JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Amber House is now the first safe house in Duval County for LGBTQ+ young people between the ages of 17 to 24 who are struggling with homelessness.
The nonprofit held a grand opening Saturday, but for safety reasons, News4JAX is not disclosing where Amber House is located.
“It’s overwhelmingly beautiful to be honest with you because it’s been a long time coming,” said Safe Resource Center of Jacksonville Vice President Kay Huggins.
The founder of Amber House, Kameren Stowers, said the purpose of the nonprofit is to help combat homelessness among LGBTQ+ young people.
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“That age range (17-24) is usually, from my understanding, people come out and sometimes their parents misplace them for them being themselves,” Stowers said. “We came up with a name Amber House — the name Amber means light, brightness, and safety, and I figure if you come from a very dark place, you step into something that is very vibrant, and safe and welcoming, then we can change that around for the community.”
Stowers said giving someone a clean and safe space to live can make a big difference.
Records show LGBTQ+ youth have a 120% higher risk of homelessness compared to non-LGBTQ+ youth. Several people attended the grand opening Saturday for the brand-new, three-bedroom, two-bath home. It includes surveillance cameras and an in-house chaperone. Residents are chosen on a referral basis.
LGBTQ children make up high proportions of the foster care, juvenile detention, and homeless youth populations.
“Between 40% and 60% of the homeless population identify within the LGBTQ+ community — and no one’s talking about it,” Stowers said. “That’s a high percentage, so we are looking to help out as much as we can.”
Studies show that LGBTQ+ youth who run away and experience homelessness are at high risk for certain negative experiences and outcomes. Almost half of LGBTQ+ youth run away from home because they “were outright rejected by their families, 43 percent because their parents forced them out, and 32 percent to escape physical, emotional, and mental abuse,” Family Resources said.
“As someone who is queer, thankfully I had a lot of support growing up, but not everyone has that so as someone who sees homeless people within the community all the time or people who are displaced because of the lack of support, this is wonderful,” said Huggins.
Huggins has seen firsthand the negative impacts homelessness can have on a young person in the LGBTQ+ community.
“We have so many people who come to us saying they have to leave as soon as their landlord finds out or they have to leave because their parents or family have found out so they’ve gone from having a place to stay to being displaced overnight,” said Huggins.
Four people can stay at the house at a time. The only requirement is that they attend a weekly meeting.
“It can be about financial literacy, budgeting, therapy, anything. A lot of resources we have, we have free testing coming and that will be a weekly thing as well,” said Stowers.
Stowers said the door is open to LGBTQ+ young people for as long as they need.
To learn more about donating, volunteer work, or housing, visit Amber House Jax on Instagram or call Stowers at 904-534-0522.