SAN ANTONIO -- A San Antonio non-profit wants to build a home for a marginalized minority in the city. It's one of the few shelters in the nation, specifically for gay and lesbian youth living on the streets.
According to a 2012 Williams Institute study about 40 percent of the nation's homeless youth are LGBT. And there's anywhere between 1.6 to 2.8 homeless youth living on the streets. In San Antonio it's estimated that there's at least a thousand young adults living on the streets and about half of whom are LGBT.
Sandra Whitley is the founder of the Thrive Youth Center, which will operate temporarily out of Travis Park United Methodist Church 3 days a week. Currently, the walls at the center are blank and the room is empty, but it will soon be filled with LGBT youth ages 17 to 24.
"The kids that are homeless are homeless because they were thrown of out of their house, or because it was so violent in their house because they were gay," said Whitley.
Associate Pastor of the church Dale Tremper said, the church didn't hesitate to offer space once it heard about the mission.
"Working with the young adults who are on the street, is very hard to do, so when Sandy came along with a vision for a particular portion of young adults on the street, we couldn't say no," said Tremper.
Whitley said other San Antonio shelters do a great job, but it's easier for LGBT youth to feel accepted when living among their peers.
"This issue of homeless lgbt youth in the united states is actually an epidemic.
"People have ideas of what they want their kids to be and when their kids don't turn out the way they want, families have a hard time coping with that and that can be very hostile," said Whitley.
The center was scheduled to open its doors last month, but the church needs to be re-zoned to accommodate the Thrive Youth Center, which could happen as soon as next month.
