Programs and results
What we aim to solve
The Ali Forney Center (AFC) is addressing the needs of homeless LGBTQ youth as a result of family rejection. Each year, the Ali Forney Center sees over 1,500 young people who run away or are thrown out of their homes because the families cannot accept their LGBTQ identity. Statistically, LGBTQ youth are eight times more likely to be homeless than non-LGBTQ youth. Once homeless, these young people are eight times more likely to experience violence on the streets, sexual assault, mental health issues, and suicidal ideation. Many young people often face homophobic violence and harassment in the youth shelter system and turn to the streets of NYC instead. AFC seeks to address the problem of LGBTQ youth homelessness that is rampant in our city—and our nation. In NYC alone, advocates estimate there are between 3,800-4,000 homeless youth, and NYC offers just over 750 beds expressly for this population.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Housing for Homeless Youth
The Ali Forney Center Services AFC is a comprehensive emergency housing program for LGBT youths aged 16 - 24. Our goal is to provide homeless LGBT youths with the support and services they need to escape the streets and begin to live healthy and independent lives. We offer an innovative continuum of services which include the following programs: Ali Forney Day Center The AFC Day Center in the Chelsea section of Manhattan is the entry point to our programs for homeless youths. There we offer street outreach, referral to our housing programs, case management, primary medical care, HIV testing, mental health assessment and treatment, food and showers. In the second half of 2005 we will also begin to offer an employment assistance program. AFC Emergency Housing AFC offers a scattered-site emergency housing program with sites in Manhattan and Brooklyn. We offer temporary housing in safe, staff-supervised homelike apartments. LGBT youths are able to reside in our emergency housing program for up to six months while we assist them in moving on to more permanent housing. In the second half of 2005, we are expanding our emergency housing program from 12 beds to 18 beds. AFC Transitional Housing AFC will begin to open a transitional housing program in the second half of 2005. When fully implemented, we will be offering scattered-site housing to 24 youths. The young people will be able to reside in our transitional housing program for up to two years, while we assist them in gaining employment and in continuing their educations. We will place a great deal of emphasis in helping our residents become prepared to live independently, and our goal is that our residents, upon graduation from this program, will move on to their own apartments.
Where we work
External reviews

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Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of new clients intakes
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
LGBTQ people, At-risk youth, Homeless people
Related Program
Housing for Homeless Youth
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Number of clients enrolled in our Learning, Employment, Advancement, Placement Program
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
LGBTQ people, At-risk youth, Homeless people
Related Program
Housing for Homeless Youth
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Decreasing
Number of residents who stayed in Emergency Housing throughout the calendar year
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
LGBTQ people, At-risk youth, Homeless people
Related Program
Housing for Homeless Youth
Type of Metric
Context - describing the issue we work on
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Number of residents who stayed in Transitional Housing throughout the calendar year
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
LGBTQ people, At-risk youth, Homeless people
Related Program
Housing for Homeless Youth
Type of Metric
Context - describing the issue we work on
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Number of residents who stayed in Transgender Housing throughout the calendar year
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
LGBTQ people, At-risk youth, Homeless people
Related Program
Housing for Homeless Youth
Type of Metric
Context - describing the issue we work on
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Number of therapy sessions that were conducted at AFC
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
LGBTQ people, At-risk youth, Homeless people
Related Program
Housing for Homeless Youth
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Number of clients we connect to a psychiatrist at AFC
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
LGBTQ people, At-risk youth, Homeless people
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Number of rapid HIV test that health counselors conducted
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
LGBTQ people, At-risk youth, Homeless people
Related Program
Housing for Homeless Youth
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of young people reached during outreach events
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
LGBTQ people, At-risk youth, Homeless people
Related Program
Housing for Homeless Youth
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of meals served in a calendar year at the Drop-In Center
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
LGBTQ people, At-risk youth, Homeless people
Related Program
Housing for Homeless Youth
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Our goals are: Help young people overcome the traumas and detriments of family rejection and street homelessness; Provide housing and support life skills development; and to empower, educate and provide young people with the tools they need to exit the streets and homeless housing systems; Mitigate barriers for youth seeking educational support; Offer robust educational case management; Build more educational programs (classroom instruction) at AFC; Build and manage educational engagement opportunity within the community; Improve retention of homeless youth enrolled in educational programs; and Build a case for success to impact future funding.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
At the helm of our work is a comprehensive Drop-In Program that operates 24-hours a day, 7-days a week, 365-days a year. Through AFC’s Drop-In Center, we have been able to offer our full continuum of care, serving over 77,000 meals per year, and providing medical and mental health care (including HIV education, testing, treatment and prevention services), showers, clothing and other supportive services (educational counseling, work and career options, one-on-one mentoring, etc.) to nearly 1,700 young people we see each year.
