LOST-N-FOUND YOUTH INC

Description

Lost-n-Found Youth is the outgrowth of Saint Lost and Found, an LGBTQ homeless youth fund project of the Atlanta Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.

Founded by Rick Westbrook, Art Izzard, and Paul Swicord after each of them experienced being turned away when attempting to place queer youth into local shelters and youth aid programs, the three resolved that something needed to be done to address the immediate need.

They called a public town hall meeting and invited these local homeless youth support agencies to express outrage and determine what resources existed. The meeting made clear that no organization was specifically actively working to take LGBTQ homeless youth off the street. Rick, Art, Paul and others assembled in November 2011 with the support of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to establish a privately funded emergency shelter, and the Saint Lost and Found project (now Lost-n-Found Youth, Inc.) was born.