to WorthIt.hrc.org, the foundation is using research on the community’s financial needs to build Next Level, a 10-week course focused on job readiness and financial literacy, set to launch this fall.
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