El Rescate Transitional Residence for LGBTQ Youth

The Puerto Rican Cultural Center-Vida/SIDA wishes to provide services to LGBTQ homeless youth in the City of Chicago. We are excited to announce that the PRCC Vida/SIDA has initiated the creation of El Rescate (The Rescue). This is an innovative response to homelessness among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer ( LGBTQ) Latino youth in Humboldt Park. A recent study revealed the pervasiveness of homeless youth in Cook County where more than 2,000 young people live on the streets and have no safe place to sleep. Other studies have illuminated that as many as 42% of these young people self identify as LGBTQ. This is an unmet crisis that requires our compassion and immediate action. El Rescate will be a sanctuary for this targeted vulnerable group. It will be a shelter from the storm of the intolerance, hostility, and need that has sparked a suicide rate higher than that of any other demographic in the city of Chicago.  In El Rescate, basic human rights such as warmth, shelter, food, and a safe place to sleep will be met. Moreover, El Rescate will provide vocational, entrepreneurship, and money management training designed to highlight the eclectic skills and sensibilities of these young people.

Recently, the PRCC petitioned to rezone its building at 2703 W. Division St. Shortly, we will be able to provide culturally relevant housing opportunities and support services to the Puerto Rican/Latino LGBTQ youth in Humboldt Park. The building will continue to house Vida/SIDA and therefore will allow it to extend its essential services to even more LGBTQ youth. This step-up housing program will provide a continuum of housing solutions (including transitional residence units) for LGBTQ youth ages 18-21.

El Rescate 3 major goals for participants are:

1)    They are in increasingly stable housing situations

2)    They have a stable source of income that is adequate to meet their needs

3)    They are self-actualized and develop the self-esteem, personal life skills and supports necessary to maintain stability.

These three goals all work together towards supporting our homeless or precariously housed at-risk households in moving away from and out of homelessness towards greater stability.  We carry out our mission by helping clients to move along a defined continuum of stability, which takes into account housing, income and life skills development.  Through our services we: help clients to secure housing; assist with everyday challenges and help to stabilize lives; provide access to education and job training; and connect clients with a range of community resources.  Vida/SIDA utilizes an integrated service delivery approach which combines intake, case management, housing advocacy, education, job development, and client support together to help the client address both the crisis they are in and long term solutions to their situation.

For more information please call Juan Calderon @ 773-278-6737

This entry was posted on Friday, July 8th, 2011 at 11:34 am and is filed under Slider. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.