Ali Forney Center Breaks Ground On Residence Named For Bea Arthur

Via press release:

On Monday, July 20, 2015, there will be a groundbreaking ceremony for the Bea Arthur Residence, an 18-bed residence for homeless LGBT youth operated by the Ali Forney Center. In 2012 the New York City Council and the Manhattan Borough President awarded $3,300,000 for the renovation of a long vacant building owned by the New York City Department of Housing and Preservation Development. The building has now been turned over to the Ali Forney Center in partnership with Cooper Square Committee, and renovations are beginning this month. It is anticipated that the building will begin to provide housing by the end of 2016.

Bea Arthur gave one of her final public performances as a benefit for the Ali Forney Center in 2005. She was very upset to learn that hundreds of thousands of LGBT teens were rejected by their families, and driven to homelessness. She said that she would do anything in her power to help these teens. When she died in 2009 the Ali Forney Center learned that she had bequeathed $300,000 to us in her will. At that time, Carl Siciliano, the Executive Director of the Ali Forney Center, pledged that the first building they owned would be named in her memory.

The groundbreaking will be attended by state and city political leaders and by the staff and clients of the Ali Forney Center.

Guest Post: Carl Siciliano

"We won't have a faggot in our house."

Those are the words M heard after his mother died of cancer. He was 16. His mom had loved and accepted him. But not his aunt and uncle. They took in his little brother, but left M to fend for himself in the streets.

M lived in a town in Florida that had no youth shelter. He and about 20 other homeless kids slept on the floor of an unlocked building in the town park. He used his knapsack with his school books and his toothbrush and deodorant inside as his pillow. Those were the good nights. The bad nights were when the police chased them out. On those nights he tried to sleep in an abandoned lot, hidden in the weeds. Those nights his allergies tormented him; his eyes and throat swelled, and he struggled to breath.

No matter what kind of night he had, M went to school every day. He did it to honor the memory of his mom, who said she would kick his butt in the afterlife if he didn't get an education. Despite the soul-shattering hardships he endured, he graduated at 18.

"As soon as I get the chance, I'm going to kill you, you fucking faggot."

Those are the words one of M's friends heard when he walked through the courtyard into the youth shelter where most of the beds for New York City's homeless youths are located. Despite local and federal regulations that mandate that youth shelters be in homelike environments with no more than 20 beds, NYC has crowded hundreds of kids into that shelter. Many LGBT kids report being bashed and harassed by the numerous gang members who stay there. M came to New York City after he graduated from high school, and tried to stay at there. But after being attacked too many times he ended up sleeping in the subways.

I met M the day he moved into one of the Ali Forney Center's homelike shelters after sleeping in the subways for six months. That was a really good day for M. He has had some wonderful days since; like the day he was accepted into college, and the day he got hired for his job counseling other teens. Those were good days for the Ali Forney Center as well, as have the been the joyful days in recent months when over 40 of our youths in our new job training program have been hired.

But we have had some really bad days. Since the federal sequestration and it's vast cuts we have lost about $1 Million in government funding. I have been struggling to pay our rents and our food bills, and keep our programs going. I don't sleep in a vacant lot, but I have had more than my share of sleepless nights worrying about the future of the Ali Forney Center.

But in the end I trust we will go forward. Our work of housing and protecting homeless LGBT youths must survive and grow. Too many of the LGBT kids we care for have endured cruelty, violence and contempt in their homes and in other shelters. Over 1,300 kids a year from across our country rely on the Ali Forney Center to provide a home where they are protected and accepted for who they are. I trust that our work will go on, because I trust in the goodness of our community. I was very frightened after Hurricane Sandy destroyed our drop-in center, and yet so many in our community showed me that they would stand by our us in our devastation. The sequestration is a different kind of storm, a storm made by cruel politics, not weather. But no less devastating, especially for the poorest, most vulnerable youths of our community.

I thank Joe, and all of the members of the JoeMyGod community for standing by us with kindness and generosity for many years. Once again, I ask that you stand by us and our youths in a difficult time. Happy Thanksgiving!

NOTE FROM JOE: I'd like to echo Carl's thanks to the JMG community. Carl gives a lovely shout-out to you folks every year at the Ali Forney Center's annual fundraiser, as so many of you have been so very generous over all these years. It's a wonderfully proud moment for me. If you are considering make a donation this year, you can do that here. You can also make donations on PayPal by using this email: mramos@aliforneycenter.org.

