One in five homeless youth identify as LGBT, according to the National Coalition for the Homeless, and a local youth agency is hoping to shed light on this statistic — and work to lessen it.
Connect to Protect Philadelphia will host an awareness-raising event to recognize November as National Runaway and Homeless Youth Awareness Month from 4-6 p.m. Nov. 15 at William Way LGBT Community Center, 1315 Spruce St.
According to Alison Lin, community coordinator for C2P Philly, this is the second year for the event but its first time at William Way.
“We’re trying to change it up a little more and get more youth involved,” she said.
The event will feature a variety of special guest speakers, including a graduate of Valley Youth House’s Pride Program, which is geared towards LGBT runaway and homeless youth. Political speakers such as State Rep.-elect Brian Sims and the city’s director of LGBT affairs Gloria Casarez will also make an appearance at the event.
Lin said C2P will invite Mayor Nutter to make an official proclamation recognizing November as National Runaway and Homeless Youth Month.
C2P co-chair Bevin Gwiazdowski said that last year, the National Runaway Switchboard, a national hotline for homeless youth and those considering running away, received 1,200 calls from the Philadelphia area.
“In Philadelphia there are only two programs that house runaway and homeless youth under the age of 18 who are not involved with child welfare, and they are only able to house a fraction of the youth who need services,” Gwiazdowski said. “And there is only one shelter that is open year-round that serves 18-24-year-olds.”
Lin currently works with the C2P coalition and its housing committee to help homeless and runaway youth find resources and information. The committee serves as an advisory board to Casarez.
One of its recent projects has been a fold-up resource guide about the emergency needs of youth, such as medical care, housing and access to food. C2P has also worked with area agencies on developing LGBT sensitivity training.
According to Gwiazdowski, C2P has also partnered with laundry mats and local businesses to host clothing and hygiene-kit drives.
“The committee is also pushing for continued and improved data collection about homeless youth in general and LGBT homeless youth specifically,” she said. “We are continuing to strengthen our partnership with the Department of Human Services to better serve youth in and out of home placement and improve discharge planning.”
Gwiazdowski said that C2P first started to look at housing because people involved in the organization said they had trouble finding information for youth who were having housing issues.
“Unstable housing has also been shown to be a structural level variable impacting HIV risk among LGBTQ youth in the U.S. We started meeting as a subcommittee and immediately we were talking about policy-level change,” she said.
According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, homeless LGBT youth are more at risk than their heterosexual counterparts for physical violence, sexual abuse, poverty and abandonment in their original home environment.
Lin noted that, while not all of the family conflict experienced by the LGBT youth she’s seen is associated with their orientation, it’s “often in the mix.”
At next week’s William Way event, there will be a “count” to recognize homeless and runaway youth.
Lin expects up to 100 people to attend the event.
“We want to raise awareness about LGBT housing and homeless youth and decrease the numbers in Philadelphia,” she said.
Gwiazdowski added that the event, and C2P’s work, aims to bring together a wide support circle to lessen the LGBT youth homelessness epidemic.
“The more people from diverse backgrounds and experiences we have working toward change, the stronger the movement is as a whole,” she said.
To RSVP for the event, e-mail Lin at [email protected].