Bumblx t1_ja3mqay wrote
I’m someone who has experience with the Ali Forney Center. There is literally nowhere else for young LGBTQ people, especially trans people, to go to be safe overnight in a last minute basis crisis for shelters. As someone who has been at the drop in center several, several times, and have witnessed my peers who have used this as a life saving option, there needs to be an alternative and more communication. This will have dire consequences if we are just expected to figure it out ourselves. Ali Forney is one of the best, safest spaces for LGBTQ+ people in NYC and it’s because of them that I am on my way to being out of homelessness. Yes, I agree there should be some regulations with these spaces and there should be more communication between these centers and the law to figure out an adequate solution, but this is not the answer. This will kill young queer people, which is why the center was created in the first place: in the legacy of Ali Forney, who was killed on the streets in Harlem and who found solace in this same drop in center.
urbandesignerd t1_ja3x7ap wrote
Ali Forney Center does such great work. I’m glad they were able to be there for you when you needed them!
Curiosities t1_ja4npdt wrote
When I saw the headline, I presumed it would be the Ali Forney Center and I'm glad to have been right.
They're so very needed, as your story shows. We need to support them and others in working to find an appropriate solution.
Grass8989 t1_ja3nme5 wrote
You’d think “progressives” would see how dire of an issue this is. Their silence is complicity.
Astatine_209 t1_ja3olo0 wrote
Are there really no other overnight youth homeless shelters?
People do not want to live next to homeless shelters, and not without reason.
DryGumby t1_ja3yxxk wrote
Some place else, the nimby solution to all my problems.
Astatine_209 t1_ja43g82 wrote
I know, how dare people not want their children to walk past open drug use on their way to school. So evil of them.
snailsss t1_ja4h2zp wrote
The overwhelming majority of the unhoused don't do that, you're gross. Most Americans live paycheck to paycheck and are a job loss, accident, breakup away from potential homelessness.
shadyshadyshade t1_ja5uk5c wrote
You walk past homeless youth every day without even knowing it because they look just like you and I do. I volunteered at Ali Forney for seven years and I know what amazing, resilient and normal people the clients there were/are. Some need more mental health support than others but the vast majority just need a bed and some food and some time to plot their next steps in a city that is difficult to survive in without family support. Shame on you.
[deleted] t1_ja4bgwe wrote
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CalmDownYaOleCoot t1_jae9k1d wrote
Youth shelters are in many ways different from the public shelters adults typically go to. The only NYC youth shelter I know of is Covenant House a few blocks from the PABT. Only stayed a couple months as a kid and still have PTSD from my time there. Would rather risk it on the streets or nap in drop in centers, parks, and the couches at the flagship Macy’s store.
If I couldn’t sleep at day shelters like I did then I have no idea how I would have survived. SO many predators in youth shelters…
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