![\"Leaders](\"https:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Whats-The-T-Transgender-Support-Group-Streetwork-2.jpg\" "\\"Leaders")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Leaders of the Transgender Support Group: Program Assistant\u00a0Alahna Brown, Youth Advocate\u00a0Brenda Duran, and\u00a0Manager of Mpowerment\u00a0Ivan Monforte<\/em><\/p>\n At Safe Horizon\u2019s Streetwork Project<\/a>, we help homeless youth and teens by providing basic necessities and access to the essential services they need to survive.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, many of these young people become homeless or suffer abuse because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, including being transgender. According to\u00a0National Coalition for the Homeless, 40% of homeless or at-risk youth identify as gay or transgender.\u00a0To better serve the transgender community at Streetwork, two staff members created a support group called \u201cWhat\u2019s the T?\u201d<\/p>\n Streetwork\u2019s Manager of Mpowerment Ivan Monforte and Youth Advocate Brenda Duran named the transgender support group \u201cWhat\u2019s the T?\u201d which is a pun of \u201cwhat\u2019s the gossip.\u201d Established around 2007, the monthly\u00a0support group meets at Streetwork\u2019s Harlem Drop-in Center and provides a safe, judgement-free space where transgender and gender non-conforming homeless youth can feel free to be themselves.<\/p>\n “We let each individual define who they are, ”\u00a0Ivan explains.<\/em>\u00a0“We tell them not to let society tell them who they are regardless of presentation.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n In addition to community building and emotional support, the group assists young people with their transitions by providing\u00a0items to help them present in their preferred gender, and in turn avoid harassment and discrimination. Some of the items available include: binders and packers for transgender men, and wigs and make up for transgender women, as well as clothing that matches their identity. A Streetwork Youth Advocate, Kathleen Cash, has even lent her skills as a makeup artist to help transgender women present in a way that aligns more with the way they feel inside, and help build their self-esteem and self-worth.<\/p>\n Streetwork support groups like \u201cWhat’s the T?\u201d create an inclusive, nurturing environment for homeless teens no matter what their gender identification. We are proud to support these young people as they seek refuge from the stark realities of life on the streets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Streetwork Project\u2019s transgender support group \u201cWhat\u2019s The T?\u201d provides a safe, judgement-free space for homeless transgender and gender non-conforming youth to be themselves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":{"id":2634,"alt_text":"Whats-The-T-Transgender-Support-Group-Streetwork-2","caption":"","description":"Whats-The-T-Transgender-Support-Group-Streetwork-2","media_type":"image","media_details":{"width":500,"height":357,"file":"2015\/06\/Whats-The-T-Transgender-Support-Group-Streetwork-2.jpg","sizes":{"thumbnail":{"file":"Whats-The-T-Transgender-Support-Group-Streetwork-2-150x150.jpg","width":150,"height":150,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Whats-The-T-Transgender-Support-Group-Streetwork-2-150x150.jpg"},"medium":{"file":"Whats-The-T-Transgender-Support-Group-Streetwork-2-300x214.jpg","width":300,"height":214,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Whats-The-T-Transgender-Support-Group-Streetwork-2-300x214.jpg"}},"image_meta":{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0","keywords":[]}},"post":1389,"source_url":"https:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Whats-The-T-Transgender-Support-Group-Streetwork-2.jpg"},"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2015],"tags":[187,189],"class_list":["post-1389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-safe-blog","tag-streetwork-project","tag-transgender-support-group","issue-homeless-youth"],"acf":{"page_header_excerpt":"Streetwork Project\u2019s transgender support group \u201cWhat\u2019s The T?\u201d provides a safe, judgement-free space for homeless transgender and gender non-conforming youth to be themselves.","related_initiative_link":"\/donate\/","original_url":"https:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/page\/streetwork-transgender-support-group-asks-whats-the-t-374.html","page_header_title":"","page_header_image":"https:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/silhouette_hero_image.png","related_initiative_title":"Help provide support for homeless young people","related_initiative_link_text":"Donate","featured_posts":[{"ID":3265,"post_author":"13","post_date":"2016-11-07 20:57:29","post_date_gmt":"2016-11-07 20:57:29","post_content":"![\"Whats](\"https:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Whats-The-T-Transgender-Support-Group-Streetwork.jpg\" "\\"Whats")
<\/p>\n![\"Youth](\"https:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Streetwork-Project-Uptown-Drop-In-Center-1024x700.jpg\")
<\/em>\r\n\r\nBy Sebastien Vante\r\nNovember 7, 2016<\/em>\r\n\r\nStreetwork Project provides respite for homeless youth up to age 24 by providing safe and welcoming Drop-In Centers stocked with all their basic needs. As the Sexual Health Coordinator, I provide guidance and resources to help them make healthy choices. In this youth homelessness FAQ, I will talk about how I got started with Safe Horizon and the issue of\u00a0youth homelessness.\r\nHow did you first become involved with Safe Horizon?<\/h1>\r\nI studied political science in college in preparation to become a lawyer, but decided to change careers after volunteering with youth. Since then, I sought to work with a youth development program. Safe Horizon\u2019s Streetwork Project<\/a> focuses on harm-reduction, which really attracted me.\r\n
What are some unique aspects of Streetwork?<\/h1>\r\nStreetwork as well as Safe Horizon as a whole, do not discriminate based on identity of any kind either. Some programs may not serve LGBTQ homeless youth because of religious beliefs, but we will and I\u2019m proud to say that.\r\n\r\nWe know a lot of our clients use drugs, and while we prefer them not too, our focus is to make sure that if they choose to do so, we are there to try and reduce the harm done as much as possible. We do things like clean needle exchanges, HIV testing, and more to ensure they are as safe as possible.\r\n
What is the biggest challenge serving homeless youth in New York City?<\/h1>\r\nResources. The current problem of homeless youth in New York City outweighs the resources available to Streetwork to address it as effectively as possible. That\u2019s why support from volunteers, donors, and corporations is so critical to our work and the clients we serve.\r\n
What have you learned while working with youth at Streetwork?<\/h1>\r\nThat there isn\u2019t a specific \u201clook\u201d to homelessness. People think that homeless youth are dirty, disheveled, aren\u2019t conscious or intellectual. The young people I work with are some of the smartest, most put together people I\u2019ve ever met. They are aware of how appearance can be used to judge them, so they go to extreme lengths to appear just like anyone else so no one views them as homeless. They\u2019re extremely aware of their situations, of the challenges they face.\r\n\r\nI wish more people who aren\u2019t homeless realized this, that there is no one look to the issue, and that it can happen to anyone.","post_title":"Sebastien Vante Answers Frequently Asked Questions about Youth Homelessness","post_excerpt":"Sebastien Vante, sexual health coordinator at our Streetwork Project, talks about his work with homeless youth and answers questions he is often asked.","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"youth-homelessness-faq","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2025-06-10 13:35:57","post_modified_gmt":"2025-06-10 17:35:57","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/?p=3265","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"title_font_size":"42","sub-headline_placement":false,"custom_scripts":false,"show_author_bio":false},"yoast_head":"\n