Luc,
Tomek is from a small town in Southern Poland. He's 19 years old, gay, and homeless.When he came out last year, his mother said he was "sick." She humiliated and outed him to neighbours, putting his safety at risk. With nowhere to go, Tomek ended up alone and vulnerable on the street.
Until he found the Emergency Shelter in Warsaw – the only place in Eastern Europe helping homeless lesbian, gay, bi, and transgender people who have experienced violence and harassment. With a safe place to live, he was able to find a job and get back on his own two feet.
But now this shelter is in big trouble. After months trying to find support with no success, the shelter’s resources have quickly dried up – and in two weeks, they'll be forced to leave their building and shut it down for good.
That’s where we come in. If All Out members can raise just €7100 in the next three days, the shelter can stay open for at least another month. This would give them time to find long-term funding. It would mean that residents like Tomek don't lose the only place that gives them safety and warmth.
It’s getting really hard for lesbian, gay, bi, and trans people in Poland and many neighbouring countries like Ukraine and Russia. With anti-gay governments in place, many are forced to drop out of school, leave their jobs, run away from home, or end up homeless with no safe place to go. Without the Emergency Shelter, they'll be stuck with no one to help.
But it’s not too late. If we can help the shelter survive for another month, they could keep up their important work throughout the bitterly cold Polish winter. It will also give them some much-needed breathing room to secure funding for the rest of the year.
Luc, chip in to save the shelter from closing today:
Last year we received a call for help from the organisation IRAP that offers safe housing for gay and trans refugees in Jordan and Lebanon. In just a few days, All Out members chipped in the €6000 needed to get Samir – a gay refugee on the run from ISIS – and other refugees into safe housing. With your help, we can do the same for people like Tomek.
Thanks for going All Out,
Matt, Sarah, Mathias, Leandro, Oscar, Enrique, Kate, Lucy, and the rest of the All Out team.
P.S. If we don’t raise €7100, your donation still goes to the organisation that runs the shelter in Warsaw (Lambda Warsaw). It will enable them to help residents like Tomek find somewhere else safe to stay after the shelter closes. If we raise more than €7100, this will give Lambda more time to secure permanent finances and will support other work with vulnerable LGBT people in the city.
