Hello I am a Tamil Language Support on the Queer Immigrant Outreach Team, Grants Editor, and Research Support Specialist volunteer at the St. Louis Queer+ Support Helpline (SQSH). 

I’d like to personally invite you to become a SQSH Stars Monthly Donor .

SQSH is one of the only queer-led local organizations providing identity-affirming mental health support, education, and advocacy for the St. Louis LGBTQIA+ community. With your help as a SQSH Star Monthly Donor, we would be able to pay our staff members a stable living wage, while continuing to provide lifesaving services everyday. 

SQSH (affectionately pronounced “squish”) is a grassroots, community-based organization focused on providing spaces and support for queer St. Louisans to thrive. Their mission is to serve and strengthen the LGBTQIA+ community in the St. Louis MO-IL Metro Area—by providing empathetic listening, connections to identity-affirming resources, and education and advocacy for LGBTQIA+ needs. For more information about SQSH, visit their website at https://www.thesqsh.org/. 

SQSH’s work means a lot to me because of how community-driven and impactful it is. Since founding, SQSH has:

• Taken 180+ calls, providing 120+ hours of peer counseling
• Maintained and expanded helpline hours amidst the pandemic
• Catalogued 1,234 resources in our SQSHBook Guide to St. Louis resources
• Trained 48 peer counselors
• Provided 100+ hours of presentations and trainings
• Mobilized 100+ volunteers
• Distributed $5,000 in funding to support LGBTQ+ youth from unsupportive families

I’m inviting you to become a SQSH Star Monthly Donor, because monthly donations provide consistent support for SQSH. This frees up our capacity to focus on supporting the St. Louis LGBTQIA+ community through our programs. As a SQSH Star, you are not only supporting SQSH’s life-saving services, but joining a powerful movement of people committed to queer liberation.

Here’s where your donation would go:

• $10: Funds one week of community outreach efforts
• $25: Funds one SQSH volunteer’s weekly stipend
• $30: Funds one week of rent
• $50: Funds one month of phone bills
• $60: Funds one SQSH volunteer’s training costs
• $75: Funds one month of insurance

SQSH means a lot to me as an LGBTQ ally. Hearing and seeing many of my friends' stories of systemic oppression and institutional inequality due to their marginalized identities, I am passionate about advocating for queer liberation. 

I just graduated with my Master's in Counseling Psychology from Mizzou. My long term goals include getting a PhD in Counseling Psychology and being a college professor, doing research, as well as being a therapist. My research/clinical interests include: domestic/intimate-partner violence, sexual and gender minorities, and South Asian communities.

Thank you for uplifting the LGBTQIA+ community in St. Louis and beyond. Your financial support today will create a positive ripple effect on the queer+ community for days, months, and years to come.

• Donate Monthly: givebutter.com/SQSHStars
• Donate One-Time: givebutter.com/SQSH

Sincerely,

Srushya Krishnan (she/her)