EASTON, Pa. — A new nonprofit group is aiming to increase awareness and resources for the LGBTQ community in the Lehigh Valley — including such issues as homelessness.
“Our three goals are housing for evicted LGBTQ youth, an LGBTQ community center in Easton and education for STD/STI awareness, as well as other LGBTQ education,” said Nicholas Swingle, executive director of the Swingle Family Foundation.
- The Swingle Family Foundation aims to spread awareness and establish resources for the Lehigh Valley's LGBTQ population
- The newly established group is focusing on housing, health and education to address major issues in the LGBTQ community
- Nicholas Swingle encourages anyone who wishes to support the group to donate or buy their homemade merchandise so they can keep the mission alive
The foundation just launched its operation in January before making it official in February.
It began as a conversation between Swingle and his father, Ron, and speaking quickly turned to action to address the myriad issues faced by LGBTQ individuals throughout New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania.
“We had been talking about some lapses in the LGBTQ community that needed help, and it kind of snowballed from there."Nicholas Swingle, executive director of the Swingle Family Foundation
“We had been talking about some lapses in the LGBTQ community that needed help, and it kind of snowballed from there," Nicholas Swingle said.
"We, in about a month, put everything together, got a board and started finding the path that we wanted to be on."
Besides Ron and Nick, the board includes Kristyn Swingle, Stacy Payne, Andrew Bogoly and Dakota Wright.
Homelessness a major issue
While the group assemble mere months ago, it has hit the ground running and established connections to the Lehigh Valley’s LGBTQ community and landmark associations to increase access to care and education.
“There was a survey done in February of 2023, there [were] about 4,300 respondents — but a surprising number who were in the Lehigh Valley — and 20 percent of the LGBTQ population are showing homelessness right now, or have experienced homelessness,” Swingle said.
“And I know — not in personal experience, but I know — that a lot of homes around here are full. There is no room.”Nicholas Swingle, executive director of the Swingle Family Foundation
“And I know — not in personal experience, but I know — that a lot of homes around here are full. There is no room.”
According to the nonprofit organization The Trevor Project, overall, 28% of LGBTQ youth reported experiencing homelessness or housing instability at some point in their lives.
Those rates were even higher among transgender and nonbinary youth, The Trevor Project reports, noting 38% of transgender girls/women, 39% of transgender boys/men and 35% of nonbinary youth experienced homelessness or housing instability.
That is compared with 23% of cisgender LGBTQ youth.
Further, 16% of LGBTQ youth reported they had slept away from parents or caregivers due to running away, and 55% reported they had run away due to mistreatment or fear of mistreatment due to their identity.
Also, 14% of LGBTQ youth reported they were away from home because of being kicked out or abandoned, and 40% reported they were kicked out or abandoned because of their identity.
Easton City Councilwoman Taiba Sultana, who has been in communication with the Swingle Family Foundation — she consulted with them about a recent resolution to acknowledge Pride Month in Easton — said she is very interested in continuing the relationship to make the city more inclusive.
“I want to make sure they are included," Sultana said. "That's why we did the [Pride] flag raising, to just spread some awareness and education to the people who live in the city of Easton, so they don't deny them housing or employment.
“The more inclusive they are, the more they can freely live in the city. Basically, that's the whole point.”
Access to mental, physical health care
The Trevor Project’s 2022 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health reported 45% of LGBTQ youth seriously considered suicide in the previous year, with nearly 1 in 5 transgender and nonbinary youth attempting suicide.
Beyond mental health, even physical health access is an issue.
It can be difficult and costly to get STI testing and treatments such as PrEP or other HIV medications through conventional means, especially if the patient is uncomfortable pursuing those tests and treatments.
“LGBT youth are more likely to engage in high-risk sexual behaviors leading to an increased incidence of STDs," a 2017 report from the National Institute of Health’s National Library of Medicine states.
"The rates of gonorrhea, chlamydia and HIV are twice as high in sexually minority youth, as in heterosexual men.”
Novus is an organization focused on health care “regardless of your gender, sexual identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, or financial status,” according to its website.
Partnerships between organizations such as the Swingle Family Foundation and Novus can help increase safe and cost-effective access to these services.
Funding will be needed
According to Novus Director of Public Relations and Marketing Benny Vukaj LGBTQ individuals are at a higher risk of HIV and other STIs, and getting support for these issues, among others, can be difficult.
“It is very important for the LGBTQ community to have access to these [resources], because they may not have the means based on their situation," Vukaj said.
"Meaning if somebody comes out, however they identify, maybe their support system is no longer there, their family disowns them, they don't have a place to live anymore.
“These circumstances are real in the LGBTQ community, and then all of a sudden, they don't have the resources that they once had.”
To address those issues, the Swingle Family Foundation will need funding, which serves as its very first mission.
“So our biggest thing right now is obviously we need donations and sponsors to keep the organization afloat."Nicholas Swingle, executive director of the Swingle Family Foundation
“So our biggest thing right now is obviously we need donations and sponsors to keep the organization afloat," Swingle said.
"Anybody who wants to check out our website, look at our merch — everything from coffee cups to buttons, it’s all made in-house. We make everything ourselves."
By next year, the group hopes to have working relationships with the Bradbury-Sullivan Center and other LGBTQ organizations in the area, as well as with the local government.
The Swingle Family Foundation and its allies, including people such as Vukaj, are realistic about the current state of resources for the LGBTQ, they are all optimistic about the future.
"We're headed in the right direction but we do have a lot of work to do,” Vukaj said.
And while it's Pride Month, Swingle is focused on the long-term goal of providing those life-saving services to the community. After all, June will come to an end, and stores may take down their rainbows, but the needs of LGBTQ individuals throughout the area and beyond are a constant.
“I would say the importance of it is the fact that we know the LGBT community is around year-round and we need that support year-round, and not just during June when it makes the company look good to have the Pride colors on their logo,” Swingle said.
