[PLEASE REBLOG!] Bloomberg to cut homeless LGBT youth services by $7 million, eliminate 160 youth beds
advocate.comI am currently homeless in NYC and my bed is provided for by the Ali Forney Center. If Mayor Bloomberg’s budget goes through, there is a good chance that I will end up back on the street or into a shelter where I’m likely to face constant harassment and probably violence. (That is not a hypothetical, I know a lot of people who have been attacked in city shelters.)
If you have a problem with a billionaire like Michael Bloomberg forcing LGBT youth like me out of safe shelters and onto the street, you can let him know here.
If you want to donate to or volunteer at AFC and help homeless LGBT youth, you can do so here.
Don’t let New York City’s billionaire mayor get a way with this. I will provide details on the planned protests of Bloomberg’s budget by AFC as I get then.
Family Rejection of LGBT Youth Is No Joke
huffingtonpost.comResearch now documents the terrible scope of this crisis. Approximately 50% of LGBT youth whose sexual orientations and gender identities become known to their families experience some degree of family rejection. A recent report published by the Center for American Progress estimates that there are over 100,000 homeless LGBT youth on the streets of our nation, and that LGBT youth make up to 40% of our nation’s homeless youth population.
Ali Forney Center, New York LGBT Homeless Youth Shelter, Devastated By Hurricane Sandy
queerty.comAmong the many places devastated by Hurricane Sandy was one close to the hearts of Queerty’s staff—the Ali Forney Center’s drop-in center in Chelsea. This weekend workers were finally able to access the building and assess the damage—which has tragically rendered the center “uninhabitable.”
“It’s destroyed. Water went at least four feet up the walls, and everything in there, including phones, computers, refrigerators, supplies, and the building floors has been irreparably damaged,” said Carl Siciliano, the center’s executive director. “I do not see us being able to return there, especially since our lease ends in January.
The drop-in center, located on West 22nd Street, has been AFC’s home for seven years, and is the entry point for a variety of services for the LGBT youth it serves, including medical and mental-health care, HIV testing, housing referrals and employment assistance.
“This is a terrible tragedy for the homeless LGBT youth we serve there,” said Siciliano in a statement. “This space was dedicated to our most vulnerable kids, the thousands stranded on the streets without shelter… [It’s] basically a lifeline for LGBT kids whose lives are in danger.”
While AFC is preparing to move into a new larger permanent home, it won’t be ready for months. In the interim, the New York City LGBT Center has offered temporary space for the organization to use, but the logistics of that have yet to be determined.
To donate or volunteer visit AFC’s Hurricane Sandy relief page.
Time Warner donates technology lab to Ali Forney Center
lgbtqnation.comTime Warner Cable has selected the Ali Forney Center as a recipient of a Learning Lab, giving the LGBT youth homeless shelter a $50,000 grant for new computers, internet access, tablets and televisions.
“Time Warner Cable is proud to partner with an organization that serves as a strong voice for homeless LGBT youth in NYC and across the nation. The Time Warner Cable Learning Lab will feature programs and resources that will assist youth in their educational and career development needs as they grow from adolescence to adulthood.”
The lab will be housed at the Ali Forney Center’s new 24-hour drop-in center in Harlem for homeless LGBT youth, the first of its kind in the nation. The Learning Lab will officially open during the first quarter of 2013.
Wonderful news! Ali Forney is a great organization that could definitely use the help.
Hurricane Sandy destroys homeless LGBT drop-in center in NYC
advocate.comThe drop-in facilities of the Ali Forney Center, a center for homeless LGBT youth, were utterly destroyed by the superstorm Sandy, and now officials for the Center are scrambling to get it up and running again.
According to interviews with the Washington Blade, the Center’s executive director says the space filled with four feet of water, wrecking everything from furniture to computers to the refrigerator and rendering the space uninhabitable.
However, the organization’s lease at that location was going to be up at the end of January, Siciliano toldThe Advocate, and a new drop-in center space is under renovation in Harlem. It will likely be ready in a few months, he said. The Ali Forney Center housing facilities in Brooklyn and Queens were unharmed, as was its administrative office in midtown Manhattan and another drop-in center in Brooklyn.
The Brooklyn center serves young people already in the Ali Forney Center’s system, while the Chelsea one largely served newly homeless, particularly vulnerable ones, he told The Advocate. He elaborated to the Blade, “The kids that come into that space are like our most vulnerable kids. They’re the ones who are out on the streets with nowhere to go. And that program’s really a lifeline for them. They get food and clothing and showers and bathroom facilities, medical care [and] HIV testing. It’s kind of our triage place in the city for kids who are chucked out on the streets.”
The Ali Forney Center is taking donations via their website. Please donate if you can. This center helps so many homeless LGBT youth who have nowhere else to go, and it’s truly a vital establishment to these communities. They have helped so many people — now it’s our turn to help them.
Ali Forney Center highlights LGBT teens who are homeless this holiday season
gaystarnews.com
Starting in early DecemberAli Forney Center, a New York City advocacy organization for homeless LGBT teens, started a program called Homeless for the Holidays. The YouTube videos focus on LGBT youngsters and their stories of surviving in the city.
