A “safe house” for LGBTQ+ middle and high school students to gather recently opened in Manhattan.
True Colors, a non-profit organization, has a couple of goals. First, to provide a place for LGBTQ+ young adults to gather and have a safe, comfortable place to be themselves. Second, to save lives.
Executive director Katie Curtis-Baker, 30, said there was a need for this type of place in Manhattan.
Jayme Morris-Hardeman, the organization’s founder and Manhattan-Ogden school board member, was interested in opening a facility because there was a similar one in Lawrence, and she recognized there was nothing like it in the Manhattan area.
The idea for the house surfaced during the pandemic; the facility officially opened its door on July 1.
Officials said the location of the house isn’t publicized to protect the safety of the youth who visit. Youth interested in visiting can contact True Colors through Facebook and Instagram, emailing truecolorsflinthills@gmail.com, or reaching out to designated adults at area middle and high schools for more information.
“We focus on three big things: mental health, gender-affirming clothing closet and just a community space for kids,” Curtis-Baker said. Curtis-Baker said the center will serve middle and high-school children.
Curtis-Baker said the True Colors house is meant to keep kids alive. She and her spouse were foster parents to Ethan, a transgender Mexican youth who died by suicide.
“Really, what we’re trying to do is keep kids alive and reduce suicide in the LGBTQ+ population when it comes to youth,” Curtis-Baker said.
The house will offer mental health services through Curtis-Baker Therapeutic Services. Katie’s wife, Lindsay, is a therapist and has a practice based in Junction City that will use one of the rooms in the house. The goal is to offer therapy for young adults who are underinsured or uninsured.
The house has hangout spaces, a therapy room, a gender-affirming clothing closet, a kitchen, and space for art.
The house also has a partnership with GC2B binder company; a binder is chest compression that reduces the appearance of breasts. They are typically used by transgender and non-binary youth, according to Curtis-Baker. Staff is trained to help with these fittings and ensure they are worn safely.
On the first day the house opened, staff members did a compression fitting for one of the youth.
“I just feel very honored and humbled that I can lead this and be the person that can reach them at the front door and sit on the couch with them and laugh and share stories and make food,” Curtis-Baker said. “It’s absolutely phenomenal.”
Officials hope in a few years to open a facility where people can stay the night.
Currently, the house is open under summer hours from 1 to 7 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday and 1 to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Officials hope to expand those hours as True Colors expands its volunteer base. Currently, two adults have to be present for the center to open.
This is where April Zimmermann, 31, comes in. She is an intern for True Colors and is finishing her degree in the social work program at Kansas State University. At True Colors, she helps with grant writing, calling references, doing interviews for volunteers, and going over background checks.
Zimmermann also has helped with community partnerships, such as The Dusty Bookshelf, Public Hall and Thread. They worked with Thread for a T-shirt fundraiser and Public Hall for drag queen story time.
Curtis-Baker said some kids come from safe, affirming homes. But some kids, if they were to come out, would lose their resources, like access to housing and food. And that’s why True Colors needs to be a drop-in shelter.
“There are organizations like this in other states,” Zimmermann said. “We’ve talked to them to get advice and feedback and things but we’ve really just seeing the outpouring of community support and learning how needed this is.”
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July 19, 2022 at 01:00AM
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