San Francisco, CA
Executive Director: Jodi Schwartz
Co-Investor: The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation
With a focus on building community and inspiring social change, Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center (LYRIC) supports and empowers lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning (LGBTQQ) youth.
LYRIC’s participants are primarily low-income youth of color. The organization promotes positive development through leadership development, youth employment and career training, access to health services and one-on-one case management, community-building groups and educational programs.
At LYRIC, 47 percent of the youth are homeless or marginally housed; 59 percent are in urgent need of mental health and/or substance abuse services; 15 percent have had contact with the police in the past six months; and 20 percent are not in school and unemployed.