Check out this amazing local program to help house homeless LGBTQ youth! Spread the word!
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We (UCAN’s LGBTQ Host Home Program) are looking for Host Home volunteers!
An innovative approach to moving Chicago’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth beyond life on the streets
A statewide study conducted by the University of Illinois at Chicago Survey Research Laboratory found there were 24,968 unaccompanied homeless youth up to age 21 in Illinois in 2004. On any given night within Cook County alone there are nearly 2,000 homeless youth with nowhere safe to sleep at night. A recent study from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force stated that as many as 20-42% of these youth on our streets self-identify as LGBTQ. Let’s get right to the bottom line. Chicago has 193 emergency and long term shelter spaces for youth. With shelter space limited and long waiting lists many homeless LGBTQ youth in Chicago will remain on the streets and out of care.
The truth is, emergency and long term shelters aren’t enough.
This is a situation that will take everyone working together to solve.
There is a way you can help -
become a part of the LGBTQ Host Home Program.
UCAN’s LGBTQ Host Home Program is an innovative housing model that provides an alternative to the shelter system for LGBTQ homeless youth. We rely on our Host Home Volunteers to step forward and open their home for a period of time to a youth ages 17 - 21. Both the youth and the adult volunteer go through a rigorous screening and training process facilitated and supported by trained social work professionals. The provision of safe housing in conjunction with on-going supportive services for the youth and volunteers will create the safety and stability necessary for the youth to focus on pursuing educational and vocational opportunities.
The overall goal of the program – a “permanent” transition from homelessness to independence for many LGBTQ youth who experience homelessness.
Patricia Posey, a youth who serves on the Host Home’s Advisory Council, shared that, “Host homes give youth support so that money can be saved and can lead to independent living versus life on the streets where every dime earned is spent immediately to use for survival, food, shelter, and bus fare with no guarantee of continued support.”
Want to Become a Host?
LGBTQ Host Home volunteers are committed to building community in innovative ways by opening their homes to homeless LGBTQ youth. They believe that while LGBTQ young people are experts in their lives they might not necessarily be experts in negotiating the transition to adulthood and would benefit from a safe and supportive living environment! Still interested? Check out the criteria below:
* Be at least 25 years old
* Have lived in Chicago for at least one year
* Complete criminal background checks
* Provide three references
* Complete an initial interview and follow up home interview
* Have an extra bedroom for the youth
* Complete comprehensive training within an LGBT affirmative practice model; focusing on adolescent development, harm reduction, trauma informed frameworks and anti-oppression work
* Have renter/homeowner’s insurance
Youth we serve
The LGBTQ Host Home Program will serve LGBTQ homeless youth who have a desire to leave the streets, disengage from street culture and be ready to work on education, employment and housing goals freeing them to identify and reach their goals and create an independent self-satisfying life.
Support our work
To learn more about becoming a part of the LGBTQ Host Home Program please contact Bonnie Wade, Associate Director at (312) 738-5966 or wadeb@ucanchicago.org.
Click here to view a short video about the LGBTQ Host Homes Program.

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