<p>Many traditional homeless shelters or group homes and residences are not the best place for LGBT youth. A lot don&#39;t understand the specific needs of LGBT young people. Some that are run by religious organizations may be hostile to gay teens, and sadly, some shelters are just not safe for <a href="https://www.liveabout.com/how-do-age-of-consent-laws-affect-lgbt-teens-1415624" data-component="link" data-source="inlineLink" data-type="internalLink" data-ordinal="1">LGBT teens</a>.</p><h3>Finding an LGBT-Friendly Shelter</h3><p>If at all possible, LGBT teens who are facing homelessness, or who are already homeless, should try to locate LGBT-friendly services. When dealing with a crisis like homelessness, the last thing you need is a hostile or homophobic service provider.</p><p>In many places this simply won&#39;t be an option, but more and more cities around the United States are offering not only LGBT-friendly homeless services, but LGBT-friendly homeless shelters and residences as well.</p><p>One of these, The Ali Forney Center in New York, has <a href="https://www.aliforneycenter.org/index.cfm?fuseaction&#61;cms.page&amp;id&#61;1001" data-component="link" data-source="inlineLink" data-type="externalLink" data-ordinal="2">complied a list</a> of such resources in 16 states: California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Utah, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.</p><p>Here are some examples:</p><p><strong>The Waltham House, Massachusettes: </strong><a href="http://www.thehome.org/site/PageServer?pagename&#61;programs_waltham_house" data-component="link" data-source="inlineLink" data-type="externalLink" data-ordinal="3" rel="nofollow">The Waltham House</a> is Massachusetts-based group home program designed to provide a safe and supportive living environment for LGBTQ youth ages 14-18.</p><p>Opened in 2002, the home offers housing, therapy, health care services, education, and life skills development. Waltham House is run by The Home for Little Wanderers, a private, nonprofit child welfare agency that assists children in state custody.</p><p><strong>The Ruth Ellis Center, Michigan: </strong><a href="http://www.ruthelliscenter.org/" data-component="link" data-source="inlineLink" data-type="externalLink" data-ordinal="4" rel="nofollow">The Ruth Ellis Center</a> serves Southeastern Michigan. It&#39;s mission is to provide short-term and long-term residential safe space and support services for runaway, homeless and at-risk LGBTQ youth ages 12 to 21.</p><p>The center offers housing, skill building, educational and job preparation, physical and mental health care.</p><p>The center is named after Ruth Ellis, a lesbian who lived in Detroit from 1938 until her death in 2000. Known for forming a community base for African-American gay men and lesbians out of her home, the center bearing her named opened in 1999.</p><p><strong>The Ali Forney Center, New York: </strong><a href="https://www.aliforneycenter.org/" data-component="link" data-source="inlineLink" data-type="externalLink" data-ordinal="5">The Ali Forney Center</a> is based in New York and was named after a queer youth who was killed on the street in 1997.</p><p>The center opened in 2002 and it is designed to serve <a href="https://www.liveabout.com/how-gay-frienly-is-your-doctor-1411930" data-component="link" data-source="inlineLink" data-type="internalLink" data-ordinal="6">LGBT youth</a> aged 16 to 24 years, by offering safe shelter, street outreach, case management, primary medical care, HIV testing, mental health assessment and treatment, food and showers, employment assistance.</p><p>In 2009, Bea Arthur, the star of the TV series <em>The Golden Girls,</em> left $300,000 to the center, and in 2012, the Ali Forney Center announced that the New York City Council and the Manhattan borough president had designated $3.3 million to help renovate a city-owned building and transform it into a new 18-bed shelter named for Bea Arthur.</p><h3>Other LGBT Youth Shelters and Homes</h3><p>A number of other LGBT youth shelters and homes exist. These include places like:</p><ul><li><a href="http://westendres.org/category/true-colors-residence/" data-component="link" data-source="inlineLink" data-type="externalLink" data-ordinal="7" rel="nofollow">True Colors,</a> a transitional housing program for formerly homeless LGBT youth 18-23 in New York City.</li><li><a href="http://www.trinityplaceshelter.org/" data-component="link" data-source="inlineLink" data-type="externalLink" data-ordinal="8" rel="nofollow">Trinity Place Shelter</a> a non-sectarian New York-based transitional shelter designed to provide LGBT youth and young adults with a safe place to sleep, eat, store belongings, have access to transportation, counseling, and additional independent living services.</li><li><a href="http://sfhomeless.wikia.com/wiki/The_Ark_of_Refuge" data-component="link" data-source="inlineLink" data-type="externalLink" data-ordinal="9">The Ark of Refuge</a> provides 12 to 18 months of transitional housing for young adults in San Francisco. The program is geared towards LGBT youth.</li></ul><p>It is also important to know that in extreme cases, teens can seek legal emancipation from parents which offers minors the legal rights and responsibilities of adults.</p>