Rainbow Rights Foundation

In December of 2017, Rachael Odebunmi (’20) and Willa Grifka (’20) came up with the idea for the Rainbow Rights Foundation and immediately founded the organization, whose mission is to help LGBTQ+ homeless youth in Los Angeles and educate the general public on surrounding issues.During winter break of her sophomore year, Odebunmi decided she wanted to do something to make a change. She had so many different ideas and after hours of research was still unable to narrow down the list of issues she was passionate about to just one. She called Grifka, asking her to join in on combating whichever issue they would ultimately choose, and after joint research and deliberation, they settled on homeless LGBTQ+ youth in LA.“In Santa Monica we see a lot of homelessness and more specifically we realize there are a lot of youth that need help. Even more specifically, the LGBTQ+ community doesn’t get addressed within the homeless youth population that often, so we decided to hone in on that,” Grifka said.  Both Grifka and Odebunmi feel close to the LGBTQ+ community, having family and friends who identify within. Grateful for the good fortune of their friends but aware of the tragedy that strikes thousands of others no different from themselves, the pair felt a strong pull to put their efforts into that area.“My brother’s gay and my family is so accepting of it. Knowing that other people don’t have that and have to escape their homes because their families don’t accept them, we’re so lucky,” Grifka said.The girls went to work immediately, launching their website (www.rainbowrightsfound.org), social media accounts (Instagram—@rainbowrightsfoundation, Twitter—rainbowrightsf, Facebook—rainbowrightsfoundation) and spreading the word by the end of winter break—not even two weeks after they first began brainstorming.Their website details the mission of Rainbow Rights, a list of organizations where people can find helpful resources and ways the general public can help. Shocking statistics, like how1.6 million young people experience homelessness in America each year—40 percent of whom identify as LGBTQ+, are highlighted on the website as well, in hopes that they will educate and encourage people to stand up for the cause.Once the website and foundation were established, they began raising money to fund future events.  Broad donations (attained from general outreach and selling Diddy Riese cookies on campus) have been used toward maintaining the website, food for food drives and clothes for clothing drives. Having similar goals, Grifka and Odebunmi often choose to affiliate these events with either the LA LGBT Center or Safe Place for Youth (SPY).The LA LGBT Center has multiple locations and offers a variety of resources for LGBT youth and young adults around LA, including makeup classes and community circles.Though not specifically LGBT oriented, SPY has a large population of LGBTQ+ youth and offers legal help, therapy, showers, education, art/yoga classes, etc. On April 4, 2018, Rainbow Rights brought 10 volunteers to SPY, served lunch and toured the facilities. In addition to general fundraising, the foundation has had fundraisers specifically aimed at these organizations, and ask that those who plan on donating do so through them. This way, the donations they inspired can be given in the name of Rainbow Rights, establishing an even stronger relationship with the organization. Through these relationships, they are able to orchestrate the best events possible.One of their most successful events was a clothing drive at The Standard, Hollywood, where they boxed clothing, shoes and toiletries to split between SPY and the LA LGBT Center.Though they have now made about $1500 and have carried out multiple events, making ties with these organizations and raising money from the public did not come easily for the two, who never realized just how little trust people have in aspiring youth.“We realized very quickly how hard it is to make a difference, especially with two young girls. People don’t really like to take us seriously, which makes them less likely to donate and give us resources,” Odebunmi said.However, they kept working hard and never gave up. Through their various endeavors, Grifka and Odebunmi were even able to make a name for themselves, opening up doors for very cool opportunities.On Nov. 2, 2018 they attended the premier of “Boy Erased,” a movie based on a memoir written by Garrard Conley. The film follows a young boy forced to go through conversion therapy upon being outed to his parents.Viewing the film inspired the pair to want to educate more on LGTBQ+ issues in addition to providing resources where they could.“We’re going to shift the focus of the organization to education. We’re still going to do fundraising and clothing drives, but we’re going to mainly focus on education because that is something that’s seriously lacking,” Odebunmi said.Some of their plans for education include posting videos, vlogs and stories about their own experiences with homeless LGBTQ+ youth, as well as the shocking experiences of others. Informing the public on how terrible conditions are is a very important step in solving the problem and will also lead people to donate more. Their greatest feat in the process of educating those who are uninformed has been creating a PSA video comprised of statistics from professionals and opinions/ideas shared by 14 of their peers, including many Samo students. The release date for the video has not been announced, but the pair are very excited about it and foresee success in educating the public.“Personal efforts can bring us to one place but educating so many people can bring us to much greater change,” Grifka said.The girls also hope to find additional ways to educate Samo students. Initially, there was a Rainbow Rights club on campus. However, not much came out of it and people began to think the foundation was a school club and nothing more, leading Grifka and Odebunmi to separate it from Samo.The girls are proud of the work they have done and have no plans to stop educating and raising, collecting and providing resources for the homeless LGBTQ+ youth in LA. They highly encourage anyone with a passion to start their own non-profit, but warn that success is not possible without knowledge.“Research, research, research, research, research. You have to know your stuff. People are going to question you and say you’re too young but if you show them you know more than they do then they have to take you seriously,” Odebunmi said.