Youth's Lives Every Day
The Atwood family made eight $1 million donations to various nonprofit groups in the U.S. working to support and provide resources to communities in need
January 7, 2025 – Today, The Trevor Project, the leading suicide prevention and crisis organization for LGBTQ+ young people, announced that they are the recipient of a $1 million donation from Jeff Atwood, co-founder of Stack Overflow and Discourse.
“We are profoundly grateful to Jeff Atwood and the Atwood family for this incredibly generous gift,” said Jaymes Black (they/she/he pronouns), CEO at The Trevor Project. “Our life-saving work would not be possible without the support and compassion from our donor community, and the Atwood family’s contribution will play a transformative role in advancing our mission to end suicide among LGBTQ+ young people. This donation comes at a critical time for our movement – in the face of anti-LGBTQ+ policies and rhetoric that directly harm our youth, it’s more crucial than ever that we keep fighting for a future where all LGBTQ+ young people can thrive. This gift enables us to continue to provide free, 24/7 crisis services to youth in need and advocate for laws that protect the rights of LGBTQ+ young people across the country. Jeff and the Atwood family are sending a powerful message of solidarity that we hope will inspire others to help us build a safer, more inclusive world for LGBTQ+ young people everywhere.”
According to The Trevor Project’s 2024 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People, 39% of LGBTQ+ young people seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, including 46% of transgender and nonbinary youth. Despite these alarming findings, 50% of LGBTQ+ young people who wanted mental health care in the past year were not able to access it.
The Trevor Project’s research also found that an overwhelming majority (90%) of LGBTQ+ young people said their well-being was negatively impacted due to recent politics. Following the outcome of the 2024 U.S. election, The Trevor Project’s crisis services saw an overall volume increase of nearly 700% on November 6, 2024 compared to the weeks prior.
In a blog post announcing the news, Jeff stated: “I encourage every American to contribute soon, however you can, to organizations you feel are effectively helping those most currently in need here in America. We must also work toward deeper changes that will take decades to achieve. Over the next five years, my family pledges half our wealth towards long term efforts ensuring that all Americans continue to have access to the American Dream.”
In addition to The Trevor Project, Jeff and the Atwood family made $1 million donations to Children’s Hunger Fund, First Generation Investors, Global Refuge, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, PEN America, Planned Parenthood, and Team Rubicon.
Visit Jeff’s blog here to read more about his family’s movement to help fund dreams across the U.S.
If you or someone you know needs help or support, The Trevor Project’s trained crisis counselors are available 24/7 at 1-866-488-7386, via chat at TheTrevorProject.org/Get-Help, or by texting START to 678678.
