ANN ARBOR – Just ahead of Valentine's Day this year, enjoy an evening at Zingerman's Greyline for a good cause.
Ozone House is holding its fifth annual Home Sweet Home fundraiser on Tuesday, Feb. 13 from 6:30-9:30 p.m.
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Tickets cost $75 per person, of which $55 is tax-deductible, and guests can enjoy a wide selection of Zingerman's mixed appetizers, cheeses and desserts along with a great selection of wines.
A jazz ensemble from Community High School will provide entertainment.
Ozone House's new executive director, Krista Girty, and the organization's PrideZone facilitator, Patrick Gaulier, will be delivering a brief program.
Learn more about Ozone House's work (Credit: Ozone House YouTube channel)
"LGBTQ+ youth are overrepresented among the homeless youth population," Gaulier said in a press release. "While they make up about 10% of the general youth population, they comprise up to 40% of the homeless youth population because of family rejection, discrimination, and a host of other factors."
In a new report published this year, Chapin Hall, at the University of Chicago, found that LGBTQ+ youth are 120% more likely to experience homelessness compared to their heterosexual and cisgender peers.
"The LGBTQ+ youth homeless population are not only dealing with the pressures of being homeless, but also coping with rejection and isolation, and they’re much more likely to engage in risky sexual behaviors, attempt suicide, and struggle with depression and PTSD," Girty said in a press release. "The Home Sweet Home event is an important fundraiser to help provide safety and support for this vulnerable population of young people and show them how much they are loved."
Proceeds from the event will go to Ozone House's Kicked-Out Fund, which helps local gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth at Ozone House and its 24-hour crisis hotline.
Reserve tickets here.
If you can't make it to the event but want to make a difference, donate to Ozone House here.
About Ozone House
"Ozone House is a non-profit organization that provides a safe place, shelter and continued support to thousands of runaway, kicked out, homeless and high-risk youth in Washtenaw County. For youth to thrive in schools and communities, they need to feel socially, emotionally, and physically safe and supported. Ozone House works to give a voice to young people who have been rejected, abused, abandoned and neglected by the people who are supposed to love and protect them. We encourage and strive for family education, acceptance and reunification."