The Point Foundation ensures the success of the next generation

By Joseph S Amster

Imagine you're an LGBT high school student. Coming out can be hard enough, but dealing with family hostility often dashes your dreams of receiving a college education. “It's a very vulnerable time,” says Point Foundation Executive Director Vance Lancaster. “We have kids that have had to change schools because they weren't safe there, as well as kids who weren't safe in their own homes. Usually, if you're part of a minority group, your home is at least a refuge -- you can go home and your parents are facing the same things you're facing, and for a lot of gay kids, they have to hide in their own homes. We're finding that a lot of a lot of gay kids are being disowned and marginalized.”

The Point Foundation was established to ensure that LGBT students can continue their education through scholarships, as well as a mentoring program to help them have successful careers after they graduate. “They can come to the Point Foundation and seek our assistance,” says Lancaster. For all the good work the foundation is doing, however, they're only able to help a small amount of the students who apply. “This year, we've had over 4,000 students open applications with us, and we'll be able to give 25-30 new scholarships,” Lancaster laments. “We're able to help less than one in every 100 students, so we're just tapping the surface of the problem. Those 4,000 young people who have applied are just the tip of the iceberg. If we had the resources, we could be giving 1,000 scholarships to really great, deserving young people.”

Two Point Foundation Scholars whose stories are fairly typical are Amanda Jessen and Zach Zyskowski. For Jessen, the foundation's assistance has been life-altering. “Before the Point Foundation, I was unhappy, depressed, and isolated from my family. Now, I'm living a life I had never envisioned for myself. I was not living at home, I was living with my grandmother,” she remembers. “I wasn't in the home I was raised in, so it was very emotionally jarring for me. At the time, I was unable to see my girlfriend, which was extremely devastating on several levels -- it was horrible. One day I was talking with my high school English teacher, and I was telling her about my situation, how I didn't think my mom would pay for college, and that I wasn't sure where I'd get the money. She went home that night, did an on-line search for scholarships having to do with LGBT students, and gave me a packet loaded with information. The first printout I saw was for the Point Foundation, so I decided to apply. Later, I was informed that I was a finalist. I interviewed with the Point Foundation and since then, I've been a full-fledged scholar. I feel alive again -- like I can be a successful person and that my identity was not one of shame or something that was disgusting -- that I could live a life in complete truth.”

For Zykowski, living in the small Sierra foothill community of Grass Valley had become dangerous. “I came out in high school when I was 12 years old -- I had skipped two grades before that. I was looking for acceptance in my community, and found none. One of the first things that happened was that a kid threw me in front of a moving bus. I was actually hit by the bus -- nothing happened, but it was very traumatic experience. Two years later, I was walking down the street on Christmas Eve with a male friend, and I was pelted with rocks,” he recalls. “By the time I came to applying for school, I had very little emotional support, and I had almost no financial support. I didn't know how I was going to do it. I thought I was going to have to sell my violin in order to pay for my college education. I was searching around online to look for scholarships, and I stumbled upon the Point Foundation Web site. I put in an application, but I had no idea I'd get it. When I became part of the Point Foundation, it changed my life. To me, it's truly a family, and I have an amazing mentor.”

The Point Foundation's mentoring program has been invaluable to students like Zyskowski, and is one of the foundation's proudest achievements, says Lancaster. “When we pair them with someone who is successful, cares about them, and will help through the process of getting to school, staying in school, and beyond, a lot of students say that's even more important than the financial aid that we provide to them. That kind of intergenerational support is something that's relatively new to the gay community. A number of our donors have created internship opportunities. We have a new internship opportunity this year in Munich that one of our donors offered who's in international business. Zach is going to be spending the summer in Europe working for a corporation and having this amazing experience.”

On June 12, the Point Foundation will have their first annual LGBT Stars of Tomorrow benefit in Los Angeles, hosted by k.d. lang. The evening includes a special staged reading of the film Save Me by Chad Allen, Robert Grant, and long-time community supporter Judith Light. "Our goal with Save Me is to tell a love story, and to tell it in a way that transcends gay and lesbian issues and the often volatile conversations that accompany discussion of 'ex-gays,'” says Light. "I have been privileged to see through my experience with the LGBT community that love can be so strong that it can overwhelm the circumstances in which it occurs.”

The event's highlight will be the presentation of this year's scholars: Ellen Adams, Cecelia Allwein, Katie Batza, Lauren Beach, Rick Betitia, Brittany Bjurstrom, Ivan Bukta, Sarah Carlson, Ron Correa, Tyler Dillard, Zach Dunlap, Johanna Ganz, Harjant Gill, Ben Harvey, Danny Kirchoff, Marcel LaFlamme, Celia La Luz, Rebecca Lawrence, Anna McCrerey, Scott McKee, Derek Mize, Nick Nanna Hadikwa Mwaluka, Matt Oertli, Sarah Rohwer, LeLaina Romero, Ben Singer, Mykal Slack, Rachel Twardowski, Jacob Weldon, and Jennifer Wohner.

The Point Foundation's LGBT Stars of Tomorrow benefit is slated for Monday, June 12, at 6:30 p.m. at the Directors Guild of America, 7920 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood. Choice seats are $350, and prime seats are $1,200. For more information, call (866) 337-6468, e-mail ginger@thepointfoundation.org, go to www.thepointfoundation.org.