Help Lambert House Raise $4m To Buy Their Home

May 25, 2017• byMichael Strangeways

Lambert House has been Seattle’s Queer Youth Center for 25 years. It needs help to buy its property.

Hey, here’s a pitch to help out for a really terrific cause…LAMBERT HOUSE has been Seattle’s LGBTQ Youth Center for 25 years now at their location up by 15th and Denny on top of Capitol Hill. As someone who lived in that neighborhood for 11 years, I can attest that it is a rapidly gentrifying ‘hood and not surprisingly, recently the landlords decided it was time to sell the property…which seemed like the death knell for Lambert House. Small community non-profits don’t usually have millions of dollars just sitting around for emergencies such as this.

LUCKILY, a very kind and generous supporter of Lambert House stepped up and actually purchased the property from the previous owners thus keeping it out of the hands of developers who would have immediately torn it down to put up something amazing like a micropub or a combo tanning salon/boxing gym/ballet school for the chronically hip. The new owner is giving Lambert House THREE AND A HALF YEARS to raise the funds to then purchase the house from them (and with no expectation of a profit…) To that end, Lambert House has a goal to raise $4 million over the the next 41 months to buy the property and make badly needed renovations to the building.

Here’s more poo from their Generosity/IndieGoGo campaign…if you can help out, please do so!

Lambert House LGBTQ Youth Center provides a safe and stable environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth in the Greater Northwest to stay alive, explore their identities, and build social connections with their peers. Community building at Lambert House is the primary prevention strategy for an entire constellation of risks that disproportionately affects LGBTQ youth. Through repeated positive connections with peers and volunteers, Lambert House educates LGBTQ youth to see themselves as normal, healthy individuals and to respect and take care of themselves and each other.

The 1902 Victorian house we have called home for 25 years is slated to be sold by the landlords. The Lambert House organization is healthy and thriving. However, we need your help to buy our building now so it doesn’t get sold to a developer. Donate right now to secure a permanent home for LGBTQ youth. Share this need with your friends, family, and community and give LGBTQ youth hope, stability and support.

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“Until I found Lambert House, I felt completely alone as an LGBTQ+ youth. There was never a community for me at home or at school. Lambert House changed that. Here, I have friends and support and a community that doesn’t exist anywhere else.”

–Kyle*, 16 year old youth

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Lambert House’s mission is to create an affirming community where LGBTQ youth have the normal adolescent developmental experiences unavailable to them in other settings. We serve on average 600 youth per year, providing both a physical gathering space and a structured and supportive community of peers and skilled adults invested in youth self-actualization, education, and emotional and psychological growth.

Our 70 volunteers undergo training to understand adolescent development and to support youth wherever they are in that process. We center and validate youths’ experiences, and encourage respectful discourse and open curiosity where no topic is taboo. We address and minimize youths’ exposure to risks including: Depression and suicide; alcohol and drug use; HIV/AIDS; school failure; and lack of familial support potentially leading to homelessness, survival sex, and criminal justice system involvement.

Socialization opportunities for youth include: Nightly community dinners; peer support groups for “Boys Who Like Boys,” “Queer Young Females,” and “Transgender Youth;” youth-planned and produced community gatherings and dances; outdoor recreation trips; Queer Film Fridays; an LGBTQ Culture Series including sporting events, theater productions and concerts; and youth-led activities such as writing groups, bicycle repair workshops, ESL classes, activist trainings, and improvisation workshops.

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“It’s a real privilege to have Lambert House accessible to me. I can truthfully say that, because of it I’m still alive.

It’s also helped make my life a whole lot better. Lambert House boosts confidence, helps youth find friends, gives support, opportunities, and so much more.”

–Nguyen, 15 year old youth

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While national acceptance of the LGBTQ community has made great strides in recent years, many LGBTQ youth still deal with issues of isolation while beginning to understand their sexuality and/or gender in addition to the already challenging process of adolescence. The simple act of being in a space where youth can see themselves reflected in their peers and the adults around them has a powerful impact that instantly makes life better for LGBTQ youth. Having a consistent space open each weekday where dinner is served every night at 6pm creates a stable welcoming environment that youth may lack elsewhere. Help provide this stability by supporting and sharing our campaign to secure a permanent physical home for our community.

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“Lambert House is an amazing resource for youth who need space to find themselves comfortably. When I was confused about my sexuality, Lambert House was the only space where I felt comfortable and without the pressure of having to label myself.”

–Courtney, 20 year old youth

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Names have been changed to protect youths’ confidentiality.

About the Author: Michael Strangeways

As the Editorial Director/Co-Owner, Michael Strangeways writes, edits and does about a million other jobs for Seattle Gay Scene, Puget Sound's most visited LGBTQ news, arts and entertainment website now celebrating its 14th year as a media outlet. A semi-proud Midwesterner by birth, he's lived in Seattle since 2000. He's also a film producer who would like you to check out the Jinkx Monsoon documentary, "Drag Becomes Him" now available on Amazon.com. In his spare time, he gets slightly obsessive about his love for old movies, challenging theater, "otters", vodka, chocolate, "I,Claudius", Lizzie Borden, real books made out of paper, disaster films, show tunes, Weimar era Germany, flea markets, pop surrealistic art, the sex lives of Hollywood actors both living and dead, kitties, chicken fried steak, haute couture and David Bowie. But, not necessarily in that order.