Panelists discuss homelessnes as moderator and Ruth Ellis Center Executive Director Jerry Peterson, third from left, guides the discussion. Photo: Ann Markey
Local musician Max Pegasus made a difference in the lives of his LGBTQ friends who were rejected by their families. "It's what you do for your friends," says Pegasus, who did a lot of work with homeless youth while working at the Neutral Zone in Ann Arbor. Photo: Ann MarkeyYouth homelessness is no longer a silent crisis. A grassroots campaign, Start from Here, is giving the social problem a louder voice.
The campaign, founded by Allie Hoffman of New York City, was launched in Detroit on Feb. 1 with a lunchtime panel at the Madison Building followed by a kick-off concert at the Detroit Institute of Music Education. A diverse group of local musicians, advocates and community members came together to build compassion, spread awareness and elevate a group of high-impact organizations. They include the Ruth Ellis Center in Highland Park; a Safe Place for Youth in Los Angeles; Larkin Street in San Francisco; The Harbour in Chicago; and Chris Kids in Atlanta.
"These organizations, working the front lines, collectively serve thousands of young people every day. Our goal is to empower them to serve significantly more, with the greatest impact, until the point where we've provided the necessary opportunities for every youth in need," says Hoffman, who has more than nine years of experience building social movements such as Gender Proud and Twenty Nine Years. They will be the recipients of all donations collected during the campaign, which are tax-exempt via a partnership with the Tides Foundation.
"We encourage everyone to help us create a brighter future for the millions of homeless youth by visiting our website, supporting these exemplary organizations and learning about this issue," says Hoffman.
A panel of professionals opened a discussion with hundreds of local high school students, talking about the thousands of youth across the city of Detroit facing homelessness or housing instability. "Many of these youth are keeping their status a secret, or are afraid to talk at school or work about what they're going through," says Hoffman. "We should be talking about the challenges we all face, and applying resilience and perseverance to overcome them."
Executive Director of the Ruth Ellis Center, Jerry Peterson, notes, "It is challenging to document a fixed number of homeless youth in Detroit because they are so often invisible. Detroit Public Schools has documented over 4,500 children who are homeless, many with their families. The Homeless Action Network of Detroit has estimated that there are around 3,000 unaccompanied youth who are homeless. A Youth Homelessness Task Force, formed by Councilwoman Mary Sheffield, is working to establish a more complete picture of homelessness among children and youth in Detroit."
Panelists at the lunch were the city of Detroit Executive Manager Meghan Takashima, Moderator and Ruth Ellis Center Executive Director Jerry Peterson, Miss Colorado 2011 Blair Griffith, and Caleb White, founder of the Caleb White Project, a Detroit-based nonprofit dedicated to helping people in need. Griffith has used her title as a platform to advocate for homeless youth. "This is close to me," she says. Following her mother's massive heart attack, they were consumed by medical debt and were evicted from their home one month after she received her crown. "When I started traveling again, I was surprised to see the silent population that is out there. We have a one-sided vision of who we view or see as homeless."
According to 13-year-old White, it could be a man with his 2-year-old son whose mother left him a year ago, it could be a young woman who is pregnant and scared because her parents kicked her out, or it could be a handful of men who risked their lives for their country. "I saw a need to make a positive difference in the lives of these people. I never expected the positive difference they would make in mine," says White about the unique individuals he visits regularly at the homeless shelter. He took action for the first time at the age of 6 when he saw a man sleeping on a sidewalk. "I immediately wanted to build him a house. Together with my family, we collected enough food and clothes to help him make it through the winter months," says White.
A homeless project was born. Since then, he and his crew hit the streets every year to collect donations. In 2015, they handed out 150 boxes of supplies to people in need.
"We don't have to do great things, but little things with great love to make a big difference in the world," says White.
Local musician Max Pegasus made a difference in the lives of his LGBTQ friends who were rejected by their families. "It's what you do for your friends," says Pegasus, who did a lot of work with homeless youth while working at the Neutral Zone in Ann Arbor. His intense acoustic set during the panel brought tears to his eyes when he recalled coming to the U.S. from Colombia with his mother and surviving with almost nothing.
