A new homeless shelter opened in Youngstown earlier this March and it holds a certain distinction: Full Spectrum’s Rainbow House of the Mahoning Valley is the only one in the state to provide emergency housing specifically for adults in the LGBTQ+ community.
Members of the LGBTQ+ community are much more likely to experience homelessness than the general population.
But Nikki Crawford, the housing operations manager for the Rainbow House, says they often face barriers to accessing resources.
“We’re not able to go to many other homeless shelters because either it's a policy that we're not allowed, or many faith-based institutions do not align with our values and so we're just not able to fit in in those spaces,” she said.
Crawford joined the Ohio Newsroom to discuss the shelter’s grand opening and the need for similar spaces across the state.
This conversation has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
On what the Rainbow House is like
“When you come to the Rainbow House, it's almost like visiting a friend versus going to an institution. It is a redone house with two bedrooms that have four beds each. It includes a living room with streaming services, a food pantry, a kitchen for making meals, a shower, laundry and dryer services.
“We tried to go for that friend's house vibe because we didn't want it to feel like you had to give up anything. You go, you have fun, you feel safe, but if you break some rules, the mom might show up and still ask you to quiet down for the night. So the vibes are very friendly. It's supposed to stand apart from other homeless shelters because unfortunately, in our area, there's not many other options for our community.”
On how the shelter works
“We are, right now, an emergency overnight shelter that you can stay in from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m., and it is available for a single night only. From there, we're able to assist in making sure that people have resources when they leave. We have a 15-minute walk map which includes all the resources within a 15-minute walk of our building. We have a list of every food pantry in the Mahoning Valley to make sure that when they leave they know where they can get food, clothing and other resources even when we're not open.
“When you come to the Rainbow House, it's almost like visiting a friend versus going to an institution."Nikki Crawford, housing operations manager
“We are opening up in the long term to be a 24/7, 30-day transitional housing resource, where we want to put on programming that [provides] proactive homeless resources. We want to make sure that people are learning how to cook, people are learning how to balance a budget, people are learning how to apply and keep jobs because a lot of people are starting at a disadvantage.”
On the importance of having a shelter for the LGBTQ+ community
“I myself am trans identifying and I have been trans outwardly for about five years now. And life changed a lot when I changed that one little switch of an identity. I was welcomed into less places. I wasn't given the same resources I had been given the previous 21 years of my life. The stigma behind me working in a shelter changed drastically, from me being just your friendly neighbor to someone who might be a harm if you let me in, based off of our current climate. And so we're seeing a culture that's developing that demonizes LGBTQ people from seeking resources.
“We're not able to go to many other homeless shelters because either it's a policy that we're not allowed or many faith-based institutions do not align with our values and so we're just not able to fit in in those spaces. With current administrative changes, some places are either restricted or outright banned funding for serving our community. And so we know in our immediate area there are very little homeless resources that are supportive and affirming of our community. So we made this not as a special resource, but to accommodate for a gap we're seeing in our community. “
On obstacles to opening
“There's many, many, many, many. To start off, we’re entirely volunteer run and donation driven. And this was done intentionally. We did not want to start off this program with grants that could be taken out from under our feet. And we did not want to create a resource that the Mahoning Valley community didn't need. If people don't need it, they're not going to support it. So, we're very fortunate to have a community that recognizes how important it is.”
On being state’s only LGBTQ+ adult homeless shelter
“We were unfortunately not the first in this regard. We are ‘the only’ because we started a new model to make this happen, but there were efforts to provide youth homelessness that unfortunately were cut funding entirely from the current administration. Relying on our federal government unfortunately has failed our community, and so we had to create something brand new to launch something like this in the midst of those obstacles.
“But we don't want to be ‘the only’ for a long time. We want to inspire other cities to create something using this model. It might take a couple years, but we want to prove we can do that and maybe claim funding in the future when things are more friendly for the LGBTQ community. But we want to prove we could do it without that support as well.”
On the need for similar spaces across the state
“We know that homelessness is one of the resources that has the largest gap in terms of what is being provided to it across the country. It doesn't matter what demographic you're a part of. We're seeing people starving, dying from the cold. We're seeing housing go up in price so much that the average person is just losing their ability to pay rent and becoming homeless. Then, when you add LGBTQ to that, we know that LGBTQ community members are 120% more likely to experience homelessness than their non-LGBTQ peers. That's because of familial rejection, institutional rejection, a lack of safety nets in our communities to make sure that people are helped when things happen. I've been very close to homeless myself, but I'm fortunate enough to have a strong community system that was my safety net. If that wasn't there, I would be one of the people we're serving as well. So it's really important that we're helping all homeless people, but acknowledging the gaps that we could help homeless people.”
