No 17-year-old should be forced to live exposed to the elements, especially because of who they are.
For Aidan, that was their reality. Four years ago, at just 17, Aidan navigated cold mornings and long days without the stability of a home most young people take for granted. Survival came first. Everything else — school, work, the future — felt out of reach.
“Being out in the elements, it definitely makes you feel a lot less human,” Aidan said in an interview with CBS last year. “There’s been times when I’ve had to wake up early in the morning and I can’t move because I’m shivering so hard.”
What’s made the difference in the years since? A place to live safely and authentically, a job at a thrift store, and a way to keep going.
LGBTQ+ Youth Homelessness: Barriers that go beyond housing
Like Aidan, nearly 40% of youth experiencing homelessness identify as LGBTQIA+, according to Lost-N-Found Youth, one of United Way of Greater Atlanta’s OUT Georgia Impact Fund partners. And recent data from Partners for HOME shows that youth homelessness is rising across our region, underscoring both the urgency of the need and the importance of targeted solutions for addressing LGBTQ+ youth homelessness.
LGBTQ+ youth often face a stacked set of barriers: challenges in securing employment, staying employed, and earning equitable wages. Our Child Well-Being data tells us that traditional college and career pathways often leave behind young people from marginalized groups or those in high-need situations.
When offering support for youth experiencing homelessness like Aidan, a job can be a turning point — but only if paired with wraparound resources and the tools to be successful.
Thanks to the support of our OUT Georgia Impact Fund, Lost-N-Found Youth is providing that support for more than 1,000 LGBTQ+ youth each year.
While many in Atlanta know them as a friendly thrift store off Buford Highway, the organization exists to help end LGBTQ+ youth homelessness. They provide 90-day housing and a 7-day-a-week drop-in center, as well as comprehensive support — including GED attainment, resume development, interview preparation, and job placement. Their thrift store even creates immediate employment opportunities for youth in their programs.
“It’s one of the reasons I’m still here today.”
Aidan is proof of what’s possible when you connect youth to opportunity.
Through Lost-N-Found Youth’s Job Readiness Development Program, Aidan worked in the thrift store while completing their GED, gaining the stability needed to move forward. Today, they have a job, an apartment of their own, and a renewed sense of possibility.
“This program is basically one of the reasons I’m still here today,” Aidan said. “Now I’m just like, if I can do that, what else can I do?”
Today, Aidan no longer wakes up to instability each morning, but to possibility.
“What I’m most excited for the future is just having the chance to live a normal life and be able to experience new things. To be able to not ever have to worry about ending up homeless again — being able to put that all behind me and just be happy with my life.”
Melanea Alvarez, Executive Director of Lost-N-Found Youth, was proud to watch Aidan complete the job program for LGBTQ+ youth experiencing homelessness last fall. For her, the program’s success can’t be defined by any single outcome, but by each person’s journey forward.
“Success is measured in a million different ways, and success to you may be different than success to me,” explained Melanea Alvarez, Executive Director of Lost-N-Found Youth. “Success meaning I got a job. Success meaning I got a place to stay. Success meaning I was reunited with my family. Success is what it means to that youth that we just helped…Aidan is one of our success stories.”
Closing the resource gap for LGBTQIA+ communities
Since 2021, we’ve invested $265,000 in LGBTQIA+-serving nonprofit organizations like Lost-N-Found through the OUT Georgia Impact Fund, strengthening our region and creating a network of support for a sector of service providers that traditionally are underfunded in the philanthropy space.
>> RELATED: Out of the margins into housing that heals
Together, United Way of Greater Atlanta and OUT Georgia Business Alliance are driving meaningful change for LGBTQIA+ communities, from LGBTQ+ youth homelessness and beyond — expanding access to safe housing, economic opportunity, and holistic well-being. By investing in alternative pathways to employment and stability, we’re helping more young LGBTQ+ Atlantans take that critical first step toward independence, dignity, and generational wealth.
“The OUT Georgia Impact Fund reflects United Way’s commitment to ensuring inclusive opportunities for young people who too often face systemic barriers,” said Meredith Broyles, Director of Corporate Relations and OUT Georgia Impact Fund lead liaison at United Way of Greater Atlanta. “By investing in organizations like Lost and Found, we’re helping create safer, more inclusive pathways to stability and success.”
Applications for United Way of Greater Atlanta’s OUT Georgia Impact Fund will open on July 1 for organizations committed to building a more inclusive Greater Atlanta. And none of this progress would be possible without the continued support of donors.
We believe that the LGBTQIA+ community deserves support beyond June’s Pride Month celebrations.
“It’s not just a celebration during this month. For us, it’s Pride every day,” Melanea said. “The young adults that seek supportive services and find Lost-N-Found Youth are a celebration in and of itself.”
If you believe every young person deserves the chance to find stability — and to live authentically — we invite you to join us. Give today and help more people in our LGBTQIA+ community move from survival to possibility.