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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Kaja, Member of Youth Advocacy Board at Ali Forney Center
5:23:50
ยท
103 sec
Kaja, a member of the Youth Advocacy Board at Ali Forney Center, provided testimony on youth homelessness and the need for holistic approaches in DYCD's services. They emphasized the importance of mental health resources and the challenges faced by LGBT homeless youth.
- Highlighted that 40% of homeless youth are LGBT and require mental health support
- Expressed concern about the potential loss of funding for housing specialist providers currently supported by a federal grant
- Called for the city to step in and reinforce social services networks, especially in light of potential federal funding gaps
Kaja
5:23:50
Hello.
5:23:52
Thank you.
5:23:55
Hello.
5:23:55
I'm I'm Kaja.
5:23:56
I'm with the youth advocacy board at Allie Forney Center.
5:24:00
I offer you my perspective based off of my lived experience and also informed by my peers based off the advocacy work that we do.
5:24:09
We believe that DYCD must approach youth homelessness, youth chronic homelessness with a holistic lens.
5:24:15
The truth is that forty percent of of homeless people homeless youth are LGBT and many of them need mental health resources.
5:24:25
And also through navigating these like Kafkaesque bureaucratic systems, One, it increases and exasperates those mental health challenges, but also it makes it harder to navigate those systems in the future.
5:24:44
We know, like, from our pioneers that justice deferred is justice denied, and a dream deferred dries up like a raisin in the sun.
5:24:53
And our youth are our dreams, and in this time, especially in this climate, we can't allow our social services to be under attack or fall under atrophy.
5:25:05
A lot of like 16 like the 16 housing specialist providers are currently funded by a federal grant and that grant is like soon gonna be running out.
5:25:14
And in this current climate where our federal infrastructure is being dismantled in general, I think it's important that the city step in and not only fill the gaps that we are perceiving that the federal government might lack in, but also to take the chance to reinforce our social services network in general.
5:25:31
So that's it.
5:25:32
Thank you.