Identified Community- Homeless LGBTQ Youth Ages 12-25 – Demographics and Overview
The community that will be covered in this paper is the homeless LGBTQ youths between the ages of 12 and 25 in the Virginia area.
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Community Characteristics
Community characteristics refer to the common ends and life that individuals in a community have in common. Homelessness tends to disrupt the normal development of individuals, resulting in physical and mental health problems as well as behavioral and educational attainment issues. Homeless Lesbians, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth face such challenges in addition to challenges with frequent family rejection, discrimination, and social stigma due to their sexual orientation (Coolhart & Brown, 2017). LGBTQ young adults are said to have a 120 percent higher probability of being homeless compared to cisgender and heterosexual peers. Furthermore, 1 in 30 youths and 1 in 10 young adults between the ages of 13 and 17 and 18 and 25, respectively, are said to experience homelessness in a span of one year (Quintana, Rosenthal & Krehely, 2010). The LGBTQ youth form about 40 percent of the homeless youth population, even though they are only about 10 percent of the general youth population (HRC Staff, 2017). Stigma and discrimination tend to be the major cause that prevents LGBTQs’ ability to find stable, affordable, and safe housing. In Virginia, the number of homeless LGBTQ is not clear, but as of January 2020, there were about 5,957 homeless individuals, with 234 being unaccompanied young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 (United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, 2021).
Community Functions
A community is not able to exist unless its members show concern for each other, resulting in the maturation of both the community and the individual. A community is based on collaborating, caring, and challenging. The LGBTQ community disproportionately suffers from homelessness mainly due to their sexual orientation, and this could be reflective of efforts to ensure social control to curb behaviors that are considered deviant, and this comes at the cost of the general health of this population.
Community Dimensions
The health of a community is composed of various interrelated dimensions. A healthy community refers to a place where individuals living there are able to meet their economic, cultural, physical, spiritual, and social needs, and these work for the common good of every individual (Hhs.gov, 2021). In the case of the LGBTQ community, social stigma and discrimination, particularly due to family rejection, results in problems accessing and addressing their social, physical, spiritual, and social needs.
Organizational Supports
One of the organizational resources that the young homeless LGBTQ adolescents can make use of is the Alternative House- the Abused and Homeless Children’s Refuge. This resource aims to transform the lives of youth and children by helping them stay safe, attain educational success, make positive decisions, and also overcome personal crises. Such children are offered counseling, after-school programs, and neighborhood and shelter programs. The program also offers recreational, computer skills, tutoring, and homework help, and these can help improve the skills that such youths already have and prepare them to face the world with more resilience. This program could be highly beneficial to LGBTQ homeless children.
Another resource is the Transgender Assistance Program of Virginia, which is a trans-led non-profit organization that is aimed at putting an end to homelessness among the LGBTQ community in Virginia. This organization offers educational opportunities by providing the intersectionality that exists between homelessness, socioeconomic status, discrimination, and racism in Virginia. The organization offers temporary and safe transitional housing to the homeless LGBTQ young adults in Virginia and offers additional resources required to eliminate any barriers to self-sufficiency. This organization will help meet various social, physical, and mental needs of the population, particularly because it is run by a transgender community.
References
Coolhart, D., & Brown, M. T. (2017). The need for safe spaces: Exploring the experiences of homeless LGBTQ youth in shelters. Children and Youth Services Review, 82, 230–238. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.09.021
Hhs.gov. (2021). Community Health and Economic Prosperity. Retrieved 24 October 2021, from https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/chep-sgr-full-report.pdf
HRC Staff. (2017, November 15). New Report on Youth Homeless Affirms that LGBTQ Youth Disproportionately Experience Homelessness. Human Rights Campaign. https://www.hrc.org/news/new-report-on-youth-homeless-affirms-that-lgbtq-youth-disproportionately-ex
Quintana, N. S., Rosenthal, J., & Krehely, J. (2010). On the streets: The federal response to gay and transgender homeless youth. Washington, DC: Center for American Progress.
Transgender Assistance Program of Virginia. (2021). A Community United To End Transgender Homelessness. https://tapvirginia.org/
United States Interagency Council on Homelessness. (2021). Virginia Homelessness Statistics. https://www.usich.gov/homelessness-statistics/va/
Volunteer Match. (2021). Alternative House- the Abused and Homeless Children’s Refuge. https://www.volunteermatch.org/search/
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Question 
This is a group project, so I need sections two and four. We are covering homeless LGBTQ youth ages 12-25, specifically in the Virginia area, but we can pull facts from nationwide. Who they are? Give an overview of this community.
Identified Community- Homeless LGBTQ Youth Ages 12-25 – Demographics and Overview
2. Section 2: Identified Community (header centered and bold): This section of this paper will provide an overview of your identified community. Who are they? Where are they? Basic demographic information.
1. Below are subsections that should be included in this section. You can organize them in the way that flows best for your paper, but make sure to hit all three concepts and define them (They are defined in Chapter 5 of Netting et al.). All these headers should be justified and bold.
1. Community Characteristics
2. Community Functions
3. Community Dimensions
4. Section 4: Organizational Supports (header centered and bold): Identify and describe two organizations that serve your identified community (or could serve them). Describe how their offerings could help meet the identified community challenges and capitalize on their identified strengths.