Since its drop-in center for homeless LGBT youth was destroyed several weeks ago by Hurricane Sandy, New York’s Ali Forney Center has raised over $200,000 – but AFC is still only halfway towards its goal.
Though the AFC was planning on moving to a larger space in Harlem in early 2013, the devastation of its Chelsea drop-in center left thousands of vulnerable LGBT youth without refuge and vital resources. Thankfully, New York’s LGBT Center offered Ali Forney a temporary home and online donations, to the tune of $100,000, poured in immediately following the news.
A fundraiser on November 11 brought out friends of and in the gay community, including Mike Ruiz, Ally Sheedy and MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts, while bringing in $33,000. AFC board member Bill Shea and his husband Frank Selvaggi pledged to match that amount with a $33,000 donation of their own.
Carl Siciliano, Ali Forney’s founder and executive director, has “been blown away,” by the influx of support. “We’ve never had so much money come in within such a short period of time,” he told The Villager. Siciliano explained that AFC will need about $400,000 to deal with the damage done to the Chelsea center and expedite the move to Harlem.
There’s no clear timeline for the move, but Siciliano acknowledged that it will take a great deal of additional time, effort and money to get back on their feet again, however, he’s confident after the immense support the Ali Forney center has received from New York’s LGBT community.
“I know we’re going to come out of this stronger,” he said. “The core of this community is even stronger than a hurricane.”
You can learn more about the Ali Forney Center and help out with a donation here.
Photo: Jeffrey James Keyes
ChrisOutFM
That is really fantastic — the Ali Forney Center is a model of excellence in this field and will really put these donations to good use.
I just want to add a shout-out to a much smaller but also needy local center for homeless LGBT kids: New Alternatives. New Alternatives is a drop-in center on Christopher Street for LGBT homeless youth who for various reasons slip through the cracks and can’t access some of the other resources for this population. They do a lot of great things such as gender transition support, helping kids get their GED, and providing a very popular weekly dinner for local homeless youth.
They were devastated by Hurricane Sandy (their pantry was destroyed, for example), and they operate on a shoestring budget, anyhow, so any small donations would really keep them going.
http://www.newalternativesnyc.org/
I also interviewed their executive director last month for WBAI, and she explains their work better than I could: http://www.outfm.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=181%3Aanti-violence-project-on-latest-anti-trans-slashing-and-new-alternatives-for-homeless-lgbt-youth