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Orientation at the Ali Forney Center
Nov. 4th, 2009 09:09 pmI had the orientation today. I was impressed. What we were told is that approximately one in four underage kids who come out to their parents are kicked out of the house; that ~40% of NYC homeless teenagers identify themselves as GLBT; that another ~20% are "not sure"; that homeless kids have about a year before they end up in prison or dead; that the shelter for homeless kids is basically run by gangs and used as recruiting grounds; that non-gender-conformant kids are routinely harassed and abused; that even now there is a major conflict between catholic charities and kids who identify as GLBT, with the kids sometimes being told that if they acted more appropriately their parents wouldn't do things like burn them with boiling water; that GLBT kids often reasonably feel they are more safe turning a few tricks in the back of cars to get enough money for a night at the YMCA rather than spending a night in the shelter.
And that the GLBT kids on the street in these numbers is a relatively new phenomenon, attributed to their generation growing up with gay as normal, with parents who, because of religion or culture see them as less than human, an embarrassment, etc.
Their goal is to, as much as possible, get these kids back on track (and keep them alive and healthy, etc. along the way.) There's a day center that provides a safe space, and services, but because of where it's located is unable to be open 24 hours. There is "emergency housing" in the form of several apartments with 10+ kids each and supervision, and that housing is nighttime only. There is "transitional housing", more like halfway houses, where the people who live there take more responsibility for their living situation. They absolutely do not want to train them that their lot in life is to live in institutions, be it shelters or prisons. Supposedly this model has been very successful.
What they look to their volunteers to do is to basically be supportive adults who hang around, assist, cook, clean, and soften the often clinical interactions that the kids have with caseworkers, doctors, therapists, etc. I imagine that these kids don't have much real world experience with adults who don't want to abuse them, hate them, fuck them, pity them, or convince them they're evil.
They said it's not just the stone butch girls and sissy boys who end up there, it's also more regular kids who made the mistake of being honest, or who had their porno found, or got caught fooling around with with a same-sex partner. And that they can be sort of street tough and distrustful at first but once you've been around a few times open up because they're desperate for healthy non-abusive relationships.
The next step is an interview to figure out what it makes sense for me to do. I'm looking forward to it. What I really liked was how they kept referring the volunteers as part of a "family", and some family you see a lot and some you don't, but they are still family.
I am trying to not predict anything but to just keep clear the goals and let happen what happens.
And that the GLBT kids on the street in these numbers is a relatively new phenomenon, attributed to their generation growing up with gay as normal, with parents who, because of religion or culture see them as less than human, an embarrassment, etc.
Their goal is to, as much as possible, get these kids back on track (and keep them alive and healthy, etc. along the way.) There's a day center that provides a safe space, and services, but because of where it's located is unable to be open 24 hours. There is "emergency housing" in the form of several apartments with 10+ kids each and supervision, and that housing is nighttime only. There is "transitional housing", more like halfway houses, where the people who live there take more responsibility for their living situation. They absolutely do not want to train them that their lot in life is to live in institutions, be it shelters or prisons. Supposedly this model has been very successful.
What they look to their volunteers to do is to basically be supportive adults who hang around, assist, cook, clean, and soften the often clinical interactions that the kids have with caseworkers, doctors, therapists, etc. I imagine that these kids don't have much real world experience with adults who don't want to abuse them, hate them, fuck them, pity them, or convince them they're evil.
They said it's not just the stone butch girls and sissy boys who end up there, it's also more regular kids who made the mistake of being honest, or who had their porno found, or got caught fooling around with with a same-sex partner. And that they can be sort of street tough and distrustful at first but once you've been around a few times open up because they're desperate for healthy non-abusive relationships.
The next step is an interview to figure out what it makes sense for me to do. I'm looking forward to it. What I really liked was how they kept referring the volunteers as part of a "family", and some family you see a lot and some you don't, but they are still family.
I am trying to not predict anything but to just keep clear the goals and let happen what happens.
