Help Us Protect the Most Vulnerable LGBTQ+ Youths

For 5 consecutive years Poland was ranked as the worst country in the EU for LGBTQ+ rights and safety. At the same time Poland has been faced with a refugee crisis on two of its borders: with Ukraine and Belarus. The Warsaw House Foundation (WHF) has become the safe haven where Internally Displaced Polish and refugee LGBTQ+ young people come for safety.

These are Polish Trans 19 year olds whose family threw them onto the streets because of their gender identity, a gay, 22 year old Ugandan who fled to avoid prison and murder for his sexual orientation, after being disowned and attacked by his family and community, an 18 year old Trans Ukrainian girl who crossed the border into Poland alone at 16, soon after the Russian Invasion, a 23 year old Chechnyan lesbian whose life was threatened back home by her family and the Chechnyan government. A 20 year old gay Iraqi whose family home was attacked by gangs and his sister killed after his homosexuality was revealed.

The mission of the WHF is to protect LGBTQ+ youth in Poland from the harms of homelessness and refugeehood and empower them with tools needed for a safe and independent future. We urgently need your help today. We were founded in 2021 and 2023 has been a challenging but pivotal year for us. We began housing our first young person from Poland in February 2023. Today we are housing and supporting young LGBTQ+ people from Ukraine, Poland, Chechnya, Iraq, Uganda, Cameroon and Egypt and are flooded with new requests for help every day. The refugee crisis in Poland is not over. The youth homelessness crisis, which disproportionately affects LGBTQ+ youth, sadly seems to have no end in sight. We are not just a shelter nor just a housing project. We are an open, supportive, integrated community serving the most vulnerable young people.

We approach each young person individually and holistically – offering not only housing but mental health care, STD testing, CV writing, support groups, art therapy, specialized support to Trans clients and help in achieving independence. Due to the homophobic right-wing government that ruled Poland for 8 years, we have not had any access to government funding. With the right- wing government being recently voted out of office, we see this as a time for growth and we hope to gain support from the new government in Poland. That will take time. Today our core team works pro-bono and all the money we raise goes directly to supporting the young people we serve.

We need your help today. We need to raise $15,000 to cover rent and utilities for our housing and meeting center in Warsaw for one year, along with food and medical costs, and psychological support. Having those funds secured would guarantee a home for the 5 people who currently live there and a safe haven for the 70+ young people who attend our support groups, therapy/coaching sessions and workshops in our center. Please consider a tax-deductible donation to help us reach our goal and make this possible. Help us protect the most vulnerable LGBTQ+ young people from the harms of homelessness and refugeehood. Any amount is greatly appreciated!

• Cover art is a self-portrait of one of our clients