Finding a secure place to live has not been easy for 23-year-old Nez Marquez, who has experienced homelessness for the past five years. Born in Mexico and raised in New York, he said he left home at 18 because his family did not accept his gender identity and sexual orientation.
Marquez is now staying at Sylvia’s Place, an emergency shelter for LGBTQ young adults located on the bottom floor of a Manhattan church. He said shelters that specifically cater to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people are safer for him, because he has been subjected to homophobic attacks at general-population shelters. But now, in addition to anti-gay violence and the inherent dangers of life on the streets, Marquez has another fear: the coronavirus and its ripple effects.
“I’ve been worried about not having housing,” Marquez told NBC News. “If where I’m staying shuts down, I’ll be out of options.”
Not only does he worry about being “forced to live in a homophobic environment,” but he also has a congenital lung issue, putting him at higher risk for adverse outcomes if he were to get COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus.
LGBTQ youth and young adults, like Marquez, make up a disproportionate number of homeless young people, and this vulnerable demographic is facing unique hardships amid this global health crisis. With countrywide shutdowns of schools and youth programs, diminished office hours at LGBTQ community centers and, for many of them, unsupportive family members, these young Americans and the organizations that serve them are forced to find new ways to receive and provide support.
Increase in needs, decrease in services
LGBTQ adults make up an estimated 4.5 percent of the U.S. population, but recent studies have found that between 20 percent and 45 percent of homeless youth identify as LGBTQ, and among young adults aged 18-25, LGBTQ people have a 2.2 times greater risk of homelessness than their non-LGBTQ peers, according to a new research brief by The Williams Institute at UCLA Law.
Many of these homeless LGBTQ young adults rely on the approximately 260 LGBTQ community centers across the U.S. for their vital needs and general wellbeing. Amid the pandemic, however, many of these centers are reducing their hours and services or closing their doors completely to protect staff and visitors.
“Our clients rely on nonprofits to provide health care, and a lot of those places have closed or shut down hours.”
Kate Barnhart, New Alternatives Executive Director
New York City’s LGBT Community Center, located at the epicenter of the pandemic in the U.S., closed its Manhattan location and suspended its in-person operations indefinitely on March 13. It is now providing some services remotely, like individual counseling sessions, 12-step support groups and youth social programs. Similarly, the Los Angeles LGBT Center has canceled all nonessential meetings and limited its youth programs to lunch services and critical needs, while keeping its housing center open.
Detroit’s Ruth Ellis Center, which includes drop-in services, a health clinic and an overnight shelter, has also reduced some of its services. Prior to the coronavirus crisis, the facility’s drop-in center offered hot meals and showers daily and professional skills training three days a week. Now, the drop-in center is only open for grocery distribution from its front doors on Mondays and Wednesdays from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Staff are still doing video conference appointments for behavioral health and primary care.
“The need for services is increasing, and the availability of services is decreasing,” said Kate Barnhart, executive director of New Alternatives, a New York City-based nonprofit for LGBTQ homeless youth.
Barnhart said the pandemic has further complicated her clients’ already inconsistent access to care, particularly when it comes to their health needs.
“Our clients rely on nonprofits to provide health care, and a lot of those places have closed or shut down hours,” she said, noting that a client of hers recently ran out of psychiatric medication when all her go-to medical providers were closed due to the crisis.
Barnhart also said a third of her clients are living with HIV, and she fears what will happen if they are unable to access their daily medication.
For LGBTQ youth and young adults who are able to find a bed at one of the few overnight shelters across the country that cater specifically to this population, there are a different set of challenges and risks.
Brad Schlaikowsky, co-founder of Courage MKE, a Milwaukee organization that operates a group home for LGBTQ youth, said soap, hand sanitizer and other hygiene products — many of which are crucial to help prevent contraction of the coronavirus — have been hard to come by amid the crisis for people who are housing insecure. Due to the contagious nature of the virus, his organization is not currently accepting food and clothing donations.
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“This is a huge expense on the budget, and it’s hitting everyone hard right now,” Schlaikowsky said. “The best way people can help any organization is through financial support.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that all individuals physically distance themselves from others by about 6 feet to reduce the chance of contracting the virus. If someone at one of the country’s thousands of homeless shelters does get sick, the CDC has issued interim guidance for these facilities that includes confining the symptomatic client to an individual room or moving them to an alternate facility if possible. However, at many shelters, this guidance is impractical.
“We don’t have a private room,” Wendy Kaplan, director of Trinity Place Shelter, an LGBTQ youth shelter in New York City, told NBC News. “It’s unrealistic, out of touch and makes us feel like the government isn’t able or prepared to protect some of our most vulnerable members of society.”
‘Serious implications’ for mental health
In addition to the physical wellbeing of LGBTQ homeless youth and young adults, there are also concerns about the unique mental health challenges they may face amid this public health crisis.
The Trevor Project, a national nonprofit that focuses on LGBTQ youth in crisis, released a white paper on Friday outlining the “serious implications” the COVID-19 crisis could have on the mental health of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer young people. The organization cited the physical distancing, economic strain and increased anxiety related to the pandemic as being among the most worrisome culprits.