The culturally-competent array of services offered are critical for homeless LGBTQ youth as it provides young people the opportunity to empower themselves with the tools and resources necessary to rebuild their lives. For many of them, it is their first exposure in an LGBTQ welcoming and inclusive environment. This environment is particularly vital as nearly 90% of the young people who visit this site are in crises having most recently experienced family rejection, homophobia, gay-bashing, violence, and other harmful effects of street homelessness. This site offers young people the tools they need to heal from family rejection and the harms of homelessness with the help of caring, dedicated professionals.
The Ali Forney Center offers LGBTQ youth, ages 16-24, emergency and transitional housing and support so that these young adults can escape a life on the streets and begin to live healthy and independent lives.
AFC offers an innovative range of services that provide a nurturing, caring, and supportive environment. These services include the AFC Day Center, which offers street outreach, referral to the housing programs, case management, primary medical care, HIV testing, mental health assessment and treatment, food, showers, and an employee assistance program.
AFC also provides scattered-site emergency and longer-term housing with locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Also, AFC offers a family outreach program that works to support and strengthen families by providing counseling, education, and outreach services.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Our programs include: Medical, mental health, and substance abuse; Career and Educational Services are provided through a program called Learning, Employment, Advancement, and Placement (LEAP). LEAP is a 35-hour a week program with two distinct tracks designed to support the educational and career needs and desires of homeless LGBTQ youth. The program is offered in part on-site in a classroom in Harlem and throughout the city.
We conduct assessments based on their desired paths, offer remedial services, provide classroom instruction, and support youth every step of the way. Volunteers help with tutoring, homework help, skills development, mock interviews, and other skills.
Advocacy, leadership development, and empowerment are offered through weekly groups, and one on one sessions. Young people are engaged in understanding how they can play a role in influencing change in our community by using their voices to serve as advocates for causes important to them.
Housing and life-skills development are provided through a 17-unit scattered-site housing program. Young people can reside in our Emergency Shelter Program or in our more independent Transitional Housing Programs.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
In tracking client progress for reporting the year 2018, we were able to accomplish the following goals: Decrease rates of Food Insecurity by improving client engagement and retention at the central Drop-In Center; Increase rates of physical health-related behavioral change, specifically as it relates to increasing the number of clients who get tested quarterly for HIV/STIs; Increase the number of clients who are engaged in Mental Health care; Improve clients’ self-esteem, as measured via the Rosenberg Self-Esteem scale; and Improve clients’ LGBTQ pride identity, as measured via the LGBTQ Identity scale.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve
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What significant change resulted from feedback?
Pronoun pins Food requests what ingredients we purchase and what we put in our menu - culturally appropriate and makes them feel like they're at home
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
ALI FORNEY CENTER
Board of directorsas of 02/25/2021
Peter Soares
American Airlines
Term: 2020 -
Julie O'Shaughnessy
Amazon
Term: 2020 -
Keith Vessell
Alberto Arelle
Billy Dume
Martin Farach-Colton
Marti Gould Cummings
Anthony Hird
Isis King
Mark Lane
Erin J. Law
Marie McKenna
Louis Miller
Tom Ogletree
John T. Owen
Carlos Ruisanchez
John Quinn
Ana Beatriz Sani
Craig Smith
Collin Spencer
Dan Sternberg
Seth Stuhl
Pete Vujasin
Ed Wells
Katie Zunno
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
No data
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 10/01/2019GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.