Save LGBTQIA+ Homes
KB’s Story
KB turned 23 in a NYC shelter the month they met a staff member from The Partnership. Having fled a family who reacted to KB’s coming out as trans with violence and abuse and escaping their home country, in which they were in danger of being imprisoned for their identity, KB was experiencing homelessness and despair. KB was working in a restaurant earning less than the minimum wage, was without access to resources beyond day-to-day survival and had taken to numbing their grief, loneliness and fear with substances (that were in turn exposing them to health risks).
The Partnership enrolled KB in one of our housing programs that receives federal funding and is designed to support survivors of domestic violence with a home and foundation on which they can rebuild their lives. This past year, when KB moved into the first safe home they have known, a small studio apartment in Queens, they opened the door to a new chapter in their lives.
As The Partnership has been providing KB with supportive services and counseling, they have been simultaneously connected to an immigration attorney and a healthcare organization. Three months after moving into their new home, KB received a promotion at work and has renewed energy and vision. KB shared with our staff that their dream is an ordinary, safe life: to always be warm in the winter months, be safe from violence and to afford a home long term without any programs and benefits. To achieve this goal, they would like to go to school in America, stay sober and utilize their multiple language skills in future employment…..possibly as an immigration lawyer or a doctor in a public hospital.
Due to the years of abuse, trauma and rejection that they have experienced, KB’s journey is not a straight line and there remain days and weeks when they struggle with depression. The stability of their home and ongoing therapy are the anchors that root them in the determination to reclaim and build their life.
Currently, KB is faced with a new threat. Federal policy and budget changes that would make KB ineligible for our housing program due to their immigrant and gender identity threaten to demolish the foundation under their feet. The eventuality of being faced with a future in the shelters or on the streets would not only erase the material safety they have built up in the past year. It would derail the momentum KB has achieved in their legal and health journey and eradicate KB’s trust and hope for a life without abuse and discrimination.
KB needs to keep their home to achieve their dream of a safe, ordinary life.
*Names of clients have been changed to protect their confidentiality
As we commemorate Pride 2025, we are confronted by the increasing risk of homelessness to LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers, especially trans and queer people of color and immigrants, like KB.
The Partnership To End Homelessness is on the frontlines of homelessness prevention, combining emergency housing assistance with long-term health and support services. For 40+ years, we have provided inclusive housing programs, and we ensure LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers at risk of losing their homes have a safe place to turn for rental assistance, rapid rehousing and healthcare access.
This year, the whirlwind of federal policies threatening the well-being and economic security of our trans and immigrant neighbors in tandem with spiraling housing and basic living costs is driving unprecedented need. At the same time, government budget cuts and contracts threaten to prevent organizations like ours from continuing to provide services to some of our LGBTQIA+ clients.
Protest this discrimination by making a donation to save LGBTQIA+ homes.
LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers are disproportionately represented among people at risk of or experiencing homelessness because many low-income trans, gay, lesbian, intersex, non-binary and other queer people start out on their life journey without the safety of family, community and home: young people who are thrown out or run away from risk of family violence when they come out, immigrants who flee their countries of origin to find safety from threats of death or imprisonment and trans individuals who face persistent employment discrimination.
For decades, thanks to you, The Partnership has been an inclusive resource of housing assistance. For our LGBTQIA+ clients, saving their homes has given them the base from which they have built and safeguarded their families, attended school and training programs, gained footing in their careers, provided for their children, accessed healthcare, successfully engaged in HIV/AIDS treatment plans, connected with their communities, become civically active and lived their lives.
We know that you know a safe home is a foundational need and right in everyone’s life. We will continue to be an inclusive housing organization. If you can, stand up with us again this Pride and protect the homes of our LGBTQIA+ neighbors. Thank you for preventing homelessness and ensuring all New Yorkers have a safe place to call home.