CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Approximately 40 percent of homeless young adults in the U.S. identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, according to a study from The Williams Institute at UCLA Law.
And although LGBT youth make up a disproportionately large percent of the homeless population, there are relatively few safe places for them to stay. A pilot program run by a Massachusetts nonprofit is now working to address that problem across the state.
Family Rejection
It’s Thursday night at Youth on Fire, a drop-in center located in the basement of a church on Mass Ave. in Cambridge. A 20-year-old woman in a flat-brim cap is dancing in the center’s talent show. She goes simply by Casanova.
Casanova found Youth on Fire — a place where homeless young adults can get services like showers, counseling and meals — about a year ago, a few months after her aunt took away her house keys for good.
“I was just randomly hanging around Harvard [Square] and one of my friends was like, ‘Do you know where Youth is?’ ” she recalls. “And she just dragged me down. I love it here. It’s so cool.”
She’s currently living on a couch in a friend’s apartment. She’s a community college student, a graphic designer, a dancer and a lesbian.
According to the Williams Institute study, the most frequently cited reason for LGBT homelessness is family rejection.
Pilot Program Offers Stable Housing To Homeless LGBT Youth - Cambridge, MA
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