The PRO-Claim Faith Initiative seeks to build a network of faith leaders and communities throughout Missouri to advocate for the full equality of LGBT citizens and their families.

Our goal is to elevate the voices of LGBT-supportive faith leaders in the public sphere. For far too long, those who oppose full equality for LGBT people have used the pulpit and other places of worship to falsely define and wickedly defile the LGBT population. These forms of spiritual abuse and aggression must be stopped. Our intent is to address this injustice by providing an organizational structure from which leaders of faith, who support full equality and justice for LGBT people and their families, may have their voices heard.

The PRO-Claim Faith Initiative is intended to provide resources and networking opportunities, to successfully advocate and build support for our community's issues throughout Missouri. By working with supportive communities of faith, we can begin to repair the damage that has been done by those who seek to divide and oppress.

PROMO will focus our efforts in four specific regions of the state; St. Louis Metro, Kansas City Metro, Mid-Missouri, and Southwest Missouri. The ultimate goal is to build a statewide, concerted effort. It is only by giving rise to the voices of social justice for all that we will overcome the voices for intolerance. No longer will we sit idly and accept oppressive tactics and falsehoods in an attempt to deny us our dignity and worth.

PROMO FUND's LGBT Youth Initiative's main goal is to increase the number of politically active LGBT and allied youth across the state, concentrating on the St. Louis and Kansas City metro areas as well as Springfield and Columbia. We accomplish this through volunteer recruitment, activist training, and leadership development. We expect to serve approximately 3,000 youth through this project. The project goals are to: increase the number of youth who attend LGBT Equality Day in Jefferson City and the annual Equality Summit in Columbia, increase the number of youth who volunteer at outreach events, increase youth participation in organizational leadership roles, build stronger relationships with local organizations working with LGBT youth, and increase PROMO's name recognition among LGBT youth. Over the course of the year, we plan to coordinate eight youth specific lobby trainings and six leadership development workshops targeted to youth, increase our outreach to and recruitment of youth for volunteer opportunities and events, and expand our internship program for 12-13 students throughout the year.

PROMO FUND's LGBT Youth Initiative will lay the groundwork needed to help LGBT and allied youth throughout the state create a supportive and visible community, become active in the democratic process, and work for their equal protection under the law. Through this project, we expect to see an increase in the number of politically active youth who will then increase the LGBT community's political influence in Jefferson City. The LGBT Youth Initiative is the only statewide project to address the concerns of LGBT youth across Missouri and to give them the tools they need to affect change. We know that it will not happen overnight, but we are confident that with this project in conjunction with PROMO FUND's other work we will make tremendous headway in increasing the civic participation of the LGBT youth of Missouri.