Emporia’s newest non-profit agency, Bloom House Youth Services, is hoping to be up and running by the end of this year.
Bloom House Board President Clara Corn recently joined KVOE’s Talk of Emporia to discuss where the agency is as it works to become fully integrated into the community. According to Corn, they are currently waiting to hear back on the status of a grant they applied for earlier this year through the Federal Youth Services Bureau.
Corn says the grant will go towards helping the organization open a “basic center” aimed at helping get homeless youth off the streets.
According to statistics available on the Bloom House website, one in every 10 college-aged youth will face homelessness in America each year. The statistics worsen for LGBTQ+ Youth as statistics show they are 120 percent more likely to experience homelessness than non LGBTQ+ youth.
To make matters worse, a study through truecolorsunited.org shows that Kansas currently ranks 29th in the nation for access to LGBTQ+ inclusive resources. Corn says this is a vast improvement over the state’s previous ranking of 44, however:
Corn tells KVOE News that they should receive word of the grant’s status by September. If approved, she is hopeful they will have the basic center open and operational by December of this year.
Bloom House is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) organization. If you would like more information on Bloom House or would like to donate to their cause visit Bloomhouseks.org, email Bloomhouseks@gmail.com or call 620-392-3055.