In addition, there's an AFC's campaign at IndieGoGo, where "perks" are awarded at various donation levels. The top donation level gets you lunch with famed Brat Pack actress Ally Sheedy, one of Ali Forney's most ardent supporters. Again, thanks so VERY much to all you. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, whether you celebrate with your biological family, or as Armistead Maupin famously calls it, your logical one.

RELATED: The Ali Forney Center's financial records are viewable here.

Quote Of The Day - Carl Siciliano

"I feel like the LGBT movement has been asleep at the wheel when it comes to this. We've been so focused on laws – changing the laws around marriage equality, changing 'don't ask, don't tell,' getting adoption rights – that we haven't been fighting for economic resources. How many tax dollars do gay people contribute? What percentage of tax dollars comes back to our gay kids? We haven't matured enough as a movement yet that we're looking at the economics of things. There is a psychological reality that when you're an oppressed group whose very existence is under attack, you need to create this narrative about how great it is to be what you are. It's like, 'Leave the repression and the fear behind and be embraced by this accepting community, and suddenly everyone is beautiful and has good bodies and great sex and beautiful furniture, and rah-rah-rah.' And, from day one of the Stonewall Riots, homeless kids were not what people wanted to see. No one wanted to see young people coming out and being cast into destitution. It didn't fit the narrative." - Ali Forney Center founder Carl Siciliano, in a Rolling Stone article on the epidemic of homeless LGBT youth.

KICKSTARTER: Documentary On LGBT Youth Homelessness For Ali Forney Center

From the Kickstarter page:

Road to Home will follow a half dozen young LGBT people who turned to the streets after being rejected by their families. Having been in production for the last year, we have met a number of people who have allowed us into their lives and have agreed to be filmed. Through the use of observational footage, we will intimately trace their journeys as they traverse the street life—from the blistering heat of summer to the frigid nights of winter—moving from shelter to shelter and fighting just to survive.

However, our goal is not to simply wring our hands at a social problem. Throughout production, we worked closely with the Ali Forney Center, a NYC organization tasked with helping LGBT homeless youth. By using the Ali Forney Center as a springboard into this complex world, we have been able to work with people dedicated to making a difference. It is our goal not only to tell a powerful dramatic story, but also to create a film that will motivate people to do something about a critical social problem.

Donate at the link.

JMG T-Shirt Model: Carl Siciliano

Since $5 from the sale of every JMG t-shirt goes to the Ali Forney Center, it's only appropriate that our first model is AFC founder Carl Siciliano, seen here with his pet pig Sophie, who has her own Facebook page.  Get your own shirt here - you don't get a pet pig, but you do get a copy of the 2014 national issue of Pride Magazine.

RELATED: Last Wednesday I attended the opening ceremony for AFC's new drop-in center in Harlem, where Carl began his speech by thanking the JMG community for your amazing generosity after AFC's main offices were destroyed by Hurricane Sandy.

NEW YORK CITY: Rally For Homeless LGBT Youth Shelters On Monday June 2nd

Via press release:

National Campaign for Youth Shelter calls for 22,000 beds for homeless youth: The Ali Forney Center and the National Coalition for the Homeless have released the list of speakers for the LGBT Rally for Homeless Youth, to be held in Washington Square Park at 6pm on Monday June 2nd. The National Campaign for Youth Shelter New York City rally will launch the campaign as a priority within the LGBT movement. LGBT youth are disproportionately over-represented in the homeless youth population, with as many as 40% of the nation's homeless youth being LGBT, while only 5% of the overall youth population is LGBT. Currently, there are only approximately 4,000 youth shelter beds in the United States, yet as many as 500,000 unaccompanied youths experience homelessness each year. The Master of Ceremonies for the rally will be ballroom legend, star of Paris Is Burning, and former homeless LGBT Youth Junior Labeija.

The list of speakers includes Edith Windsor, David Mixner, Cathy Marino-Thomas, Carl Siciliano, and two veterans of the Stonewall Rebellion: Martin Boyce and Danny Garvin.  Facebook event page.

