Number of D.C. shelters serving LGBTQ homeless is growing
The Wanda Alston Foundation states on its website that it made history in 2008 when it opened D.C.’s first transitional housing program solely dedicated to LGBTQ+ youth ages 18 to 24 experiencing homelessness.
As part of that program, the foundation, named after the late and beloved LGBTQ rights advocate Wanda Alston, has since opened two more LGBTQ youth homeless facilities, including one that opened last year that also made history.
Referred to as Renita’s, it’s a two-bed, two-year transitional housing program believed to be the first known such facility focused specifically on serving homeless transgender men of color.
In January 2017, the D.C. LGBTQ youth advocacy organization SMYAL opened the first of five housing sites it currently operates that can serve up to 66 LGBTQ youth experiencing homelessness.
