A Message from the Director

June 12, 2011

Dear Friends, 

Welcome! If you are reading this, it means that you or someone you know has already welcomed Trinity Place Shelter into your life in some way. We are so very thankful because that is what offers us the opportunity to open our doors and welcome in homeless lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) youth 365 nights a year! 

Trinity Place is both a shelter and a home. As a shelter, we operate as a non-sectarian, 10-bed transitional shelter open every night of the year to provide LGBTQ youth with a safe place to sleep, eat, store belongings and access transportation. Through strong community partnerships, we open up access to comprehensive health/medical services, case management, education, career counseling, art classes, mental health services, and more. We support residents' safely transitioning out of the shelter system to grow into independent, positive and productive adults. 

Yet, Trinity Place is more than a shelter. Trinity Place is also a home. A home where favorite meals are remembered and prepared, where all birthdays are noted and enthusiastically celebrated. More youth than I care to count have reported experiencing for the first time in their lives, their very first birthday party, while living at Trinity Place. A home where after a long day at work or school, youth play video games, watch television or even occasionally share in a spontaneous dance party! A home where youth are free to embrace their creativity, to learn to cook and where there is always a welcome audience to joyously share in the youth's efforts to practice the piano, perform for others a new song, dance step, poem or spoken word they have been practicing.    

While we hope to raise a significant amount of money, our needs remain basic. We need to help raise money to fix, repair and stabilize many parts of the 100+ year old building that houses Trinity Place Shelter and to improve our heating and electric systems to provide a more warm and comfortable space all year long. We are engaging in these additional fundraising efforts while we continue our efforts to raise the critical funds needed to support Trinity Place's ongoing operations which includes providing for the youth's food, clothing, transportation and laundry needs.

This year Trinity Place is celebrating our fifth anniversary. As I reflect upon the many months in 2006, I spent planning, designing our program model and building our organizational infrastructure, I recall intensely struggling with the question, how could we ever raise the funds needed to open and operate this shelter? Well, after 1,825 days/nights of continuous operation...the answer to that question could not be more clear: you, our donors, both new and old! For this and so much more I offer my deepest gratitude for continuing to journey with us into our next 5 years!   

Yours in the struggle, 

Kevin V. Lotz, LCSW, CASAC, ACSW  
Director
Trinity Place Shelter 
164 West 100th Street
New York, NY 10025