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Abbreviation | AFC |
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Named after | Ali Forney |
Formation | 2002 |
Founder | Carl Siciliano |
Founded at | New York |
Type | Non-governmental organization |
Executive Director | Alexander Roque |
Website | aliforneycenter |
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The Ali Forney Center (AFC), based in New York City, is the largest LGBT community center helping LGBTQ homeless youth in the United States. [1] The AFC both manages and develops transitional housing for its clients. [2] AFC helps approximately 2,000 youth clients each year, primarily between sixteen and twenty-four years old. [3] AFC is named after Ali Forney, a transgender youth who was murdered in New York in 1997. [3]
AFC has 15 residential sites in Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan. In 2012, AFC provided 77 beds a night for homeless LGBTQ youth. [4] AFC also runs a drop-in center, open 24/7, where clients can apply for housing, receive food and hygiene services and can access free medical and mental health care . [4] AFC Founder Carl Siciliano says that the clients served by the drop-in center are often in the most acute crisis. [5] AFC serves the LGBTQ population because they represent approximately forty percent of New York's young homeless people. [6]
AFC has served homeless LGBTQ youth in New York since 2002. [7] The organization was founded by Carl Siciliano. [3] When AFC first opened, it had only six beds. [8] Siciliano, who knew and respected Forney, recalls that it was a challenge to secure funding for the first two years of the organization's operation. [9] By 2007, AFC had 32 beds, 50 staff and offered wraparound services including free medical care, HIV testing, hygiene services, job training and job placement through the drop-in center. [10]
During the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in 2012, the drop-in center was flooded. [5] A fundraiser hosted by Ally Sheedy helped raise money for the organization to relocate and reopen the drop-in center. [5] An additional $100,000 was raised in one day to help the organization through word of mouth and social media. [5]
In July 2015, AFC broke ground on its new Bea Arthur Residence. [11] The housing site is named after the actress, Bea Arthur, who left $300,000 in her will to AFC. [12] Arthur's endowment to the shelter enabled it stay open during the recession in 2009. [13] In 2012, the New York City Council and the Manhattan borough president provided $3.3 million to renovate the building that will house the Bea Arthur Residence. [12] In addition to the money that she left in her will, Arthur also helped raise $40,000 for AFC in 2005 with her one-woman show, "Bea Arthur on Broadway: Just Between Friends." [14]
The organization has received donations from other sources as well in order to expand and help maintain operating costs. In 2009, the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island donated $200,000 to help the organization stay open after losing nearly $450,000 in funding due to the economic downturn. [3]