BGSQDBureau of General Services—Queer Division
BGSQD
A recording of this event is available to watch on the Bureau’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7arxJckq-Q
COVID has had a disproportionate impact on folks experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity. LGBTQIA2S+ youth of color have been hit especially hard. In this panel, we’ll hear from folks who have experienced houselessness and members of organizations working to fill the gaps left by inequities in the system. Topics include youth experiences, Trans health and safety, problems and limitations of the foster care system, connections to prisons and policing, the impacts of COVID and the vaccine, and what we all can do to work towards housing justice.
Featuring Panelists:
Jayden Avery, VOCAL-NY
Kate Barnhart, New Alternatives
Reginald Brown, VOCAL-NY
Ceyenne Doroshow, GLITS
La’Kenya Tam, Open Rainbow Residences
Registration on Eventbrite is required in order to receive the event link on the day of the event.
This event is free!
We encourage you to make donations, if you are able, to the following organizations:
No Place to Call Home: Queer & Trans Houselessness, 2021, is the first in a series of five virtual events presented by Reclaim Pride Coalition and the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division in the weeks leading up to the Queer Liberation March, on Sunday, June 27th, 2021.
In conjunction with these events, the Bureau’s online store now features a section devoted to titles recommended by Reclaim Pride Coalition members–click here to view.
Panelists’ biographies:
Kate Barnhart is a long-time AIDS activist and member of ACT UP/NY who has been arrested multiple times for acts of civil disobedience protesting issues related to AIDS, healthcare, police brutality, immigration and as part of the anti-Trump resistance. She has worked with at-risk youth since 1994, including six years working with young felons at CASES, an alternative-to-incarceration program. Since 2001, she has worked with homeless LGBT youth. She spent five years serving as Director of Sylvia’s Place, an emergency shelter for LGBT homeless youth, and is currently the Executive Director of New Alternatives for LGBT Homeless Youth, an organization she helped found in Oct. 2008. In her free time, Ms. Barnhart rescues and rehabilitates stray cats.
Ceyenne Doroshow (pronounced Kai-Ann) is a compassionate powerhouse performer, activist, organizer, community-based researcher and public figure in the trans and sex worker rights’ movements. As the Founder and Executive Director of G.L.I.T.S., she works to provide holistic care to LGBTQ sex workers while serving on the following boards: SWOP-USA, Caribbean Equality Project, SOAR Institute and NYTAG. As an international public speaker, her presentations include The Desiree Alliance, Creating Change, SisterSong, Harm Reduction Coalition and the International AIDS Conferences. She was a featured emcee for Toronto Pride and MOMA/PS1’s Sex Workers’ Festival of Resistance, lifting her voice as a trans woman of color. Ceyenne has been heavily featured in the media, has performed on television in Showtime’s OZ, for the documentaries Red Umbrella Diaries and Miss Major. Known for her skills in the kitchen, Ceyenne co-authored the Caribbean cookbook Cooking in Heels, while incarcerated on prostitution charges. She is currently working on her second book, titled Falling Into the Fire.
Reginald Thomas Brown, M. Ed. (they/them) Board Member, VOCAL-NY.
and
Jayden-Avery Love (she/hers/they/he) Spiritual Consultant (energy reader)
At a time when social constructs and traditional social norms that rely heavily on rigid, oppressive, arbitrary constructs are regarded as 100% truth, we refuse to be defined or limited due to our unchangeable character traits and physical attributes. The heteronormative narrative has no place our life-affirming journey. We are two radical, revolutionary multi-spirited individuals who meet outside of these constructs, write our own narrative and connect deeply on many levels with the vibrations of CHOSEN family, that foster and promote deep spiritual faith, ascension, truthfulness and unapologetically authentic living. We have defined a friendship divined by the universe. OUR universe. We have also mastered how to hold ourselves accountable for effects we are not responsible for causing.
La’Kenya Tam, Founder /Executive Director Open Rainbow Residence, Inc.
La’Kenya has devoted her career to helping at-risk individuals who have struggled with addiction, marginalization, family care ,youth development and gender identity issues. She is a Board-Certified Human Service Practitioner (HS-BCP) whose experience includes 20 years in the Human Service Field within the nonprofit sector .While seeing the lack of appropriate housing and aftercare resources for this population. La’Kenya founded Open Rainbow Residence (ORR), a supportive housing/guidance program for the LGBTQ population who no longer qualify for Youth Services . In addition to also two complimentary programs A Second of Compassion and It Continues With Him two holistic services to all persons who identify as a woman and men from 0-100.
Over the course of her career, La’Kenya has worked with countless of peoples—both on-site and in their communities —assessing specific needs and providing solutions to improve stability, economics and outcomes.Her dedication and exceptional organization skills have allowed her to effectively follow up, monitor and continually expand her connections with service providers. She welcomes opportunities to help people from all walks of life gain confidence and move beyond anything that has held them back.
Link to Linked-in account for La’Kenya Tam
Link to Rainbow Residence Gofundme
Open Rainbow Residence – Motto:
What happens when youth services dry up….WE DO!!
Open Rainbow Residence provides supportive housing options to young adult members of the LGBTQ community by offering a safe and stable environment along with guidance. We prepare our residents to shape a future characterized by hope, self confidence, dignity and purpose.