FY27 DHS Budget Cuts

DC Council: Restore $1.53 million for permanent supportive (extended transitional) housing and $755,000 for transitional housing.

Cesar Toledo, Executive Director

Good afternoon, Councilmember Matt Frumin and members of the DC Council. My name is Cesar Toledo, and I serve as Executive Director of the Wanda Alston Foundation, one of a few queer-led organizations in DC that provides gender-affirming housing and support services to LGBTQ+ youth.

I’m a member of the Youth Economic Justice Coalition convened by DC Action, representing more than 25 organizations and DC’s LGBTQ+ Budget Coalition. 

Thank you, Councilmember Frumin for visiting our facility a few weeks ago to see our impact firsthand, the growth and progress we’ve made in the last year. Your leadership and partnership is now more urgent than ever as we all work together to stem the rise of LGBTQ+ youth homelessness.

Today, in the gayest city in the world, our queer and trans youth continue to be disproportionately impacted by homelessness in our city. About 40% of all homeless youth in DC identify as LGBTQ+, and last year’s Point-in-Time Count of homeless people saw a 9% increase of this vulnerable population. 

As one of the smallest housing providers in all of DC, the Foundation punches above its weight. Really rubbing pennies to make magic. As you saw first hand Councilmember, our organization doesn’t have a bloated administrative team, including a development or communications team, so every dollar contracted or donated to the Foundation goes a long way.

For background, the Foundation’ssole source grant managed by TCP has largely remained flat for 4 of the last 6 fiscal years. Across those years our city has faced and continues to face unprecedented challenges from the pandemic to inflation and now a reduction of our federal workforce. I’m happy to share more.  

With the proposed FY2027 budget cuts, we are having real hard conversations. It’s been shared that youth homeless services providers will be asked to make a 6% budget cut to its budgets by DHS.The reality of that cut for a small non-profit, like us means reducing program impact by$61,659, which could mean:

• Reduction in staff that monitor the housing facility 24/7.

• Pause in staff raises for the second year. 

• Lowering health care insurance benefits. 

• Scale back of client support services.   

The District’s transitional housing and extended transitional housing programs are one of the most effective interventions for our homeless LGBTQ+ young people. Now is not the time to scale back our efforts to support our homeless queer and trans young people, especially when all queer service housing providers are nearly always at capacity! 

The Foundation recently conducted a community survey to identify and analyze the urgent issues facing DC’s LGBTQ+ young people ages 18 to 30. Some early findings from the 304 respondents show:

• 1 in 4 said they had experienced housing instability in their lifetime and among those, 67% experienced housing instability in the previous 12 months. 

• Among those who sought access to a low-barrier emergency shelter or transitional temporary housing in the past 12 months, one-third were unable to access shelter. 

• 79% shared that they had difficulty paying rent or mortgage within the past 12 months. 

• Nearly one-third of respondents have considered leaving the District, driven by housing insecurity.

These findings underscore a clear and urgent need for targeted, accessible housing solutions to ensure DC’s LGBTQ+ young people are not forced into instability, or out of the District altogether. 

The ask before the Committee is to:  

Restore the youth homeless services budget to at least $24 million in recurring funding, including restoring $1.53 million for permanent supportive (extended transitional) housing and $755,000 for transitional housing.

These budget cuts will have a devastating impact on the most vulnerable members of our community. Together, we can and must do everything we can to curb the rise of LGBTQ+ youth homelessness.

Thank you for your time and for your allyship to our community. 

Cesar Toledo 
Executive Director
Wanda Alston Foundation 

DC LGBTQ Budget Coalition urges city to boost funding for queer programs

The D.C. LGBTQ Budget Coalition, which consists of at least 10 prominent local LGBTQ organizations and another nine LGBTQ supportive allied groups, is calling on Mayor Muriel Bowser and the D.C. Council to include about a dozen specific programs in the city’s fiscal year 2024 budget that add up to about $13.5 million in funding.

Among the LGBTQ and LGBTQ supportive organizations that are members of the D.C. LGBTQ Budget Coalition are Capital Pride Alliance, the D.C. Center for the LGBT Community, Capital Stonewall Democrats, the Wanda Alston Foundation, the LGBTQ youth advocacy group SMYAL, the sex worker advocacy group HIPS, the Washington AIDS Partnership, Us Helping Us, the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance (GLAA), the ANC Rainbow Caucus, Damien Ministries, and the Latin American Youth Center.

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