LGBT Group Faith In America Issues Plea To Pope Francis In Full-Page NY Times Ad: Stop Condemning Homosexual Acts

The LGBT group Faith In America today published a full-page open letter to Pope Francis in the New York Times. The letter was written by Ali Forney Center head Carl Siciliano and financial assistance was provided by furniture maker Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams.

Your Holiness, I write to you as a Roman Catholic, a former Benedictine monk and as a gay man who has spent over 30 years serving the homeless, first as a member of the Catholic Worker Movement, and now as the founder and Executive Director of the Ali Forney Center, America’s largest center for homeless lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth based in New York City. I write on behalf of the homeless LGBT youths I serve. I ask you to take urgent action to protect them from the devastating consequences of religious rejection, which is the most common reason LGBT youths are driven from their homes. At the heart of the problem is that the church still teaches that homosexual conduct is a sin, and that being gay is disordered. I hope that if you understand how this teaching tears families apart and brings suffering to innocent youths, you will end this teaching and prevent your bishops from fighting against the acceptance of LGBT people as equal members of society.

Hit this link and read Siciliano's message in full. In a Facebook page set up to support the campaign, Mitchell Gold writes:

To be very open, this might be one of THE most consequential efforts I’ve ever been involved in. PLEASE take a minute to look at the full page ad in the NY Times today asking the Pope to “take being or acting gay off the sin list.” It’s a big deal that some think is too big of a goal…. BUT it has to start sometime….and it must. Too many people are suffering needlessly. AND the church has changed before and apologized! Please like and share it on FB, forward to friends and family…..do what you can to help to start to move this mountain. Sincere thanks, Mitchell Gold.

A petition to Pope Francis has also been launched.

Carl Siciliano On Phil Robertson

Via Memeographs.

TRAILER: Road To Home

From the producers:

In the avalanche of homeless young people spreading across America, nearly half are LGBT, despite the fact that gay kids make up only 5-7% of the general population. In an era of increasing openness regarding LGBT issues, where marriage equality is making strides and anti-gay bullying is publicly shamed, kids are coming out to their parents younger and younger. But social trends don’t translate into all households equally, and LGBT kids are often getting kicked out into the streets long before they’ve developed the skills to survive on their own.

Addressing this problem involves more than providing beds. It also involves providing hope and healing. Our 90-minute documentary Road to Home will follow the development of 4-5 LGBT homeless young people of various genders, backgrounds, and origins as they’re provided beds as well as guidance by the staff of the Ali Forney Center, the organization dealing with LGBT homelessness most effectively in New York City. By showing several young people finding a place to lay their heads and a way to heal their hearts, our film will not only depict a dramatic emotional journey, but also stimulate the attention LGBT homeless kids deserve.

Guest Post: Carl Siciliano

We deal with a twofold tragedy every day at the Ali Forney Center. The first part is that hundreds of thousands of parents drive their children from their homes because they cannot accept having an LGBT child. The second part is that fewer than one tenth of homeless kids in this country can access a youth shelter bed. Hundreds of thousands of terrified, devastated kids are out on the streets tonight with nowhere safe to lay their heads.

Recently I met a girl in Minneapolis who told me about being out on the streets at 16 in the frozen Minnesota winter. She found a bus driver who would allow her to ride the city bus all night. But one night when he was off duty and she didn't have the bus fare, she shivered in the snow, fearing she would die in the cold. Another boy told me of being thrown out of his home in a suburb of Atlanta by a homophobic aunt. Having nowhere to go, he spent three days and nights in the woods near his house, with no food or water, crying and terrified and wanting to die. Finally he staggered out onto a sidewalk and collapsed of dehydration and was hospitalized.

Many kids turn to prostitution, having no other way to support themselves. Deon became homeless in Houston when he was 15. He also rode the buses all night, and would shower in the morning at a friend's house before heading to school. One night he was propositioned while waiting for the bus, and was offered money for sex. Deeply exhausted from his long nights on the bus, he reluctantly accepted. He told me that he felt so ashamed and humiliated by the experience, that he spent over an hour in the shower at his friends house that morning. He was weeping uncontrollably and didn't want anyone to see him like that. Deon lives with us now. Yesterday he told me that at his job at H&M clothing store, he has a portion of his income taken out of each paycheck. He uses this money to sponsor an orphan in Zimbabwe. He was beaming with pride when he told me this. I am more proud of him than I know how to say.

