Welcome to the Straight Spouse Network
| We Thank Our Supporters!! |
| The Small Change Foundation |
| van Löben Sels / RembeRock Foundation |
| Many Individual Donors |
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or...
Write a check payable to SSN and mail it to PO BOX 507, Mahwah, NJ 07430.
The Straight Spouse Network (SSN) is an international organization that provides personal, confidential support and information to heterosexual spouses/partners, current or former, of gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender mates and mixed-orientation couples for constructively resolving coming-out problems. SSN also offers research-based information about spouse, couple, and family issues and resources to other family members, professionals, community organizations, and the public. SSN is the only support network of its kind in the world.
As outreach, the network offers information about spouse and family issues, mixed orientation marriages and spouse resources to professionals, community organizations and the media.
To find out about support groups or individual contacts near you, please visit this page to request information!
Santa's back for the third year in a row to help out the Straight Spouse Network. Visit his page for details!!!
Santa and His Elves also helped out the Straight Spouse Network by raising over $400 at the New Jersey "Breakfast with Santa"
For the past four years I have had the privilege of serving on the Straight Spouse Network Board of Directors and have been President of the board for the past year. These years have seen the Straight Spouse Network in the process of growing from a grass-roots all-volunteer network to a non-profit organization with a very specific and unique goal, to provide support to a significant and often overlooked minority: straight spouses of LGBT people, Mixed-orientation couples, and their families. It has been exciting for me to be a part of this process.
The Board of Directors has two main functions. The first is to set goals, policies and procedures for the Straight Spouse Network. This includes prioritizing the projects the Straight Spouse Network will undertake. This also encompasses public policy, such as our statement endorsing same-gender marital unions, as well as internal policy, such as format and content of publications, guidelines for support groups and the like.
The second board function is to raise funds. This is an uncomfortable one for me. I have never been one to ask for money. I would have never imagined some eight years ago that my wife coming out to me would lead to this. But I have also never been one to back away from a challenge.
The Straight Spouse Network can no longer function as a grass-roots organization. The need for our services and the number of people requesting help are simply too great. To do this we need an infrastructure. This includes an office and minimal staff to handle the business of running a growing organization and to perform specific projects and tasks needed to grow the organization and to better serve those who need us. Our needs are modest compared to many similar organizations.
Unfortunately, our funding base is modest as well. Although we have had some limited success with getting small grants for specific projects and we continue to pursue funding from those sources, our primary source of funding is those we serve. This puts us at a disadvantage in several ways. The sad fact is that many of those we serve are also going through a divorce process, with the financial burdens associated with that. Many are concerned about privacy. And, when the process is finished for them, many do not want reminders from that phase of their lives.
For those who cannot help financially, please continue to use Straight Spouse Network services as you need. If you can, please mention our need to family and friends. If the Straight Spouse Network helped you, tell them. And if they can help us, ask them.
If you do have the means to help, please be as generous as you possibly can. You might tell family and friends about us too.
For those concerned about privacy, please understand that all Straight Spouse Network mailing and donor information is held in the strictest confidence. This information is never shared with other organizations and will never be used for any other purpose. Any mailing you get from the Straight Spouse Network will come in a plain envelope with no identification on the outside other than the PO box return address.
There comes a time when the need for Straight Spouse Network services is past, your life stabilizes and the reason that brought you to the Straight Spouse Network is no longer an important issue in your life. If you are in that position, or are moving forward toward that position, I would ask you to give back to us with a yearly donation, as more and more people seek our services every day.
Please remember: Our primary goal is to keep all services free and available to anyone who needs them. We cannot do that without your help.
And to those who have already donated during our current campaign, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Sam Cheney
President
Straight Spouse Network Board of Directors
Become a SSN Ambassador -- Visit our Ambassador page for more details!
Paths and PitfallsRead about the typical stages of working through common issues that heterosexual spouses/partners face when their spouses/partners come out as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender in this adaptation from the article Paths and Pitfalls, How Heterosexual Spouses Cope When Their Husbands or Wives Come Out. by Amity Pierce Buxton |
SSN is staffed by some part time paid personnel, but mostly by volunteers who do the heart of our work: support and education. All services are free but they cost SSN for these newly hired staff members, supplies, and postage. (Office space, phone, and computer costs are donated.) Because of the increasing number of spouses, these costs far exceed the money that comes in from donations.
If you want to keep our services available for spouses worldwide and expand SSN programs to meet the growing needs, then please think about donating right now -- or pledging a monthly contribution. Just a dollar a week ($52 a year) from just fifty individuals would cover one edition of the four-page News & Notes! Please visit this page for more details about how you can make a difference!
We are very happy to be able to accept the Visa, Mastercard and American Express through the "Give Direct" Service.
Click Here to visit our Donation Page!
NOTE: Help from SSN is free. You don't have to contribute to get help. If however, you'd like to help us keep our volunteer services alive and well, then please do consider contributing.
Help out the Straight Spouse Network by shopping at Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, or Amazon.ca. SSN will receive a percentage of your total purchase price if you follow one of these links (click either your country name or on the picture below your country) and make a purchase.
Gentle Reminder: ANYTHING (books, electronic equipment, games, etc. ) purchased from Amazon via this web page gives SSN a small commission that helps us continue our free services to spouses, partners, and mixed-orientation couples through nine Internet lists, 72 support groups in the US and 7 other countries, and one-on-one contacts in every US state and 11 countries.
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You can also support the Straight Spouse Network by Shopping through Igive.com. Over 575 merchants offer a donation % of your sale. Click the banner below for more details!
ABOUT THE SSN LOGO - The SSN logo was designed from petroglyphs of the Anasazi in the southwestern United States by Jeanne Paradise, trauma therapist, Boston,MA. They symbolize the three-fold mission of the Straight Spouse Network: reaching out, healing and building bridges.
The Straight Spouse Network is "family" with the Family Equality Council, Parents, Family, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), and Children of Gays and Lesbians Everywhere (COLAGE).