Editor’s Note: This article is part of our 2024 contribution to the D.C. Homeless Crisis Reporting Project in collaboration with other local newsrooms. The collective works will be published throughout the week at bit.ly/DCHCRP.

The LGBTQ operated and LGBTQ supportive homeless shelters and transitional housing facilities in D.C. are operating at full capacity this year as the number of homeless city residents, including LGBTQ homeless residents, continues to increase, according to the latest information available.

The annual 2024 Point-In-Time (PIT) count of homeless people in the District of Columbia conducted in January, shows that 12 percent of the homeless adults and 28 percent of homeless youth between the age of 18 and 24 identify as LGBTQ.

The PIT count shows an overall 14 percent increase in homelessness in the city compared to 2023. This year’s count of a total of 527 LGBTQ homeless people marks an increase over the 349 LGBTQ homeless people counted in 2023 in D.C. and 347 LGBTQ homeless counted in 2022.

Representatives of the LGBTQ organizations that provide services for homeless LGBTQ people have said the actual number of LGBTQ homeless people, especially LGBTQ youth, are most likely significantly higher than the annual PIT counts.

Liz Jaramillo, director of Youth Housing for the D.C. LGBTQ youth advocacy group SMYAL, which provides transitional housing for at least 55 homeless LGBTQ youth through four housing programs, said SMYAL staff members have observed a clear increase in the number of LGBTQ youth facing homelessness or housing insecurity.

She said the increase has been a topic of discussion with other groups providing homeless services for LGBTQ youth as well as with officials from the D.C. Department of Human Services (DHS), which provides support and funding for LGBTQ homeless related programs.

“So, I do think there has been an increase,” Jaramillo said. “We see it during our meetings when we are talking with DHS and talking about the need for what the next steps will be for growing LGBTQ housing in general across the city.”

Among other things, Jaramillo and officials with other LGBTQ organizations, including the D.C. LGBTQ+ Budget Coalition, are calling on the city to expand its funding for LGBTQ homeless programs to keep up with the need to address the increasing number of LGBTQ homeless people in the city.

SMYAL began its housing program for LGBTQ youth in 2017. It was preceded by D.C.’s Wanda Alston Foundation, which opened the city’s first transitional housing program solely dedicated to LGBTQ youth facing homelessness between the ages of 18 and 24 in 2008. As of 2022, the Alston Foundation had opened two more LGBTQ youth homeless facilities.

Both SMYAL and the Alston Foundation provide a wide range of services for their LGBTQ youth residents in addition to a safe and stable shelter, including food and nutrition services, case management services, mental health counseling, crisis intervention, and employment related skills development and education services.

The two groups also have designated at least one of their housing facilities to offer their LGBTQ residents extended transitional housing for up to six years.

In September of 2021, at the time when the LGBTQ community services center Casa Ruby lost its city funding for its own longstanding LGBTQ youth homeless shelter, the Department of Human Services awarded a grant for the opening of a new LGBTQ youth homeless shelter to Covenant House, a nonprofit group that provides homeless youth services nationwide. In 2022, Casa Ruby closed all its operations.

At the time, Covenant House announced the facility would serve as a 24-bed LGBTQ youth shelter called Shine in the city’s Deanwood neighborhood. In response to a request by the Washington Blade for an update on the status of the Shine facility, DHS released a statement saying the facility has been expanded to 30 beds and continues to receive DHS funding.

With most of the LGBTQ-specific homeless facilities in D.C. focusing on youth, the DHS opened the city’s first official shelter for LGBTQ adults in August of 2022 following a ribbon-cutting ceremony led by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser. The 40-person shelter is located at 400 50th St., S.E.

“DHS continues to support LGBTQ adults through its low-barrier shelter, Living Life Alternative,” DHS said this week in its statement to the Blade. The statement says the facility is operated by The Community Partnership for the Prevention of Homelessness, which refers to itself as TCP, through a DHS Sole Source grant. According to the statement, TCP “sub awards the grant funding” to a company called KBEC Group, Inc., which specializes in providing comprehensive social services and residential living for youth and adults. 

“KBEC proactively offers intensive care management services allowing residents to overcome long-standing obstacles preventing them from obtaining and maintaining permanent housing,” the DHS statement says in describing KBEC’s involvement in the LGBTQ adult housing facility.

“These include connections to Behavioral Health Services, Substance Use Disorder (SUD) resources, Supportive Employment Job Training Programs, direct access to health care within the shelter at least once a month, and a comprehensive curriculum of Life Skills to include Financial Literacy Classes, Music Therapy, Art Therapy Classes, and Group Therapy sessions,” the statement says. 

It says the goal of the program associated with the LGBTQ adult shelter is to enable its residents to be able to leave the facility within six months through assistance from programs leading to self-sufficiency. 

“KBEC has successfully connected more than 50% of residents to some type of housing subsidy, whether through the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs, DHS Housing Vouchers, or Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH),” the statement says.  

A least two other non-LGBTQ locally based organizations – the Latin American Youth Center and Sasha Bruce Youthwork – also provide services for homeless LGBTQ youth, including housing services, the two groups state on their website.

Jaramillo, of SMYAL, and Hancie Stokes, SMYAL’s communications director, told the Blade this week that SMYAL and other local LGBTQ organizations continue to advocate for LGBTQ cultural competency training for the staff at non-LGBTQ organizations or private companies that provide LGBTQ-related homeless services.

