Recipients will receive a card loaded with an approved amount that can be used for expenses such as rent payments or expunging an eviction from their record.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. โ A local nonprofit is fighting homelessness among LGBTQ+ youth with a new direct cash assistance program, even as it navigates the fallout from nationwide cuts to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
Time Out Youth will distribute $200,000 in direct financial assistance this year to young people in Charlotte ages 18 to 24 who face barriers to safe housing.ย
Charlotte is only the fifth city in the country to receive the grant through the THAP-IN program from Point Source Youth in partnership with the Leon Levine Foundation. Time Out Youth also credit Emergency Solutions Grant funding from the City of Charlotte.
Recipients will receive a card loaded with an approved amount that can be used for expenses such as rent payments or expunging an eviction from their record.
“Oh, you need $1,000 to get the eviction off your record, and then it will change your housing opportunities moving forward โ we can give them that money to do that,” Time Out Youth CEO Sarah Mikhail said. “Charlotte has a lot of housing. We are a very fully developing city, and there are some great developments that are interested in affordable housing, but this is a way to help us get our young people who don’t feel safe in shelters that have historically been rejected by family support.”
Mikhail said the need for this funding has grown as LGBTQ+ youth are disproportionately impacted by housing instability. According to the National Coalition for the Homeless, 40% of homeless youth identify as LGBTQ+, while only 10% of the general youth population identifies that way.
Even with the new funding, Mikhail said lasting change will require action at the policy level. The North Carolina General Assembly returns Monday, and Mikhail said she hopes lawmakers center the real needs of young people in Mecklenburg County.
“We are in place because we don’t have government entities that are taking care of unhoused young people,” Mikhail said. “I’d like to see that the young people are the focus of the support, not the focus of the attack.”
To apply, contact Time Out Youth by phone or in person.
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