NY Gets $one Million for Gay Homeless Youth

There is a one $Million government grant given to NY which will help homeless gay youths in New York State who’ve had run-ins with the law get their lives on track.

The money from the state Department of Labor will fund job training and education.

Carl Siciliano leads the Ali Forney Center in Harlem that takes in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender young people who end up on the street. Siciliano says many of them are kicked out of their homes by families who don’t accept them.

And some end up in trouble, trying to survive through drugs and prostitution.

The money will pay for them to instead finish school and learn job skills.

The $1 million grant is shared by three organizations: Ali Forney, the Hetrick-Martin Institute and the NYC LGBT Center.

The LGTB young homeless problem is a real and sad one. For Cities like NY , Los Angles and San Francisco where you have an influx of kids that had to leave their homes either because  they were put out with the warning “ This is my house and you either change or go.” You know that a person that can’t change most do go. So Accordingly these cities are getting the homeless from everywhere but increasingly from other nations as well. 

All it takes is a visa to come and visit or check out a college and they don’t go back. Just like you have Mexicans crossing the border for financial reason you also have some youth for gay oriented ones.

NY state is very happy to have receive the Grant being that no matter how the problem is been downplayed here it’s a big problem and I believe worse than the others cities that I mentioned, without downplaying their own plight.

Homelessness and the poor, straight and gay, but particularly gay youth and adults is a problem that this city tries to hide. Everyone knows how we have thrown millions at things from trees to bikes (I love them both) just to mention those; But every administration at city hall is been afraid to acknowledge at some point that they exist in the numbers the experts give us. I don’t criticize a program to plant a million trees but the priorities that exists in this city hall is the same as in Washington. We put the money in the wrong places on the mistaken idea that the more Billionaires we make, the more they will donate to the museums, name hospital wings and channel 13. They will also spend more on food and stay at good hotels.
Actually I think that is true! They do those things. They like society causes, it’s social causes they don’t like. Even I got mix up on societal and social.  Actually we were just asking to donate by paying their fair amount of taxes if  they don’t feel they should donate to the ones way under them. 

Homelessness, the poor, hungry, sick without meds and until now which “they” were invisible, the gay youth. From sleeping in the subways, street are being taken advantage by others to pimp sex and drugs. That being sometimes only way these kids can exist. They work hard, from messengers in bikes to low wage workers at restaurants that allow tipping. To Prostitution which is not a job for the lazy or the one that is scare of loosing their life. Asking for money in the middle of winter or summer is not a job I'll like nor could do.

Someone that has been working on the youth homelessness problem is the city council President Chris Quinn.  She has worked directly with the homeless youth and politicians that control money for that cause. I mention it because as a Gay person, who hopefully will take over as mayor, this is one problem Im sure she wont hide under the rug. Homelessness period, is a serious problem here and she knows it because she has represented those districts and have talked about the problem without being the one that controls the money strings but she has tried to pull other strings to get results.

No one has to be told about the rents here and one has to wonder how some retirees live on $1300 a month from Social Security. With a $900 rent plus utilities keeping in mind that food stamps nor medicaid will help that person because at $1300 you make too much! People that talk about people on welfare and food stamps and don’t deserve it. You should not say that unless you know the money coming in versus going out on everyday expenses like electricity which has doubled here in the past year. As for welfare and food stamps in New York people don’t qualify unless they have kids and make little money.

Poor people of which I know, cannot even afford to move out of the city. Raised and born here and can’t not with heavy heart afford to leave. Medicare which is what they currently have doesn’t pay for movings, neither is any other program that Im aware off. 

Well, Thanks to the people that made it happen with one $million for the homeless youth. 

{Adam Gonzalez}