"It's important to help others, to look beyond ourselves. I've always worked within the queer community. I am queer, and I'm happy to keep helping," Pegasus says. Other local musicians Flint Eastwood, Jena Irene Asciutto and Britney Stoney performed on the DIME Underground stage in support of the campaign.
"Working with Start from Here and the Ruth Ellis Center has been great. I fully support what they do for the Detroit community and am honored to be a part of what they're doing," says Flint Eastwood's Jax Anderson. Hoffman says this will be a four-month campaign that partners Start from Here with Crowdrise, a fundraising website for personal causes and charity. The goal is to raise $40,000. The campaign will culminate in April with a major concert event at the Fillmore in Detroit; line-up and ticket sales will be announced in mid-March.
For more information, visit www.startfromhere.org.
Ruth Ellis Center puts LGBTQ youth homelessness in perspective
There are 1.7 million homeless youth in the U.S. Forty percent of them are LGBTQ, according to the Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law and Public Policy. Mark Erwin-McCormick, Director of Development at the Ruth Ellis Center, explains some of the reasons for this statistic. "There is an increase in young people coming out at an earlier age. Families are not ready. As a result, these young people are being rejected and no longer feel safe in their home environment," he says. This forces one in five LGBTQ youth into the state's foster care system, which opens their doors to an estimated 13,000 youth at any given time, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
Ruth's House is one of only three licensed and contracted residential foster care facilities specifically for LGBTQ youth in the U.S. LGBTQ youths represent 5 to 7 percent of the nation's overall youth population.
"We have a lot of work to do," says Erwin-McCormick, adding that partnering with other organizations through the Start from Here campaign is a "powerful thing and we're proud to be a part of it." Ruth's House serves young people in the foster care system by providing services in a home-like setting that meets the individual needs of the youth while they are in care. With an increase of transgender and gender nonconforming youth entering Michigan's foster care, the state has granted Ruth Ellis Center an additional license to accommodate up to nine youth at any given time, an increase from five.
"There is a large community of supporters," he says, but more is needed. Monetary gifts are welcomed each month through the Ruth's Angels program, which helps to feed, clothe, provide heat and keep the lights on at the center. In an effort to help families support their LGBTQ children and reduce the number of youth who runaway, get kicked out or end up in the Child Welfare or Juvenile Justice systems, Ruth Ellis Center launched a new pilot program in partnership with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, Child Protective Services and the Andrus Family Fund. This intensive effort to help families stay together is the first of its kind in the country.
In collaboration with Dr. Caitlin Ryan and the Family Acceptance Project, more than 300 Child Protective Service Investigators, social workers, and educators have been trained to identify cases where a child's sexual orientation, gender identity or expression may be factors in abuse and neglect investigations. Families are being referred to Ruth Ellis Center's Family Group Decision Making program for up to 13 months of intensive support services. Eleven families are currently working with Ruth Ellis Center since the pilot's launch in October 2015, far exceeding the projected outcomes for the first quarter of the pilot.
For more information about the Ruth Ellis Center, call 313-252-1950 or visit www.ruthelliscenter.org.
A champion of transgender and homeless youth
Daniella Carter, a New York City transgender woman, is one of many who are sharing their stories with the hope of inspiring action. Carter was placed in foster care at 18 months old. During a time when other children were blossoming, Carter was faced with sexual, physical and emotional abuse. She spent her high school years sleeping on the subway, and on the streets where she became a victim of rape. While many would lose hope and their will to survive, Carter used her pain, caused by repeated traumas, as her source of motivation to advocate for LGBTQ youth. She has appeared on MSNBC, ABC, Daily News, People Magazine and in the Wall Street Journal. Carter was recognized on the 2015 Trans 100 list. She has worked with her mentor, Laverne Cox, and was featured in the Emmy-award-winning MTV & Logo TV documentary "Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word." Carter is helping to build a foundation, Gender Global, which aims to empower youth, provide assistance and motivate families, employers and friends to be more supportive of transgender identified individuals. Her dream is to lead a foundation that will help put a stop to violence and discrimination against transgender people.
See a video of Carter in action.
