Empty the Closet : Fundraiser Party to Benefit Ruth Ellis Center Project
OCTOBER 11TH IS NATIONAL COMING OUT DAY, and this year, Kristi Faulkner Dance is hosting an “Empty the Closet” fundraiser for their project titled “Not in My House” – a collaboration with the Ruth Ellis Center to engage and inspire LGBTQ youth through performance and storytelling. “Not in My House” is an original dance production representing the authentic voices and coming out stories of Ruth Ellis Center youth and Detroit-based professional dancers who identify as LGBTQ.
The “Empty the Closet” fundraiser will take place from 6:00-9:00 P.M., October 11, 2017 at Fred Astaire Studios in Bloomfield Hills. The evening will include food, drinks, and an open salsa dance lesson with Fred Astaire Studio professional teachers. Partygoers who donate a bag of gently used/new clothing or new toiletries at the door will be entered into a raffle to win a prize. Attendees will also have an opportunity to learn more about the Ruth Ellis Center and their exciting collaboration with Kristi Faulkner Dance.
“Not in My House” is made possible partially through a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, as part of its Knight Arts Challenge. The Knight Arts Challenge funds the best ideas for engaging and enriching Detroit through the arts. Through this fundraiser, Kristi Faulkner Dance hopes to complete the rest of their $30,000 match as part of the Knight Arts Challenge. Information about the event, as well as information about the “Not in My House” collaboration, can be found at KristiFaulknerDance.com.
Kristi Faulkner Dance is a contemporary dance company based in Detroit, known for their highly physical and humorously theatrical work that em-bodies difference and challenges gender roles. Community engagement is integral to their practice. Through performance, workshops and community based projects, KFD pursues their mission of creating though-provoking, visceral experiences.
The Ruth Ellis Center (REC), incorporated in 1999, is a youth social services agency with a mission “to provide short-term and long-term residential safe space and support services for runaway, homeless, and at-risk lesbian, gay, bi-attractional, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth.” As LGBTQ youth continue to be disproportionately affected by homelessness, the Ruth Ellis Center remains dedicated to ensuring that these vulnerable youth and young adults receive the services and inherent protections available to all citizens. While the Center emphasizes serving LGBTQ youth who are often ostracized, shamed, and denied services by other agencies, no youth, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation is turned away or denied services.
Knight Foundation is a national foundation with strong local roots. We invest in journalism, in the arts, and in the success of cities where brothers John S. and James L. Knight once published newspapers. Our goal is to foster informed and engaged communities, which we believe are essential for a healthy democracy.