“For a lot of LGBTQ young people, the main sources of support that they get are at their schools, at clubs, at community centers, at physical spaces that they no longer have access to.”
Amit Paley, Trevor Project CEO
“LGBTQ young people … are already at risk of discrimination and isolation, which can impact their mental health,” Amit Paley, the organization’s CEO, said in an interview with MSNBC on Tuesday. “For a lot of LGBTQ young people, the main sources of support that they get are at their schools, at clubs, at community centers, at physical spaces that they no longer have access to … not being able to connect with some of those really important, positive influences in your life can be extremely challenging for LGBTQ youth right now.”
Paley noted that The Trevor Project, which operates a 24/7 crisis hotline, has seen a steep increase in the number of LGBTQ youth who have been reaching out.
“We saw nearly twice the level of young people reaching out, and we know that this pandemic is having an impact, that young people are not sure where they can turn to for support,” he said during the interview.
‘It’s most important they know they’re not alone’
Local and national organizations that serve LGBTQ homeless youth are working to acclimate to this new normal, developing innovative pathways to accommodate the changing and expanding needs of this vulnerable population.
Lilianna Angel Reyes, director of the Ruth Ellis Center’s drop-in service, said staff members at the Detroit facility “aren’t waiting for people to create a solution.”
“They’re creating them, and we’re helping [our clients] be the healthiest they can,” she said.
With schools closed, staff at the center’s group home, Ruth’s House, have developed an educational curriculum for their residents, who are between the ages of 12 and 17. And at the drop-in center, which typically caters to teens and young adults ages 13 to 30, staffers have turned the large open space into a makeshift classroom for their group home residents.
Reyes said the Ruth Ellis Center is safe space that “can be built anywhere” — including online, where the center has ramped up its presence. Staffers are now offering some services through digital video platforms, like the center’s tobacco cessation program for transgender women, and clients can connect with staffers on social media, including Facebook Messenger and Snapchat.
Reyes said overcoming obstacles and a lack of resources “isn’t new” for the youth and young adults that the Ruth Ellis Center serves, and this may ultimately help them get through the pandemic and its ripple effects.
“Most of our youth have had long histories of trauma, and they’re extremely resilient,” she said.
Trinity Place Shelter, which caters to LGBTQ New Yorkers ages 18 to 24, is typically open only in the evening and overnight, but amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the shelter is operating 24 hours a day. The extended hours provide the center’s 10 residents a place to socially distance, three meals daily and somewhere to wash their hands.
“The less time they’re on the subway and out interacting with the public, the safer they are,” Rev. Heidi Neumark, executive director of Trinity Place Shelter, told NBC News.
Neumark, who is also a pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church, which houses Trinity Place Shelter, said now is a “particularly important that we offer a lot of extra reassurance.”
“Most of the young people are here because they have been rejected by their families and do not have the support system and comfort that some people can count on,” she added.
While Milwaukee schools and most of the city’s youth programs are closed, Courage MKE has tripled the amount of onsite staff working at its group home, Courage House, the only LGBTQ youth shelter in Wisconsin. This increase is intended to help ensure the organization’s clients receive the additional support they need amid the pandemic, while also keeping burnout low and morale high among the staff.
“We’re 24/7 for the next 30 days, and it’s not always sunshine and daisies, so we want to protect them, too,” Schlaikowsky said of his staff.
Amid this global health crisis, Schlaikowsky said Courage MKE’s staffers are also trying to keep a brave face on for the youth and young adults they serve.
“If we show fear it will rub off on the kids and make their anxiety even higher,” he said.
In addition to receiving help, Courage MKE’s clients are also providing help for others by preparing sandwiches for people in the community in need of food. Schlaikowsky said making 300 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches has been an effective distraction for the organization’s clients, and feeding others has been an impactful way to thank the broader community for all the support they’ve provided the nonprofit since it launched in 2015.
In his interview on MSNBC, Trevor Project’s Paley spoke directly to LGBTQ young people, telling them they “are deserving of love and respect” and are not alone. He also stressed that “social distancing is not the same as social isolation.”
“There are places you can reach out to for support,” he said. “There are always organizations like the Trevor Project that are here 24/7.”
The Trevor Project provides multiple round-the-clock services for LGBTQ youth in need, including TrevorSpace, a social networking site specifically for LGBTQ youth, and a network of trained crisis service counselors that can be reached through TrevorChat, TrevorText and TrevorLifeline (1-866-488-7386).
In its new report, The Trevor Project also encourages LGBTQ young people who are experiencing distress due to the negative social impacts of physical distancing to participate in shared activities online like gaming, watch parties and online physical activity classes.
As for Nez Marquez, he has been staying indoors most of the day at his current shelter, which is offering extended hours. While his circumstances were not ideal prior to the coronavirus, he said he longs to return to his pre-pandemic life.
“I was applying for housing, I was applying for jobs and had interviews, and I can’t do that anymore,” Marquez said. “I just can’t wait for this to be over, and I can go back to my life to do what I need to do.”
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