The Night Ministry and Howard Brown are just two of the LGBT-friendly organizations set to expand youth services in 2013, thanks to $4.8 million in city grants.
The funding comes from the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services (DFSS), and will be used to augment drop-in centers, youth shelters and rapid re-housing programs, DFSS spokesman Matt Smith said.
"[This] is a significant first step in the implementation of Chicago's Plan 2.0," Smith said, referencing the city's seven-year plan to reduce homelessness, released last year.
Of the $4.8 million, $2 million will be reserved for youth services including drop-in centers and overnight shelters, Smith said.
— The Crib, a 20-bed youth shelter run by The Night Ministry, will now operate year-round.
Funding cuts in 2012 forced the shelter—where about 75 percent of youth identify as LGBT—to close it doors for the summer. It reopened in October 2012, with more interest than beds; daily raffles determine who may spend the night.
— After months of upheavals, Howard Brown's Broadway Youth Center (BYC) will once again operate five days a week, HBHC spokesman Alonzo Brown said.
The Lakeview drop-in recently reduced services from five to three days a week. In December 2012, the center temporarily closed its doors; it now operates six times per month at Broadway United Methodist Church while awaiting a permanent location.
Brown said BYC will use the grant to operate five days a week, hire seven additional staff members, continue its popular GED program and cover basic supply costs.
— La Casa Norte will expand its Humboldt Park youth drop-in services and create a new drop-in center in Back of the Yards, Executive Director Sol Flores said. Here, youth can procure bus passes, case management and computers.
The agency agency also plans to create 45 shelter beds by May—with 10 in Humboldt Park, five in Little Village, and 30 in Back of the Yards, Flores said.
Flores called the culturally and geographically diverse approach "truly exciting."
"We definitely see ourselves as a strong ally in the [LGBT] community," she said. "Gay, bisexual and transgender kids can be on the South Side. They can be on the West Side. We want them to know: This is their home."
— Teen Living Programs will continue to operate its South Side drop-in center. Roughly 30 percent of participants identify as LGBT, Executive Director Jeri Lynch Linas estimates.
— Unity Parenting & Counseling will create a 24-bed youth shelter in Englewood.
— A Safe Haven Foundation can now operate year-round with 25 beds at its North Lawndale shelter.
— The remaining $2.8 million will fund rapid-rehousing programs, which offer short-term assistance to those transitioning from the shelter system to permanent housing.
Emergency Fund will partner with Catholic Charities, the AIDS Foundation of Chicago's Center for Housing and Health, La Casa Norte and Heartland Human Care Services to assist 300 households in 2013, Smith said.
