New Jobs, Education Effort for Homeless LGBTQ Youth
The program will provide job training and paid internships
BY TAT BELLAMY-WALKER
The NYC Unity Works program
and the Ali Forney
Center will roll out a job
and education program
for homeless and runaway LGBTQ
youth starting on October 18.
This program, led by the NYC
Unity Project, a city-based LGBTQ
youth workforce initiative, is intended
to serve as an employment
pipeline for queer and trans people
experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
The program is being lifted
back up after it was paused due
to budget cuts, and the city plans
to provide 90 young adults from
the ages of 16 to 24 with paid internships,
job readiness training,
and other critical services, in the
hopes of building long-term career
opportunities to end the homelessness
crisis. As of March of this
year, approximately 90 percent of
The Unity Project and the Ali Forney Center have developed a jobs and education program for LGBTQ
homeless youth.
LGBTQ youth served by the Ali
Forney center had lost their jobs,
while 65 percent lost the education
structure that was installed prepandemic.
NYC MAYOR’S OFFICE
For up to three years, participants
will have access to LGBTQaffi
rming job developers, case navigators,
YOUTH
and support to earn a High
School Equivalency (HSE) diploma
and develop connections for a college
degree. The program will also
support LGBTQ individuals in securing
food, clothing, and updating
their ID documents. This initiative
is backed by Mayor Bill de
Blasio’s Department of Youth and
Community Development, NYC
Center for Youth Employment, and
the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New
York City.
The president and executive director
of the Ali Forney Center, Alexander
Roque, said the resources
are needed to help keep LGBTQ
youth off the streets.
“The launch of this vital program
signals the constantly growing
commitment by our city to ensure
our youths have the support and
services they need to exit homelessness,”
Roque said in a written
statement.
REAL ID
IT WILL GET YOU THERE
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