For an LGBTQ+ young person who suddenly finds themselves without a home, homelessness can mean far more than having nowhere to sleep. It can mean losing family, security, education, employment and the support system most young adults need while finding their place in the world.
Here in South Florida, Sunshine Pride House in Fort Lauderdale is confronting that reality in a very personal way.
Opened in early 2024, Sunshine Pride House was created specifically as a safe haven for unhoused LGBTQ+ young adults. The six-bedroom, four-bathroom residence can accommodate up to 12 young people while providing something equally important to housing: a pathway toward independence.
The need is significant. National research from The Trevor Project has found that LGBTQ+ young people experience homelessness and housing instability at disproportionately high rates, with family rejection, abandonment and mistreatment often playing a role. Those experiencing housing instability also report dramatically greater mental-health challenges than LGBTQ+ youth with stable housing.
What makes Sunshine Pride House especially important is that the mission doesn’t end with providing a bedroom and a meal.
Residents have access to life-skills coaching, mental-health counseling, educational training, employment assistance, daily support and mentoring, the building blocks necessary to move from crisis toward stability and eventually independent living.
The program itself is also a wonderful example of what happens when South Florida’s LGBTQ+ community works together.
Sunshine Cathedral, SunServe, FLITE Center, The Our Fund Foundation and individual philanthropists joined forces to create the residence and the network of services surrounding its young residents.
That collaboration matters.
Imagine being 18, 19 or 20 years old and hearing that you are no longer welcome in your own home simply because of who you are.
Then imagine somebody opening another door and saying:
You are welcome here. Now let’s help you build your future.
That is what community service looks like at its very best.
Sunshine Pride House doesn’t simply address homelessness. It addresses what comes next, education, employment, confidence, mental wellness, responsibility and hope.
And although 12 beds cannot solve the entire LGBTQ+ youth homelessness crisis, those 12 beds can completely change 12 lives at a time.
The program continues receiving community support, including funding from South Florida’s FLoatarama LGBTQ Youth Fund.
South Florida has built one of America’s most visible and successful LGBTQ+ communities.
With that visibility comes a responsibility to remember those among us who may not yet have the stability many of us enjoy.
Sunshine Pride House reminds us that Pride isn’t only something we celebrate.
Sometimes Pride is opening a door, providing a bed, offering guidance, and helping a young person believe that tomorrow can be better than today.
A Hotspots Community Feature
