Covenant House, which offers shelter to more than 1,900 homeless youth every night in 27 cities across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua is expanding the overall number of beds dedicated to homeless youth, including LGBT youth. The True Colors Fund is partnering with Covenant House to support and strengthen programs and services available for LGBT homeless youth served by Covenant House.
While LGBT youth make up only seven percent of the total youth population, they comprise up to 40 percent of all youth experiencing homelessness in America. Together, the True Colors Fund and Covenant House are committed to reversing this trend and providing help to homeless youth, many of whom become homeless after their families reject them because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
“At the heart of the True Colors Fund’s work is supporting service providers in ensuring the safest and most affirming care possible for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth experiencing homelessness. For us, partnering on this effort is a natural fit and speaks volumes about Covenant House’s commitment to providing the best possible support to all youth,” said Cyndi Lauper, co-founder of the True Colors Fund. The partnership is beginning with Covenant House in New York City, and will expand to include other Covenant Houses in the US, Canada, and Latin America over the next year.
“We are excited about working with Cyndi and the True Colors Fund team to help homeless youth cross the bridge from homelessness to hope,” said Audra McDonald, a six-time Tony Award winning actress and a member of the Covenant House International Board of Directors.
According to Serving Our Youth, a 2012 report issued by the True Colors Fund and the Williams Institute, the majority of homeless LGBT youth across the country access services from mainstream, or non-LGBT specific, service providers. Given the disproportionate number of homeless youth who are LGBT, it is critical that all organizations are knowledgeable about and able to implement best practices for serving these youth, affirming their identities, and keeping them safe. The True Colors Fund has developed the True Inclusion Assessment, a tool that is meant to do just that, which Covenant House sites are implementing over the next several months.
“Our mission calls us to help kids leave the streets, believe in themselves and celebrate their dignity as they are,” said Covenant House International President Kevin Ryan, who co-authored the national best-seller Almost Home (Turner 2012), which recounts the plight of homeless teenagers in North America, including 18 year old Meagan who was kicked out of her home because she is lesbian. “This is not complicated: we are called to love all homeless young people unconditionally and with absolute respect.”
The True Colors Fund was co-founded by Cyndi Lauper to raise awareness about and bring an end to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender youth homelessness through a broad continuum of public education and engagement, advocacy and public policy, youth collaboration, research, and community building programs. www.truecolorsfund.org
Covenant House, founded in 1972, reached more than 50,000 homeless kids last year in six countries, and since its founding has served more than 1 million homeless youth. www.covenanthouse.org
