A detailed report of recommendations from the first LGBTQ youth summit on homelessness has been released by Windy City Times, host of the event, held May 2-5 at three downtown locations.
LGBT Homeless Youth Summit Report
The 70-page report is available as a free download on the Windy City Times website at the link: www.windycitymediagroup.com/pdf/YOUTHSUMMITREPORTSMALL.pdf and also on the Chicago 2014 Homeless Youth Summit website, chicagosummit.lgbthomelessness.com/
Two projects have already been started out of the summit: Volunteer Alison Stanton created a team to produce a mobile-friendly resource website for youth, resources.lgbthomelessness.com/. Also, a team of people are meeting to host a job fair and additional training for transgender youth
The document will be shared with key nonprofit, government agencies and individuals interested in working collaboratively on solutions for the homeless youth population of Chicago. An estimated 40% of homeless youth and young adults are LGBTQ.
Summit host was Tracy Baim of Windy City Times. Kim Hunt of Affinity Community Service was summit director, Bonn Wade of TransLife Center was adult ally, and youth organizers were Trian Alexander, Breezi Connor and Keyshia LaMorris.
The summit involved about 300 people, including around 30% of those under age 25 who have experienced homelessness. Sessions were held at Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital, the University of Illinois at Chicago Gender and Sexuality Center, and the Museum of Broadcast Communications.
Dozens of youth and adult allies volunteered their time to work on the summit-in advance, during and after. The facilitators for the summit included nonprofit professionals with years of experience working on these issues.
Youth were recruited directly at shelters and through service providers. Adults were reached via social media and traditional media, as well as phone calls and emails. The general public and volunteers were recruited through press releases, media coverage and social media.
Some top-of-the-line themes from the summit:
- Youth need more than a bed
- They need long-term relationship building
- There is a need for more transparency and accountability
- Programs and services need to be assessed and evaluated
- The community should build visibility for this issue
- Existing community assets should be re-purposed
- Youth must have a real voice
- The community should hold itself accountable for taking care of youth
- Everything intersects
The foundations and groups assisting Windy City Times with the summit were: The Crossroads Fund, True Colors Fund, Polk Bros Foundation, Alphawood Foundation Chicago, Liz and Eric Lefkofsky, Pierce Family Foundation, Lehman-Stamm Family Fund, Woods Fund of Chicago, Heartland Human Care Services, Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, Affinity Community Services, Lambda Legal, AIDS Foundation of Chicago, Chicago House, Howard Brown Health Center, The Association of Latinos/as Motivating Action, LM Catering French Caterer, Orbitz, and ChicagoPride.com
The full report at the link: www.windycitymediagroup.
The full report at the link: www.windycitymediagroup.
Also see: www.windycitymediagroup.
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