Joe Trembly Advocates for Broward’s LGBTQ Homeless Individuals
National studies show LGBTQ youth have more than double the risk of being homeless than non-LGBTQ youth and 40 percent of all homeless young people self-identify as LGBTQ.
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA., —Joe Trembly is happy to help humanize the issue of LGBTQ homelessness, if it means increased recognition of the problem and more resources to fight it in Broward County.
Joe Trembly, who 30 years ago was a homeless gay man living on the streets of Fort Lauderdale, speaks to LGBTQ community leaders at the Community Foundation of Broward. The Foundation recently announced the award of five grants totaling $300,000 as part of its Broward Pride program, including a grant to an innovative program championed by Trembly.
The 53-year-old Fort Lauderdale resident was once a homeless gay man and forced to take shelter in a Fort Lauderdale dumpster. Today, he is the homeless management security officer at Keystone Halls, a 90-bed transitional housing facility for veterans and others who are experiencing homelessness, including individuals suffering from chemical dependency.
Trembly’s outreach efforts and commitment to helping South Florida’s LGBTQ home-less population are attracting the attention of funders like the Community Foundation of Broward, which recently announced a $75,000 grant to Keystone Halls for a new LGBTQ transitional housing program for 45 individuals who are experiencing homelessness because of negative cirircumstanes in their lives.
The grant to Keystone Halls was one of five awards totaling $300,000 from the Community Foundation of Broward as part of its Broward Pride Program, with the goal of uniting Broward’s diverse community to ensure equality, justice and inclusion of Broward’s LGBT neighbors.
“Oftentimes what we find is that people still don’t want to identify (as LGBTQ) in order to obtain services or they don’t feel safe in the shelters, especially for transgender individuals,” said Trembly. “I am open with who I am there, which obviously creates an opportunity for some individuals, who will then ask me about other services. I want Keystone Halls to be known as a safe place, that when you think of LGBT homelessness, Keystone comes to mind, then people will not feel so uncomfortable coming.”
“Even without concrete local statistics, we know LGBTQ homelessness exists,” said Linda Carter, President/CEO, Community Foundation of Broward. “It’s our role to identify issues that matter in Broward County and support bold, innovative projects like the Keystone Halls LGBTQ transitional housing program, to begin to meet those needs.”
