Lambert House is the only LGBT Youth Center in the Seattle area. Now, after decades operating out of a house on Capitol Hill, the non-profit needs help securing a permanent home.
The organization serves as a safe place for LGBT youth between the ages of 11 and 22, offering them everything from support groups to social activities to warm meals for youth who might wind up homeless.
"Lambert House is life-saving," said Executive Director Ken Shulman. "It's life-saving by providing a safe physical space that is welcoming and comfortable. At it's core, it provides them with a peer group with whom they feel accepted and where they feel normal."
Shulman says he learned about a month ago that the home Lambert House has long rented on 15th Avenue is now for sale.
"It will be very difficult to find a leased space that we can afford and that will serve our programs anywhere near as well as this space has served us," he said.
Shulman says they've rented the home for 25 years, watching the redevelopment of Capitol Hill all around them. With property values in the area higher than ever, he doesn't blame the landlord for wanting to sell.
In fact, Shulman says he's grateful, because the owner has agreed to give Lambert House at least a shot at buying it.
"The goal is two million dollars by the end of the year," he said. "If we are unable to raise two million to buy this property before the end of the year, we will move to another leased space."
He's hoping the community will get behind the fundraising campaign and help Lambert House and the more than 600 youth it serves each year.
"They want to be in a space that feels home-like, welcoming, and comfortable," he said. "And this is that."
