DC shelters frustrated by lack of funding for LGBT homeless youth — Metro Weekly
“What happens to the youth now?” Ruby Corado asks. “Where do they go? They cannot come to Casa Ruby because we only have 17 beds. They can’t go to Wanda Alston because they only have eight beds.”
The proposed rules help fulfill legislated mandates from 2014 when the council passed the Homeless LGBTQ Youth Reform Amendment Act. In line with the law, the District’s Department of Human Services (DHS) has funded beds exclusively for LGBTQ youth at two organizations: eight at the Wanda Alston Foundation and 17 at Casa Ruby. The agency funded a further 15 temporary hypothermia beds at Casa Ruby last winter. There are also a handful of privately-funded LGBTQ youth beds at the Latin American Youth Center.