At the Ali Forney Center we respond to LGBT kids in the most horrifying situations imaginable. We respond with food and shelter, with job training and medical care. We work with kids from all over the country. Last year we cared for over 1,000 kids. As important as it is to house and feed these kids, it is just as important to affirm their basic human worth as LGBT people. It is important to show that they belong to our community, that they are valued and loved.

This Thanksgiving I am thankful for the kids who live with us, that they can have the opportunity to be healed of their terrible wounds. And I am thankful for the community of support that allows us to do this beautiful work. I am especially thankful to Joe and the JoeMyGod community for standing by us year after year. I am especially thankful for the amazing support we received last year when Hurricane Sandy destroyed our drop-in center.

I ask you to consider supporting our kids at this time. We have 200 kids on the waiting list for our shelters tonight, and have to rely on the support of the community in this time of sequestration and government cutbacks. Donations can be sent to us by mail at: Ali Forney Center, 224 West 35th Street, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10001. Donations can be made online here.

I wish all JMG readers a wonderful Thanksgiving! Thank you. - Carl Siciliano.

Al Jazeera On Ali Forney Center

As part of its coverage of the anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, yesterday Al Jazeera published a story about the destruction the Ali Forney Center's Manhattan headquarters, which staffers found devastated by chest-high seawater. But Al Jazeera says that the public's reaction to Ali Forney's plight was one of the few "feel-good stories" of the storm. And that good feeling was due in no small part to you, the readers of JMG.

The response to the Ali Forney Center’s story was like nothing it had seen before. The center receives between $250,000 and $500,000 in donations each November and December, the holiday donation season. But in the first 36 hours after the post on Joe.My.God, the center received more than $100,000 in donations. Soon, the total was $400,000. In all, the center received about $1 million in donations right after Sandy, Siciliano says. It remains unclear how much of the bounce was specifically motivated by Sandy or how much of it was because of the center’s elevated profile. A year later, Siciliano is still unsure why or how the center received that level of attention. “We became hot,” Siciliano says. “It was like we were the hot charity for like two months and that had never happened to me before. I didn’t know what that was like.”

The story goes on to note that Ali Forney Center, which has suffered cutbacks in contributions from the state and has not yet seen any FEMA money from the storm, is still struggling for funds. But I will forever be grateful for the fantastic way you beautiful people stepped up after Hurricane Sandy.

At The Ali Forney Center Gala

At Friday night's Ali Forney Center fundraiser, Carl Siciliano thoughtfully seated me and Dr. Jeff at the "Icons & Legends" table, knowing that I would be beyond delighted to spend much of the evening chatting with Stonewall Uprising participants Martin Boyce and Danny Garvin, who were homeless teenagers at the time. Carl forwards us a portion of the note Garvin wrote him afterwards:

Thank you so much for inviting me along with Martin as your guest to a Place at the Table for the AFC. I felt so honored to be there and to see how much the world has changed for gay kids on the street. I wish there had been something like AFC for me when I was on the streets. Maybe I would not have had to live so many nights of out lockers in Port of Authority on 42nd St. Or sell myself for 8 dollars to have a bed to sleep to in and a place to shower. Just some place to be hidden from the world until the next day when it would wall start all over again. I know I would have robbed less food from stores just to get something to eat.

Also seated at our table were Paris Is Burning director Jenny Livingston and one of the film's stars, Junior Labeija, who was also homeless in New York City as a teenager. Labeija, Boyce, and Garvin are all volunteers for the Ali Forney Center. (Amusing side note: Labeija entered in a magnificent cape, which he checked before sitting down.)

Ali Forney Center Announces Shred Of Hope Celebrity Online T-Shirt Auction

A galaxy of stars have come together to support the Ali Forney Center's Shred Of Hope, an online auction in which you can bid on original t-shirts created by gay celebrities and straight allies. Each of the participants worked with designers at the Manhattan-based fetish wear company Nasty Pig to create one-of-a-kind "shredders," which are sort of not-tank-tops.

Among the participants are activist and author Dan Savage and his husband Terry Miller, Tony winner Alan Cumming, Tony winner Jeff Whitty, Oscar winner Dustin Lance Black, talk show host Andy Cohen, rock star Bob Mould, MSNBC commentator Keith Boykin, Animal Planet host Scott Lope, rocker JD Samson, actress Ally Sheedy, pop superstars Michael Stipe, Adam Lambert and Jake Shears, and many more.

Via press release:

This June 20th trailblazing menswear label Nasty Pig will launch Shred of Hope, a fundraiser for the Ali Forney Center (AFC), the nation’s largest services and advocacy organization working with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) runaway and homeless youth.

Shred of Hope is an auction of one-of-a-kind “Shredder” t-shirts created by celebrities. The auction will take place entirely online from June 20th through June 27th at ShredofHope.com. 100% of the proceeds of Shred of Hope will support AFC’s work to protect and empower homeless LGBT youth, and to help them in becoming safe and independent as they move from adolescence to adulthood.

On June 20th Nasty Pig and the Ali Forney Center will host a launch party for Shred of Hope at the iconic Rootstein Gallery in New York City. Nasty Pig models will walk the floor selling opportunities to win one-of-a-kind Shred of Hope items and experiences to benefit the AFC.

VIDEO: Watch this clip featuring Ali Forney Center founder Carl Siciliano to learn more about Shred Of Hope.

NOTE: Somehow yours truly was also invited to participate. While I'm not a rock star or an Oscar winner, I'm going to depend on my faithful flying monkeys to make sure that MY shirt auctions well. The JMG logo is on the back and everybody signed their shirts. The auction starts online on June 20th.

Headline Of The Day

Carl Siciliano applauds Ksen Pallegedara:

Last weekend I found myself in a gym in Portland, Oregon with tears streaming down my face. I was at Lewis & Clark Law School, at the graduation ceremony of Ksen Pallegedara, one of the first young people ever to stay at the Ali Forney Center. As I saw Ksen walk by in his cap and gown with the other law school graduates, I reflected on the obstacles he had overcome and could not help but get choked up and feel a swell of great pride and hope.

And I remembered the first time I saw Ksen. It was October, 2002, just after we'd opened our shelter, the first for homeless LGBT youth in NYC. Ksen had just moved in. He calmly told me in a soft voice that he had spent weeks sleeping in the streets of New York City, after his mother had attacked him for being queer. He said she had become so enraged at learning he was not straight that she violently ripped out a piece of his scalp, and that he had fled from his home fearing for his life. [snip]

In 2010 we began having fundraising dinners where we would honor people who had worked to help LGBT youths. Each year we would also honor a graduate of the Ali Forney Center who had gone on to serve the community. I had no question that Ksen would be our first honoree. We flew him in from Portland, and that evening he told the crowd about that day when his mother had attacked him. He said that as he was running from her down the stairs of their apartment building, blood pouring from his wounded scalp, that she shouted at him "You'll be back, the faggots will never take care of you". He told us that the Ali Forney Center had proved her wrong.

Read Carl's full essay.

Guest Post - Carl Siciliano

Dear Friends,

When disaster strikes you really find out who your friends are.

Sandy did not spare the Ali Forney Center. While fortunately our eight housing sites were unharmed, and all our kids and staff came through safely, our drop-in center was utterly devastated. Four feet of water flooded the entire space. The floors, walls, outlets, were destroyed; all the food, clothing, medical supplies ruined, as were the computers, phones and furniture. Our program for NYC's most destitute LGBT youth, those homeless and on the streets waiting for shelter, was left homeless itself.

When I realized the extent of the destruction, I put a message on Facebook. Joe Jervis was the first person who reached out, offering up his blog to try to generate support. And that support came rushing in. Within 36 hours of my appeal for help on JoeMyGod, over $100K came in. So from the very bottom of my heart, I want to thank the JoeMyGod community. You have done yourselves proud; you have shown so much goodness and generosity.

The Ali Forney Center has never been able to put much money into fundraising; most of our resources need to go directly to our kids. It is very expensive to house and feed so many kids, and to provide them with medical care and other needed services. But we have made it through the recession, and we will survive Sandy and continue to grow in our ability to protect our kids, in no small part because Joe allows me to do these posts, and because so many of you respond.

