Right now, we are facing a homelessness crisis in New York City with our shelters struggling to care for over 60,000 people. Each night over 25,000 children sleep in shelters or on the street. More than 40% of children and young adults in the homeless population identify as LGBTQ or gender non-conforming. Many LGBTQ youth have been discharged from foster care and without an accepting family or oth
er supports, these young people are more likely to enter the city’s homeless shelter system. Legacee Kares works on the frontlines and offers proactive, grassroots, common sense solutions to combat the youth homelessness epidemic. We are seeking donations in the form of food items, clean and gently used clothes, toiletries, and funding. Legacee Kares is a community-based organization that collects donations from individuals and businesses around New York City and directly distributes to youth in need using its app to source donations and through partnerships with charity groups. Legacee is supported by ACT UP New York, a 501c4 advocacy organization focused on HIV prevention among at-risk groups, including homeless youth. We aim to help thousands of young people at temporary shelters, drop-in centers, and through street outreach by giving away ready-made food, warm and professional clothes of all sizes, essential toiletries, feminine hygiene products, school supplies, and brochures on existing resources and services, including HIV prevention information. We are hoping to raise $50,000 to fund our programs, including running focus groups to assess youth’s needs and securing storage for our donations.