“We work closely with our community partners to make sure that when a queer young person is matched into their program or placed into their program that they are equipped with basic cultural competency to be able to provide those supportive services to folks,” Stokes said. 

“But there is a great need for increased funding for programs like SMYAL and Wanda Alston, which is why we partner with the LGBTQ+ Budget Coalition to advocate for more funding on behalf of all LGBTQ+ housing programs,” she told the Blade.

One example of a possible consequence of inadequate cultural competency training surfaced in April of this year when a transgender woman filed a discrimination complaint against a D.C. homeless shelter after it refused to allow her to stay in the women’s section of the shelter, forcing her to stay in the men’s sleeping section.

The complaint was filed against the shelter operated by the Community for Creative Nonviolence at 245 2nd St., N.W., which is one of the city’s largest privately operated shelters. A spokesperson for the shelter did not respond to a phone and email message left by the Blade asking for a response to the complaint.

Transgender rights advocates have said the denial of the placement of a transgender woman in the female section of a place of public accommodation such as a homeless shelter is a violation of the D.C. Human Rights Act’s ban on gender identity discrimination. 

Jaramillo and Stokes said SMYAL has responded to yet another growing need for homeless and housing services related to the city’s immigrant community. Shortly after the shutdown of Casa Ruby, Stokes said SMYAL created an LGBTQ youth street outreach program that focuses on Spanish-speaking LGBTQ youth.

“A lot of folks are experiencing homelessness,” Stokes said. “But this is particularly working with queer and trans Spanish-speaking youth who are experiencing homelessness to either get them connected to housing services, health care, legal documentation or legal support, and education,” she said.

“And so, our team goes out to areas like Columbia Heights and other areas where we know a lot of these migrant populations are setting up communities. And this is an outreach directly to them and it builds rapport in the community.”

The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at [email protected]. 

Some people are especially inspiring to write about, and one such person is Joseph Poduslo. He is justly proud of his “Luminary of the Year” nomination, which is granted to survivors, caregivers, and researchers, by the Brain Industry Association of America (BIAA). I urge you to take a look at its website, and maybe help Poduslo raise some funds for this incredible organization. 

“I have always wanted to share my journey to help and inspire others,” he said. “The brain is the most amazing creation and retraining the brain takes time and effort. But I’m doing it.” You can read his story in his own words. You will find it as inspiring as I did.  

After spending time with his family in Texas, he is now back in D.C. He is Senior Vice President, and founding agent, the Poduslo Group. His bio notes, “His work for his real estate clients has garnered him industry-wide recognition. Joseph has been featured in the Washington Post, NBC, CNN, and in 2018, Washington Life Magazine’s ‘Most Influential Business Person Under Forty.’ … When Joseph is not redefining the real estate industry, he has invested in numerous small businesses and restaurants in downtown D.C. over the last 17 years. He founded the D.C. Progressive Dinner, an organization that helps SMYAL, a local non-profit. Joseph formerly served on the Capital Alliance Board in the DC area.”

Early voting is underway in Delaware and one race that has captivated the LGBTQ community is the 14th District House seat being vacated by longtime ally Pete Schwartzkopf. Claire Snyder-Hall, a lesbian, won the Democratic primary and faces Republican Mike Simpler. But Simpler says the LGBTQ community shouldn’t discount him simply because he’s a Republican.

“I was kind of upset that they would even think of me being a Republican, that I would discriminate against the LGBTQ community in general,” Simpler told the Blade. “It’s kind of upsetting knowing that I’m born and raised here, and I’ve had family members that way. I mean the treasurer of my campaign is a lesbian. It’s just upsetting that people feel that way about the gay community in general.” 

Simpler, a lifelong resident of Sussex County and the current president of the Rehoboth Beach Volunteer Fire Company said that his experience in the role has allowed him to work alongside many different types of people, including members of the LGBTQ community. 

“We probably have the most diverse fire company in the state of Delaware, when it comes to the LGBTQ group,” he said. “People need to realize that the LGBTQ [community] is no different than the rest of the people in the world.”

Simpler also shared with the Blade that he has had firsthand experience with a unique aspect of LGBTQ culture — drag. He dressed up in drag at a fundraiser held at The Pines, a popular gay venue in Rehoboth Beach.

“I was asked to volunteer for a fundraiser, and next thing you know, I find out I’m going to be in drag at The Pines,” Simpler said. “We had a ball! I mean, I had so much fun.”   

Not only did Simpler definitively say he supports the LGBTQ community in Delaware, but he added he supports legislative protections for these communities. He pointed out that providing a safe space for marginalized communities is ingrained in American history.  

“Protect them,” he said when asked about the potential of supporting pro-transgender legislation amid a wave of anti-LGBTQ state legislation being passed nationwide. “You’ve got to. They’re trying to escape. For example, they’re trying to escape the process like the Jews did, like the Chinese when they came here. They’re trying to move away from an issue where they’re being prosecuted against to somewhere where they can be free and enjoy their life that they want to live.” 

In addition to promising LGBTQ support, Simpler says he backs smarter growth in the region by prioritizing better development and efforts to alleviate traffic. He also pledges to attract high-quality jobs to the region.

Simpler faces Synder-Hall in the Nov. 5 general election. Read the Blade’s profile of her, here: https://www.washingtonblade.com/2024/09/24/claire-snyder-hall-interview/

Early voting is already underway.