For the last thirteen years, the GSDBA Charitable Foundation has raised funds to provide college scholarships for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their allies.
The Foundation is one of several organizations that help and mentor LGBT individuals to fully develop their futures.
Mark Seymour, 32, a former two-times recipient of GSDBA Charitable Foundation Scholarships lives in Washington, D.C. and pursues a successful career doing LGBT outreach for the Justice Department.
But things were not always quite so promising for Seymour, whose father Mike is a longtime Stepping Stone donor and board member.
Founded in 1976, Stepping Stone San Diego offers treatment and recovery programs that also deal with the medical and psychiatric issues that can be at the root of addiction or one of its many side effects.
In 2006 Mark Seymour, a longtime drug addict and petty criminal, entered Stepping Stone. Following two stints at the center he has not looked back and Mark went on to receive his first GSDBA Charitable Foundation scholarship in 2007. This was followed by a second scholarship award in 2011.
“Mark (Seymour) was one of our recipients two different times,” said Tom Abbas, board member of the GSDBA Charitable Foundation. “Pretty cool to see our help together with Stepping Stone’s making a such a difference to a young person’s life.”