Shelter Project Builds Movement By Building Community

It was a great summer for the Shelter Project.

We completed five shelter groups. Each weekly session was originally scheduled to last an hour, but we often surpassed the schedule; our volunteers and interns just didn’t want to leave. The six week time frame was expanded by two weeks for the same reason, and we can’t seem to limit ourselves to eight weeks either. The program’s strength lies not only in its basic mission of helping the homeless community, but in honoring the humanity of its participants; their stories of homelessness, of heartbreak, of losing a partner to the system’s bureaucracy, of losing their families to ignorance are rendered all the more powerful when you realize that without QEJ, there would be no safe place to share them.

The residents also shared things they felt could be improved upon in the shelter system. Much of the attention was paid to conflict resolution, but there was also concern about the basic safety of each shelter. The group empowered the residents not only within themselves, but within a structure than can often seem massive and inhuman.

While organizing shelter residents to make changes in their individual shelters, a large part of our work is also to help build community. Homelessness in general can be very isolating, and shelter system does not encourage community. So not only do we work to build community among the shelter residents who come to our meetings, but we also work to bring them out of the shelters and into community spaces.

PRIDE PARADE

This past June, about 50 of our folks from the shelter system marched as the QEJ contingent for NYC’s Pride Parade.

In May we started organizing for Pride. The shelter residents were excited to actually march, many of whom had never attended the parade. Everyone wanted to help, and we decided on painting t-shirts for the parade. The shelter staff approved, and everyone got a taste of what Pride’s really about: fun and healing.

All of QEJ pitched in on the day of Pride. We drove vans and picked up folks, brought them to the staging area, shared a fantastic breakfast, and distributed Pride flags. As we neared 5^th Avenue, the anticipation grew. This was their time. They hit that avenue, some of them on foot and some of them in a provided van and car, full of a very personal pride. They were members of a community first, and homeless a distant second.

Special thanks to those who helped with pride: Deanna for the van, Emily and Lyndsey for the car, Aine and Maija for the great breakfast, and every one of QEJ’s staff, volunteers, interns, and board members, old and new.

QEJ’s First Annual BBQ for LGBT Shelter Residents, Families & Allies

In September, we held our first QEJ picnic for the homeless. Welfare Warrior Dwayne Bibb and shelter volunteer Jessica Valdez advertised, organized the five shelters, and even got a few other recovery shelters involved. About sixty homeless queer folks cooked and ate together, learn to make soap and practice self-defense, and just had a good time together. Special thanks to those who helped with the picnic: Hsaio and Ronica and everyone from our community who showed up in support of the LGBTGNC homeless.

Shelter groups often get framed as therapy. And while the intimacy and recuperation found in the groups is remarkable, their greatest achievement has always been the unique, unbreakable bond these residents share. Not a bad way to start a movement.