We have some exciting news to share: we are relaunching our Apartment Partners program! By becoming an Apartment Partner, you help us help community members most in need through our Supportive Housing Program (SHP). People joining our SHP are generally facing the greatest risk of homelessness. BCHG’s Supportive Housing Program is the only program in the county that provides a fully furnished and stocked apartment for families to stay in at no cost for up to one year. We operate 23 units throughout the county that serve an average of 42 families per year. Most families come to us from the emergency shelter, with only their personal belongings. When a family moves into one of our units, we want to provide them with all the items they will need for daily living. Our SHP apartments are currently experiencing a high amount of turnover, and we are thrilled that so many people are moving into more permanent housing; however, with that turnover comes the need to “turn over” the apartments themselves and prepare them for new families to move into…and that’s where you come in. Our Apartment Partners program offers two levels of support: Unit Support and Family Support. You can be part of one or both. Unit Support helps us keep the apartments stocked for the next family that moves in. Providing Unit Support includes purchasing/replacing furniture, towels and linens, kitchen utensils, Amazon Wishlist items, “starter packs” of cleaning supplies, and more. Large items, such as furniture and appliances, are used from family to family and are only replaced when they are no longer functional. The average investment of being a Unit Support Partner is between $300-$1000 a year, though your contributions can of course be higher or lower. Family Support directly helps the families who stay in our SHP units. During a family’s time with BCHG, our case managers work to help families return to a place of “normal” as their housing crisis resolves. Most of our families have been living in “survival mode” prior to coming to us, and we want to help them begin to thrive again. This looks different for each family, but there are some things that are universal; birthdays, holidays, school milestones. Providing Family Support includes helping to pay for those sports and extracurricular fees, holiday gifts, birthday boxes, car repairs, and more. The average annual investment of being a Family Support Partner is between $100-$1000, but again contributions are flexible. To learn more about our new and improved program, click the link below, and if you or your group are interested in becoming an Apartment Partner, please email Amanda at amcgill@bchg.org. Apartment Partners Program Info Written by: Hannah Borish
The Disproportionate Impact of Food and Housing Insecurity on the LGBTQIA+ Community June is National Pride Month, a time to celebrate all colors of love and reflect on the history of the LGBTQIA+ community in our country. While Pride Month is mainly honored through bright and fun events like parades and parties, it is also a bleak reminder of the hatred, hardships, and disproportionate challenges that members of the LGBTQIA+ community have faced throughout history and still face today. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), these challenges are often caused by different social, economic, and systemic factors, such as discrimination, family rejection, and being at a higher risk for mental challenges. Unfortunately, members of the LGBTQIA+ community face discrimination in many areas of life, and housing/food security is no exception. In general, LGBTQIA+ adults report significantly higher rates of hunger and homelessness than the general population. Housing Insecurity The Williams Institute at UCLA’s School of Law published a study in 2020 that found that, compared to cisgender heterosexual individuals, members of the LGBTQIA+ community have higher rates of poverty, lower rates of homeownership, and higher rates of homelessness. The report found that 17% of sexual minority adults reported experiencing lifetime homelessness; this number is almost three times higher than the percentage of the general population who reported experiencing lifetime homelessness (6%). The study also found that more than 70% of heterosexual, cisgender adults own their own homes, while less than half of LGBTQIA+ adults own their own homes. Other Williams Institute studies have found that homeownership is even lower among LGBTQIA+ racial minorities and transgender people. In the housing market, LGBTQIA+ individuals are often mistreated by online renters, mortgage lenders, and homeless shelters and services. “Stigma and discrimination create or exacerbate housing instability for LGBT people across their lives, from family rejection of LGBT youth to discrimination in the rental market and mortgage industry to harassment at senior living facilities,” (Williams Institute). Real-life examples of this discrimination include housing providers not renting or selling to same-sex couples, realtors refusing to show houses to a transgender individual, and a leasing manager at a 55+ community rejecting a tenant’s request to add his same-sex partner to his lease, stating, in writing, that “the community only accepts married couples in unions between one man and one woman,” (HUD). Food Insecurity The same discrimination and disproportionate numbers can be found when looking at food security among the LGBTQIA+ community. According to the Household Pulse Survey conducted between July and August of 2021, more than 13% of LGBTQIA+ adults reported living in a home where there was often not enough to eat, almost double that of non-LGBTQIA+ adults (7%). Furthermore, a Williams Institute report published in 2020 revealed that the number of LGBTQIA+ individuals who reported not having enough food to eat that year was more than double that of the general population. Not only do members of the queer community face hunger more often than heterosexual, cisgender adults, but they also reported often feeling unwelcome at food pantries and places that were supposed to help them. How to Help So, what can we do to help? At Bucks County Housing Group, our mission is to make food and permanent housing more accessible to everyone, regardless of who they love or how they identify. We work toward this goal through various housing programs like supportive housing, rapid rehousing, housing counseling, and food programs like our pantries, mobile markets, and community gardens. None of this work would be possible without the support of community members like you. If you’re able, please help us on our mission to end hunger and homelessness in Bucks County through any or all of the methods below: Volunteer Donate Hold A Drive Share our mission by following along!Instagram: @buckscountyhousinggroupFacebook: Bucks County Housing GroupTwitter: @housing4all Lastly, be sure to stay up to date on local news and updates impacting the LGBTQIA+ community. Written By: Hannah Borish