The interviews are conducted, and prepared, by AFC founder and executive director Carl Siciliano.
‘It is a terrible thing that so many LGBTQ youth are driven from their homes and forced into destitution in the streets,’ Siciliano said in a statement. ‘It is truly one of the most terrible expressions of homophobia in our time. And what they endure is made far worse by their not having access to shelter.’
In New York City, LGBT youth comprise 40 percent of the homeless teenage population. This means approximately 1,600 of the city’s 3,800 homeless young adults are gay and lesbian. There are only 250 youth shelter beds provided by the city.
Click the header link above to watch the video.
[EVENT] He-Man & his Masters: 80's Franchise reconciled for a Good Cause
He-Man was gay back before it was cool to be gay. Back when the word ‘Gay’ was still socially acceptable to describe that awkward mix of weird, tacky & culturally garish in such a perfect way as to make some people feel harmlessly uncomfortable.
The toys, the comics & it’s conceptual universe were Tres-Gay and not in a cool way.
He-Man & The Masters of the Universe to anyone who grew up and lived through the several marketing attempts it’s commercial masters unleashed in the 1980’s & 90’s was a sad, poorly animated & conceived thing.
Couple donates $100,000 to NY's Ali Forney Center
online.wsj.comWhen Frank Selvaggi and Bill Shea watched a 60 Minutes segment on homeless kids in Florida, they decided to do something to help.
Their contribution? A $100,000 donation to the Ali Forney Center, the New York organization providing services to homeless LGBT youth. Their gift launched a million-dollar campaign raising money for more beds at the Center to keep gay kids and teens off the street at night.
Numbers from the Center estimate that there are about 1,600 homeless LGBT adolescents in New York City alone, but only 250 beds “designated for that population.” A disproportionate number of homeless teenagers are LGBT because many are rejected by their families.
“This is an urgent situation,” says Mr. Selvaggi, who serves on the boards of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and Freedom to Marry. “We, as an LGBT community, need to do a better job of taking care of them.”
Such a noble move from an inspiring couple. I truly hope I’m able to do something similar one day; this will help a lot of young people who desperately need it.
The holidays are coming up and money’s tight for everyone, but you don’t have to donate thousands of dollars to make a difference to a teenager who needs a place to sleep. If you’ve got a little extra to spare, consider donating to the Ali Forney Center - every bit helps.
So, there's this site called Swagbucks
And you can earn points for stuff like giftcards and things. One of the giftcards is a $10.00 Itunes giftcard. The Ali Forney Center, a shelter for queer youth in NY, requests donations of this very item. So, I was wondering, do any of my followers want to join swagbucks to earn giftcards to donate?
(If you do and they ask who you were sent by, my name is Bismoran and it would earn me points towards a giftcard to send.)
ACTION ALERT! SUBMISSION: Help Raise Funds For NYC's Ali Forney Center!
aliforneycenter.orgI don’t know if you’ve heard, but the Ali Forney Center, a shelter/service for homeless LGBT youth in NYC, was devastated by Hurricane Sandy.
My friend Jacob is going to run across the entire mile+ length of the Brooklyn Bridge in 5” stilettos on Saturday (the 15th), in order to raise money for the center. So far he has raised a little over $9,000.
The Ali Forney Center was a wonderful shelter that provided a great service to the LGBTQ community. Please consider taking the time to signal boost this event. If you are able, please donate to this cause.
(Click the link above for the official website with more information and how you can donate!)
Time Warner Donates Learning Lab to Ali Forney Center
advocate.comTime Warner Cable rewards New York’s Ali Forney Center with a $50,000 Learning Lab grant.
BY CHRISTOPHER RUDOLPH
After the devastation of Hurricane Sandy, the future of the Ali Forney Center, a New York City organization serving homeless LGBT teens, was looking rather grim. Once news spread of thedestruction of the group’s drop-in center in Chelsea, the LGBT community rallied to help, even raising more than $400,000 to help with rebuilding. Now even more good news to add to the new year cheer: Time Warner Cable has chosen the Ali Forney Center as the recipient of the Time Warner Cable Learning Lab grant, $50,000 in funds that will provide the center with new computers, tablets, and televisions with the latest technology.
John Quigley, Time Warner’s regional vice president for New York City operations, said the company is “proud to partner with an organization that serves as a strong voice for homeless LGBT youth in New York City and across the nation. The Time Warner Cable Learning Lab will feature programs and resources that will assist youth in their educational and career development needs as they grow from adolescence to adulthood.”
The Learning Lab will be located at the Ali Forney Center’s new drop-in center, located in Harlem, and is expected to open sometime before April.
Stony Brook LGBTA is raising money for the Ali Forney Center at its annual Drag Show!
aliforneycenter.orgHey all, so my university’s Drag Show is coming up next Thursday and Friday and we’re fundraising for the Ali Forney Center, a homeless shelter for LGBTQ* youth. AFC was hit really hard by Super-Hurricane-Storm Sandy back in November and needs things like money, clothes, etc.
SO! If you want to see me femmed up to the nines and lip-synching “I’d Like to Come” by the Wet Spots, please donate! If we make $500 by the end of the first night (April 11, 2013), I am putting a video of it up on tumblr.
