A look inside Casa Cecilia, NYC’s new home for trans and gender-expansive youth

For LGBTQ+ travelers visiting the Big Apple, a trip to New York City is more than a slice of pizza and a look at the Statue of Liberty — it’s a chance to spend time in one of the most progressive, safe, accepting, and queer-friendly places in the world.

Of course, its beacon of hope is amplified tenfold under the current presidential administration, at a time when the transgender community is under constant attack across the United States, and government funding and support for LGBTQ+ programs are dwindling at an alarming rate.

And that’s why places like The Ali Forney Center‘s Casa Cecilia, a new space in the city dedicated to housing for trans and gender-expansive youth, feel more vital to the community than ever before.

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The home, named after trailblazing New York trans activist Cecilia Gentili, held its grand opening with a ribbon-cutting last week. A fabulous ofrenda in Gentili’s memory, complete with photos, flowers, and even poppers, was on display as they opened their doors and celebrated 20 new beds on October 30.

It marks the second space in the New York City area owned by The Ali Forney Center, an organization founded in 2002 to honor Ali Forney, a gender-nonconforming youth living on the streets who tragically lost their life. Considering they started with six beds in a church basement, Casa Cecilia is a milestone in how far they’ve come on their mission to help and protect LGBTQ+ youth experiencing homelessness — even in this climate.

And for those visiting or living in the city, its existence is a reminder of the role New York continues to play in writing the history of the queer community and, even more importantly, carrying on its activism.

Ahead of last week’s ribbon-cutting, GayCities chatted with Zachary Cohen, Head of Development at The Ali Forney Center, about Casa Cecilia, the agency’s work, and New York’s history of queer activism.

Who was Cecilia Gentili?

ZC: Cecilia Gentili was an incredible trans activist who was a proud Latina sex worker, unapologetically herself, and was such a powerhouse. It felt really appropriate that now we are taking such a major step forward to ensure our trans and gender-expansive youth have shelter and space that they deserve, that it should honor Cecilia.

Cecilia was a personal friend of myself, of our executive director, of many of our staff, that her passing was a major loss for us. This feels like both a way to connect the major milestone in her memory and also to keep her involved in our work.

So, this is the second home owned by the Ali Forney Center. Would you mind sharing with our readers more about what these homes do and what services are offered?

ZC: Yeah, it’s really exciting. We have a really complex, robust wraparound housing program.

Ali’s Place, located in midtown Manhattan, is our 24-hour drop-in space. It does not close ever — not for Thanksgiving, not for a snowstorm. Our doors are always open. It’s a space that young people can come in and be warm when it’s cold, cool off when it’s hot. We have four meals a day and are able to just be in community and be safe. This is somewhere that a young person could be at three o’clock in the morning when they’re most at risk. There’s also a doctor’s office, a classroom, and a career readiness program. It’s really geared towards young people who are street homeless, forced to the streets because of homophobia and transphobia.

The first housing program available is our emergency housing program. For three to six months, it offers people a chance to catch their breath. They have to come home on time, and they have their own bed. We’re going to cook three meals a day for them. They are here to stabilize from the trauma of living on the streets and family rejection.

Then, we have a more robust two-year program, which is transitional housing that teaches skills for independent living and enables them to find a job, learn how to save, budget, live with roommates, so on and so forth.

[Casa Cecilia] is going to be for 20 trans young adults, and it’s going to be an emergency shelter. So it’s really [for] young adults who are first coming out of street homelessness to get on their feet, have a safe space for them to catch their breath, and be OK.

What’s the demand for this kind of housing like? With everything going on right now, how urgent do these spaces feel?

ZC: Very. We have about a 300-person waitlist for folks trying to get a bed at AFC.

The reality is we serve around 2,200 youth a year, and that is inclusive of Ali’s Place, the drop-in services, but we just do not have enough beds. So the fact that we are onboarding an additional 20 beds feels like the exact right thing for us to be doing as an agency.

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What does it mean to have new housing opening in the Harlem neighborhood in particular?

ZC: You know, we have deep roots in Harlem. 90% of our young people are people of color. There’s something to the fact that this particular location is very close to a university that enables our young people to pass. We’ve had a trans housing space in Brooklyn where it became an issue for those young people to get around in the neighborhood. They were really targeted and stood out.

The fact that there’s a bunch of trans people of color in this neighborhood fits right in. Like, every time I’m there, there are young people with backpacks walking around on a tree-lined street. This is exactly where these youths should be.

Has your work with the Ali Forney Center gotten harder this year in particular?

ZC: I think we’re adapting, and we’re growing, and we’re making sure that we’re showing up in the best way that we possibly can. So this house actually is a really major step for us as an agency to have financial independence, and for us to not rely on government sources of funding, and for corporate America to shine a spotlight on us.

We spend over $2 million a year on rent. If we didn’t have that expense, we would be able to really tailor the services for our young people to what they need most. I think we’re getting creative, and we are really determined to make sure that our young people have the services that they deserve, and so this is a major, major step in that direction.

How can anyone who’s interested in helping LGBTQ youth get involved?

ZC: There are a ton of opportunities to get involved. Everything from … organizing socks that were donated and figuring out how best to get them to our young people, to career coaching. We also throw a really great party and need the community to show up, bring their friends, and spread the word.

If folks want to donate to volunteer, reach out. There’s so much need that we need as many people as possible to help us grow the work.

Are there any spots in New York you’d recommend to visitors looking to learn more about queer activism or history?

ZC: I think the West Village has a ton of history. Throughout a ton of cities, there’s always an epicenter that is, like, “gay thought” and “queer art” and “activism.” The West Village, Chelsea, and Hell’s Kitchen on the west side of New York City have always been that.

I think there are other neighborhoods, like Bushwick and Williamsburg, that have continued to grow their LGBTQ inclusiveness. Really, most of New York City, if not all of New York City, is super queer, welcoming, and affirming. So I feel like there’s not a neighborhood that would be a miss.

This interview has been condensed and edited.

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