A housing program for homeless LGBT youth will benefit from a $20,000 grant. The S. Albert Fund of The Philadelphia Foundation awarded the grant to the Valley Youth House (VYH) to support resources for homeless youth.
“Valley Youth House is incredibly grateful to the S. Albert Fund and to The Philadelphia Foundation for their continued support and collaboration,” VYH said in a statement.
The Pride program, VYH’s LGBT-housing initiative, will receive a portion of these funds. This program provides case management, housing education, life-skills counseling and rental assistance to LGBT young people. To further assist these individuals, the grant will provide funds for VYH to purchase beds for 25 young people in Pride who are transitioning from unstable housing conditions. The funds will ensure that at least 25 youth will sleep in a new bed during the first night in his or her new apartment, since youth often transition into new housing situations without furniture.
Additionally, the grant will benefit the Synergy Project, a street-outreach project that offers survival supplies, counseling and other resources to hundreds of young people experiencing homelessness and housing instability. Coordinators visit tent cities, transportation centers, freight train yards and homeless camps to offer assistance to homeless individuals.