Uprooting to Upstate for Queer Youth
Donation protected
Hey y’all, thank you so much for taking the time to check this page out, Here’s the deal... I’m moving to Albany to do the job of my dreams on February 1st, and I need your help to get me there.
Three years ago I started my Master’s degree in social work having no idea where exactly I would land, but certain that I would use my work to better the LGBTQ+ adolescent experience. If you’ve known me for any time at all, you probably already know this, but... Queer youth have higher rates of depression, anxiety and suicide than their straight and cisgender counterparts. Forty percent of all homeless youth are LGBTQ+, the vast majority either kicked out, or abused into running away from an unaccepting family and studies show that queer homeless youth are propositioned for sex work within 72 hours of becoming homeless.
There are amazing institutions working with this population in New York City and State. But what if policy could prevent homelessness in the first place? That is a question I hope to answer working for the Office of Children and Family services for the state of New York in my new fellowship as a queer policy advocate. The job offer, and the news of it being in Albany, came as a surprise at the end of a year that I finished a Master’s degree, worked side hustle restaurant job, planned and executed a wedding, and spent an amazing two weeks on our honeymoon. It is a very bittersweet feeling to get exactly what you want, at a time when you’d love to just... sit down and breathe a little.
So here’s my ask: Nick and I will be transitioning into living in Albany. That involves a furnished room for me, away from the hubby, for a few months to get myself acclimated to Albany while working the dream job. It also means I will eventually have to look at getting a car, and all the fun expenses that come with that. We’ll have to pay to have our lives shipped upstate, and most importantly, our cat Mowgli (the only born and raised New Yorker among us). Furnished rooms are around $600 a month in Albany. Cars are... well I have no idea because I don’t know how to be an adult anywhere other than New York City. Moving the stuff is probably gonna be between $500 and $1000.
If I’m gonna be honest, I’m scared. But I have to do this. I plan to devote my life to this cause. Until every queer child is guaranteed a fair, equal and supportive upbringing, I will be fighting to make it happen. Your support in the past has gotten me through graduate school, paid for flyers and business cards that have led me to book work in schools and institutions like Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City, and covered the costs of filing paperwork to make The Pride Alliance a real nonprofit.
Whatever you can give today will go to supporting the next step in my mission: getting directly involved with the lawmakers of the great state of New York in order to enact policy reflective and supportive of queer youth in need of a real home. I know how important a home is, how important a family is, because without those I wouldn’t be where I am now. You are my home, and every LGBTQ+ child in New York, in... everywhere, deserves such a loving and supportive community. Thank you for whatever you can do today, and I hope you’ve had wonderful holiday season and prosperous new year!
Organizer
Nathaniel Allen
Organizer
Brooklyn, NY