GPS’s Treat a Stranger Grant is peer-to-peer and need-based grant initiative launched in 2026. Each year, a changing jury of artists, poets, and musicians—all members of the LGBTQIA+ community—meet three times over the course of several months: first to introduce and share their perspectives on current needs, then to nominate and discuss potential grantees, and finally to vote on how to distribute the funds.
This unrestricted grant is by nomination only and is meant to assist with cost-of-living expenses such as housing, health, food, child-care, retirement, or emergencies.
The Treat a Stranger Grant is a newly-relaunched incarnation of GPS’s AIDS Treatment Project (1984 to 1994) that awarded grants to artists, poets, and musicians such as Bernadette Meyer, Cookie Mueller, Arthur Russell, Darrel Ellis, ACT UP, among many others.
When explaining his approach to giving away money, John Giorno would always say he wanted to “treat a complete stranger with the same compassion you would treat a lover or a good friend.”
Click here to make a donation to the next Treat a Stranger Grant.
This unrestricted grant is by nomination only and is meant to assist with cost-of-living expenses such as housing, health, food, child-care, retirement, or emergencies.
The Treat a Stranger Grant is a newly-relaunched incarnation of GPS’s AIDS Treatment Project (1984 to 1994) that awarded grants to artists, poets, and musicians such as Bernadette Meyer, Cookie Mueller, Arthur Russell, Darrel Ellis, ACT UP, among many others.
When explaining his approach to giving away money, John Giorno would always say he wanted to “treat a complete stranger with the same compassion you would treat a lover or a good friend.”
Click here to make a donation to the next Treat a Stranger Grant.
A jury of queer artists, poets, and musicians distributed $54,450 in grants, made possible thanks to support from the Keith Haring Foundation, the Every Page Foundation, and Patrick Collins. This year, the jury chose to remain anonymous.
2026 Treat A Stranger Grant recipients:
