Youngstown’s first LGBTQIA+ homeless shelter opening in 2025, funds being raised
Charity Weidow’s job as the new housing director at Full Spectrum Community Outreach is to help members of the LGBTQIA+ community access safe housing.
The Full Spectrum Community Outreach Center is opening the Mahoning Valley’s first LGBTQIA+ shelter for young adults experiencing homelessness and needing a safe place to stay.
Weidow said the six-bedroom shelter is going to be opening in 2025 as a separate facility from Full Spectrum’s outreach center.
It will be the first shelter of its kind within a 40 mile radius of the Mahoning Valley.
“We have a couple of shelters in this area, but none of them are focused on our population. The closest ones are in Pittsburgh and Cleveland, and with the homeless population, the ability to [travel] is not always there,” Weidow said. “It’s a good idea for us to be able to help our own community first, and be able to have that access for them.”
Weidow is hosting events to raise funds and awareness about the new shelter, including a roundtable to talk about experiencing homelessness at 4 p.m. Nov. 27 in Youngstown.
“Right now we need about $30,000 to get the construction done. We have a couple people sponsoring bedrooms, and we’re really pushing to get it done,” she said. “We are all volunteer-run.”
At the shelter, clients will be able to stay for 30-90 days.
“If it needs to be, it can be a little bit extended or a little bit reduced, depending on the clients, because our whole thing is that they’re going to leave better than they came in, and they have to be actively participating in the program,” Weidow said. “They have to be working with me directly to find housing, volunteering for Full Spectrum so that they can get involved in the community.”
“We’re going to be doing classes if they need AA or NA or whatever combination of things that they’re going to do those things. In the LGBT community, there is a lot of drug use, just because of the marginalized groups,” she added.
Donations are being accepted online, and follow Full Spectrum on Facebook for fundraiser events and updates.
This story was originally published November 19, 2024 at 5:13 AM.
