Family Resources

Family Resources has been providing shelter for vulnerable youth in Pinellas County since 1978. In 2013, the agency opened one of the first transitional living programs in the state to specifically serve LGBTQ+ homeless and transitional youth. In 2016, Family Resources secured additional funding to double their capacity for serving these young people.  While providing the valuable, first of its kind, service in Pinellas County, Family Resources spearheaded a county-wide strategic planning session in partnership with True Colors Fund, now known as True Colors United. This one year planning project brought together over 25 stakeholders in the community to address the needs of LGBTQ+ homeless youth and develop a sustainable plan for future success. A recommendation from that plan was to provide resources, information and assistance to youth on the streets or in housing-insecure settings so they could reduce the more risky acts youth must engage in to exist on the street.  With the help of local support and federal grants, Family Resources now provides street outreach and a temporary drop in center for these young people while a new specialized facility is being built, which is set to open in September, 2019. Additionally, in 2018 when Family Resources lost funding for their LGBTQ+ specific transitional living program, due to a change in federal priorities, they utilized their own funding to purchase a home in St. Petersburg to house four young LGBT+ adults who would have once again been homeless at the closing of their program. Today Family Resources continues to provide housing and support for these young people and continues to look for ways to increase their capacity so that no LGBTQ+ youth has to be homeless in our community because they come out or they are found out before they can be self-sufficient and on a path to their own personal success.