Despite a successful art auction last month, Clock Inc. community center in Rock Island is in desperate need of more private financial help.
The seven-year-old nonprofit group – which serves the area’s LGBTQ+ population, as well as the public at large – sent an urgent newsletter appeal this week to its 1,200 subscribers, seeking new support. Unlike many organizations, they do not receive government (state or federal) funding.
Programs and services are made possible through grants and the generosity of individual donors, the newsletter said. “We are working to raise immediate funds to help cover operating expenses and essential bills so we can continue providing the services our community depends on,” the e-mail said.
With grant funding more competitive and amounts received dropping, Clock Inc. needs more support to keep offering free programs, support groups, and community events. Clock Inc., at 4102 46th Ave., Rock Island, is dedicated to creating a safe and supportive community center, offering vital resources, mental health programs, empowerment, and advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community to thrive without fear of discrimination.
The newsletter said donations will help:
- Maintain an affirming community closet, and a stocked community food pantry.
- Have a safe space for our LGBTQ+ youth to go to.
- Offer community resources, and connections.
- Offer our LGBTQ+ community a safe and affirming space for counseling, and gender affirming healthcare access.
Clock Inc. serves over 3,000 people every year, on a $180,000 annual budget, said Mary Francis, event and program coordinator, who does community outreach. About 47% of people they serve are transgender and 46% of those individuals are under 20 years old.
In addition to LGBTQ+ individuals, Clock Inc. serves displaced community members, lower-income families and individuals, and allies, Francis said.
They held their third-annual art auction fundraiser June 25, at the Figge Art Museum, Davenport, which brought in $8,000 – the most ever, she noted. The fundraiser (during national Pride Month) featured 140+ works from local artists, celebrating creativity, diversity, and self-expression, and about 60 percent of the pieces were sold, including online and in person.
Including executive director Chase Norris, Clock Inc. has two mental health counselors, and several support groups that meet regularly. The center started in 2019, and Francis just started in her position last October.
It’s getting harder for them to meet their own monthly bills, and grants (which comprise about two-thirds of revenue) being reduced and more competitive, Francis said Friday, July 24.
“We had a scary moment, so I thought it was time to just be honest with the community about how scary it is right now,” she said. “If we’d receive a $50,000 grant, well now we're lucky if we get $5,000 from it because the amount of people applying now are much more. We're still receiving from these grants, but significantly, like 80% less.”
“For the past couple months, every month we've been playing the ‘are we going to be open next month’ game,” Francis added.
“We need something more sustainable, right? So that's not really a dollar amount, it is just increased monthly support. So then that way, OK we made it to August, that way now we're not mid-August, how are we going to make it?”
“Our numbers are only growing,” she said of the demand for services. “Since I've started, and it's only been a year, our groups are doubling in size. People are stopping by the food pantry more, my clothing closet more, coming for resources. So the need is also growing.”
There are several weekly support groups, and a popular event is the Wednesday night free community meal (as a potluck), which attracts 40 to 50 people, she noted. Items given out from the food pantry and clothing closet are donated by the community.
“More monthly donors is our biggest struggle right now, is what we're looking for so we can keep our doors open and our resources accessible to our community,” Francis said, noting they’d like to attract 1,000 donors, pledging $5 a month. “The need is growing and the funding is lessening.”
Clock Inc. is the only LGBTQ+ community center between here and Des Moines, which has the Des Moines Pride Center. The demand for Clock Inc. counseling and support services is growing partly due to anti-LGBTQ policies and laws in Iowa, Francis said.
There is currently a petition (proposed by Quad Cities Democratic Socialists of America) seeking to create “Trans Sanctuary Davenport,” for the city to adopt an ordinance that protects people who are receiving or providing gender-affirming and reproductive healthcare.
“At a time when the State of Iowa and the Federal Government are restricting the rights of trans people and denying them healthcare, along with further restricting access to abortion, we work to ensure that the third-largest city in Iowa will do whatever they can to protect bodily autonomy and not submit to external pressure,” the QC DSA website says.
“We're just hoping no matter what, yes, that trans individuals can receive civil rights because right now they don't have civil rights,” Francis said, speaking as an individual, not on behalf of Clock Inc., since the nonprofit can’t do any political lobbying.
“We understand we're not the only ones who are hurting right now,” she said of budget challenges.
To help boost support, Francis has organized and will perform in a burlesque show Saturday night, July 25, at 8 p.m. at Ecdysiast Arts Museum, 322 Brady St., Davenport. It specifically features queer, trans and non-binary performers, with tickets at $25, and all proceeds going to Clock Inc. The event is hosted and produced by Mary Francis & Mary Quite Contrary's House of Burlesque. She began planning it just last month.
“I’m performing and I'm volunteering my time, and so is everybody,” Francis said Friday.
For more information, visit the Clock Inc. website HERE.
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