I have been working on a photo essay documenting how NYC's homeless LGBT youth survive on the streets. The kids take me to the places where they try to make it through the nights, and I photograph them and record them talking about what they endure. In the last week two different kids have told me about their suicide attempts, standing in the spots where those attempts occurred. Last Thursday night I found myself with a young man at the edge of the beach in Coney Island as he told me of another cold night night when, despairing of being so hopeless and alone, he wanted to swim out to sea and drown himself. It is hard and disturbing to look these kids in their eyes and hear these things. I'm thankful that he decided to live.

It is a terrible thing that so many LGBT youth are driven from their homes and forced into destitution in the streets. It is truly one of the most terrible expressions of homophobia in our time. And realizing how desperate these kid's situations are, I am all the more grateful for your support, which allows us to protect these kids.

I know that a great many of you have given to us in the past few weeks, and I thank you. For those of you who are still considering giving to our recovery effort, I want to make you aware that two JoeMyGod readers, Frank Selvaggi and Bill Shea, have offered to match the gifts of new donors up to $50K in the coming year. This wonderful married couple came to support the Ali Forney Center after reading my appeal on JoeMyGod last Thanksgiving and have already given over $150K.

Donations can be mailed to Ali Forney Center, 224 West 35th Street, Suite 1500. New York, NY 10001 or made online here.  I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. And I thank all of you who have given us reason to be thankful in a very difficult time.

Carl Siciliano
Executive Director
Ali Forney Center

Sunday In NYC: Ali Forney Center Fundraiser In Hell's Kitchen

Tomorrow in Hell's Kitchen:

The Ali Forney Center (AFC) - the nation’s largest services and advocacy organization working on behalf of runaway and homeless lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth – had its drop-in center destroyed by the Hudson River storm surge following Hurricane Sandy. The center served as the entry point for a number of AFC services, including medical care, HIV testing, mental health services, housing referrals, and more. In order to raise money for the AFC in this time of crisis, Industry Bar, located at 355 West 52nd Street in Manhattan, will host a fundraising event from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 11, 2012. The event’s hosts will include actress Ally Sheedy and celebrity photographer Mike Ruiz.

The event is co-chaired by AFC board member and Chair of Manhattan Community Board 4, Corey Johnson, and AFC volunteer and OASIS co-chair Michael Green. Tickets are available for purchase at the door for $20, and 100 percent of the event proceeds from ticket sales, bar service and raffle items will go to the AFC. A matching donation of up to $50,000 will be generously made on behalf of AFC Board Member Bill Shea and his husband, Frank Selvaggi. “Sandy upended the lives of many New Yorkers, but not nearly as much as the youth of the Ali Forney Center, who now have nowhere to turn for basic services such as shelter and food. We are proud to help our community come together in support of its most vulnerable youth,” said Shea and Selvaggi.

I'll be there tomorrow! You can also donate directly via the AFC's website.

The Los Angeles Times Reports On The Response For The Ali Forney Center

As Hurricane Sandy unfolded, numerous unfounded rumors and some outright deliberate lies swirled across Twitter, ultimately costing one GOP operative his job. But in their cataloging of the abuses on Twitter, today the Los Angeles Times finds one shining light. And that light, my tender kittens, is YOU.

But as the floodwaters receded along with the furor over @ComfortablySmug, another -- arguably more important -- social media story was developing in Chelsea, half a block from the Hudson River. That story would in lesser degrees repeat itself over Manhattan, Staten Island and the Rockaways in the coming days of recovery, where information repeatedly won out over worries of ongoing, anonymous hysteria.

The story was this: The Ali Forney Drop-In Center filled up with four feet of water.  A lot of places in Manhattan got hit pretty hard, but there was reason to be especially concerned about this 1,200-square-foot office: It served New York’s homeless LGBT teenage population – the fringe of the fringe, kids turned out from home for being gay, kids who had to sleep on subways and sometimes turn to prostitution when they didn’t have a place to stay at night.  The drop-in center was ruined, its floors buckled, its electrical outlets filled with sea salt. So Ali Forney founder Carl Siciliano put out a call for help on Facebook.

Then a popular gay blogger named Joe My God picked up the message and ran with it.

And then Twitter – specifically, the people on it -- ran with it.

Pam Grier tweeted the news to hundreds of thousands of followers, Joseph Gordon-Levitt tweeted it to hundreds of thousands more, and in less than 24 hours, the Ali Forney Center had received more than 900 donations totaling $100,000, Siciliano said in an interview Sunday evening. “We’ve never had a day where $100,000 came in online before,” he told the Los Angeles Times. “That’s actually kind of phenomenal. And it shows the power of social media to do good.”

