This Bay Area Homeless Nonprofit Trains Staff to Better Care for LGBTQ+ Residents

Bay Area housing nonprofit LifeMoves, which oversees more than two dozen interim shelters, is piloting a new training model for the staff at all their sites to better support their LGBTQ+ residents. The New Haven Inn, an LGBTQ-focused shelter for over seven years, is one of the first LifeMoves sites to implement it before the model rolls out to all other sites by the end of the year.

The New Haven Inn offers the same resources as other LifeMoves sites, including intensive case management, housing and employment specialists, and on-site therapists. But at this San José shelter, pride flags are strung up in the backyard over picnic tables, and the kitchen is decorated with colorful tissue paper hearts.

The building feels more like a large, welcoming house than a typical homeless shelter. The dorm-style rooms are divided into sections with two people each. Each resident gets their own cabinet and fridge space in a large, shared kitchen stocked with appliances.

“I’ve had people come in and say that there’s no scarcity because people will cook together and share meals together and things like that. So it’s a very, very home vibe,” Program Director Kate Horsting says.

LifeMoves Director of Client Experience De Anna Garcia organized the staff training program after noticing a significant need for it. Those experiencing homelessness are faced with unique challenges. Some have been rejected by their families or support systems, leaving them isolated. They face higher rates of intimate partner violence and increased vulnerability to violence on the streets. Traditional shelters can also pose safety risks.

Garcia says that while there are a number of resources geared toward LGBTQ+ youth or young adults, options dwindle with age. “We have a lot of data that suggests that LGBTQ youth are overrepresented in the unhoused community, and those youth become adults. That doesn’t just disappear, right?”

Many of New Haven Inn’s residents have aged out of those services, and Garcia says it’s nice to see intergenerational friendships develop in the shared communal living room, where residents gather on sofas and at a shared table.

The staff-to-resident-ratio at New Haven is also high, ranging from eight to 10 people each night, and the shelter is open 24 hours a day with extended case management hours. Most residents are there for a four-month stay.

The new training program staff aims to cultivate support and acceptance. That starts with using language that affirms residents’ identities, Garcia says. “That’s the big question mark that a lot of [staff] are just scared to say the wrong thing or use the wrong terminology. So language is a big component of it.” Training includes exploring and defining concepts like pronouns, gender expression, and microaggressions.

It also covers how to deal with sensitive information. Staff is taught that a client’s sexual orientation and gender expression shouldn’t be disclosed without their permission, since Garcia says that information could potentially invite discrimination if it appears on paperwork for housing or employment.

But a big part of the training is reminding staff not to make assumptions. Garcia says details about clients’ identity, like pronouns, should always come from the client themselves.

The main goal for New Haven Inn residents is to land stable housing. Garcia says this often comes in the form of reconciling with family or friends. It can also mean a job and steady income consistent enough to support living on their own.

“We’re all just people that are trying to be loved and cared for and accepted out in the world for who we are,” Garcia says. “Most of this has nothing to do with the LGBTQ piece. This is just people being people going through one of the hardest times in their life.”