Although LGBT youth had historically been marginalized by traditional, mainstream institutions, Siciliano said, now the community could rally around those needing help the most. And social media helped make it happen, allowing people to help each other without waiting for someone else to tell them what to do.

I'm so very proud of the JMG community. You guys rock.

DONATE: The AFC is continuing to take your donations.  If you'd like to kick in a few bucks via PayPal, use this email address there: mramos@aliforneycenter.org.

NOTE: We'll be doing one more fundraiser here in Manhattan this weekend in Hell's Kitchen.  I think that will be a fantastic excuse for a long overdue JMG meetup in NYC.  Details to come later today.

Ali Forney Now Has A Paypal Account

After yesterday's post about the destruction of Ali Forney's drop-in center, some of you wrote asking for a PayPal donation address rather than use your credit cards.  That PayPal account now exists.  AFC executive director Carl Siciliano and his staff send the JMG community their heartfelt thanks for all of your concern and assistance.  (As do I!)  For traditional credit card donations, go here.  UPDATE: The link doesn't appear to work for some folks. Stand by and I'll have the direct email address for their Paypal account.  UPDATE II:  If the above link does not work, this is AFC's email address registered at PayPal: mramos@aliforneycenter.org.

NEW YORK CITY: Ali Forney Drop-In Center Destroyed By Hurricane Sandy

A terrible message from Carl Siciliano:

Dear Friends,  Yesterday we were finally able to inspect our drop-in center in Chelsea, half a block from the Hudson River. Our worst fears were realized; everything was destroyed and the space is uninhabitable. The water level went four feet high, destroying our phones, computers, refrigerator, food and supplies.

This is a terrible tragedy for the homeless LGBT youth we serve there. This space was dedicated to our most vulnerable kids, the thousands stranded on the streets without shelter, and was a place where they received food, showers, clothing, medical care, HIV testing and treatment, and mental health and substance abuse services. Basically a lifeline for LGBT kids whose lives are in danger.

We are currently scrambling for a plan to provide care to these desperate kids while we prepare to ultimately move into a larger space that will better meet our needs. The NYC LGBT Center has very kindly and generously offered to let us temporarily use some of their space, and we hope to determine the viability of that on Monday.

We have been deluged with kind offers from people who wish to volunteer and donate goods. Unfortunately, we will have to provide our services in the time being in much smaller spaces that won't accommodate volunteers or allow for much storage space. The best way people can reach out to help in this very challenging time is by making monetary donations. Please go to our website.

It is heartbreaking to see this space come to such a sad end. For the past seven years it has been a place of refuge to thousands of kids reeling from being thrown away by their parents for being LGBT. For many of these kids coming to our drop-in center provided their first encounter with a loving and affirming LGBT community. I thank all of you for your care and support in a most difficult time.

NOTE FROM JOE:  Folks, I realize that many (probably most) of you have already made donations of money and/or goods to help the people affected all over the northeast.  But this latest hurricane news is especially heartbreaking as it involves the most vulnerable of our own youth.  Please consider doing what you can in this very desperate situation.

NEW YORK: City Grants $3.3M To Ali Forney Center For Bea Arthur Residence

Some of may recall that Bea Arthur generously left $300,000 to the Ali Forney Center, which the LGBT youth advocates are using to as seed money to create a shelter in her name. Today we have fantastic news on that topic:

The Ali Forney Center, in partnership with the Cooper Square Committee announced today that the City Council has designated $3 million in funding to be combined with an additional$300K designated by Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer to help renovate222 East 13th Street in Manhattan's East Village neighborhood. The future Bea Arthur Residence for Homeless LGBT Youth will be an approximately 18-bedresidential supportive housing facility for homeless LGBT youth, to be named in honor of the late actress, Bea Arthur who was an advocate and supporter of the Ali Forney Center and its mission. The local Community Board #3 unanimously recommended that the site be transferred to the Ali Forney Center and Cooper Square Committee for this use.

Ali Forney head Carl Siciliano reacted: "Homeless LGBT youth, most of whom have been cast outof their homes, have faced the worst kind of cruelty and rejection. I am overwhelmed with gratitude that they now being shown such kindness by this community and its leaders."