Bobby Hermida and Heather Wilkie of Zebra Youth stand outside new transitional housing units that are soon to welcome young, homeless LGBTQ+ tenants (Dec. 10, 2024) Credit: photo by McKenna Schueler

When Bobby Hermida was first introduced to the Orlando-based nonprofit Zebra Youth at 22 years old, he was in therapy for a drug and alcohol addiction. Originally from Brevard County, Hermida came to the Orlando area to intern at a local theme park, and has since advocated for a variety of causes, including mental health.

By the time he found his way to Zebra Youth, formerly known as the Zebra Coalition, he’d reached a point where he was no longer able to afford therapy — so his therapist suggested he reach out to Zebra, which provides free counseling for at-risk LGBTQ+ youth and young adults.

The group, led today by licensed mental health counselor Heather Wilkie, also offers housing assistance for at-risk youth, in collaboration with other local nonprofits and local governments. And in 2018, Hermida needed both. He spent about 18 months in Zebra’s transitional housing program, which also focuses on serving young adults who identify as LGBTQ+.

Since then, Hermida — who is now 30 — has been actively involved with the nonprofit, either as a volunteer or a board member. He still serves on the board today, as a representative of Recovery Connections, another local nonprofit that offers peer support services for people with addiction.

He’s been sober and clean for six years now, and will celebrate his seventh year of recovery — “lucky seven,” he pointed out with a grin — next August. “I couldn’t have done it without the strong foundation that Zebra Coalition gave me,” he told Orlando Weekly during an interview in the kitchen of a new transitional housing unit that Zebra has prepared for prospective tenants.

For Hermida, Zebra’s mission is personal. “What motivated me to get involved was seeing the amount of effort that was poured into me, and support and love that was poured into me,” he explained. “I want to give that back, and I want to have a seat at the table and represent the people that come through the program.”

As Orlando faces ongoing lack of housing affordability, Zebra is getting ready to expand their transitional housing program just ahead of the holidays, with Hermida and other young adult advocates leading the charge.

Thanks to funds they received through the Homeless Services Network’s Brighter Days initiative — funded largely through federal tax dollars — Zebra is set to open up 12 more transitional housing units for LGBTQ+ adults 18 to 24 years old within the next few weeks.

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The units, offering apartment-style living with a shared kitchen and community room near downtown Orlando, will serve as temporary, no-cost housing for those who would otherwise be living on the streets or in a shelter.

“Having a safe living environment away from the streets gives these young people the stability they need to address education, employment, mental and physical health issues,” said Wilkie, who has served as executive director of Zebra since 2015. “By pairing housing with supportive case management [this] increases their chances of self-sufficiency and eradicates homelessness from their future.”

There’s a growing need for more housing units, and housing that is affordable, for the average person in Orlando.

A majority of renters in the metro area report spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing, and 28 percent report spending more than half. In Orlando, where average monthly rent is hundreds of dollars higher than it was just a few years ago, there’s a considerable gap between the average person’s income and rental costs they can afford.

The National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates that an Orlando resident would need to make at least $31.50 an hour to comfortably afford a one-bedroom apartment.

But affordability is just part of the problem. For people with certain economic, health and social risk factors for homelessness — such as being a sexual minority — there can be other challenges with keeping a roof over your head at play, too.

“It could be that a youth was kicked out of their home because they came out and their family didn’t accept them,” Wilkie explained. “It could also be that someone maybe ran away because they didn’t feel safe at home, safe coming out, or safe after they’ve come out.”

As recently as 2022, more than half of LGBTQ+ teenagers in the United States, ranging from 13 to 18, reported experiencing at least one form of parental rejection.

A survey, conducted by the research firm YouGov in 2021, found that only 66 percent of people in the U.S. said they would support a family member if they were bi, gay, or a lesbian. Only 57 percent said they would be supportive of a family member who is transgender or nonbinary — a population that has also faced increasingly targeted political attacks in recent years.

“Young people … especially trans and nonbinary youth are hearing these horrible messages about them,” said Wilkie, who’s traveled to Tallahassee to speak out against anti-trans legislation proposed in the state Legislature. “All of those messages are internalized, and of course, how they respond to that is — honestly, you know, not healthy oftentimes.”

LGBTQ+ youth have a higher risk of engaging in self-harm behaviors, are more likely to consider suicide. They may also more likely to develop eating disorders and substance use disorders in order to cope with challenges such as rejection, trauma and gender dysphoria, compared to their cisgender peers.

“I think that there’s going to be even a greater need as we move forward in this political climate for mental health services that are specialized in this area — and housing,” said Wilkie, candidly.

“I think that there’s going to be even a greater need as we move forward in this political climate for mental health services that are specialized in this area — and housing”

National estimates suggest that up to 40 percent of homeless youth identify as LGBTQ+, a statistic that Wilkie said largely reflects Central Florida as well.

A benefit of Zebra’s program is that it doesn’t just offer a safe place for young adults to sleep at night. They also pair tenants with case managers, who can help them connect with job assistance, education assistance, as well as mental health counseling.

“The hope is that they have more resources when they leave, right?” said Wilkie. “Hopefully they will have gained more confidence and self-sufficiency and be able to navigate, you know, life outside of this program.”

The average stay for tenants in their other transitional housing units is one year. Wilkie admitted it’s hard for them to find an affordable place to live in Orlando after that. “It’s really hard to find, you know, any sort of affordable housing in Central Florida,” she said.

But what their program does offer is the chance to gain some stability and connect with others. In addition to counseling and housing assistance, Zebra also offers support groups, and social get-togethers like Dungeons & Dragons campaigns.

“When they leave, we try to case-manage it to where we’re not, like, kicking them out once their year is up, or whatever that looks like,” Wilkie explained. “Like, we try to manage around it so we know and they know what to prepare for.”

Zebra Youth is unique in Central Florida in its specific aim of serving at-risk LGBTQ+ youth and young adults. Established in 2010, the nonprofit benefits from a diversity of funding sources, including private donors, corporations like Universal Orlando and Walt Disney World, Orlando’s professional sports teams, as well as local governments.

Still, they’re always appreciative of people who are able to provide direct donations, purchase gift cards for food or transportation for the youth they serve, or offer their time as volunteers.

Funding for the long-term continuation of the transitional housing program isn’t guaranteed. The Brighter Days initiative, their source of funds for this latest expansion, is limited, and will dry up.

Still, Wilkie estimates it’ll keep the program afloat for up to 10 years. After that, she hopes they’ll be able to get ahold of the financial support she imagines they’ll need to keep it going.

“We want to make sure we get the support that we need to continue this, because we wouldn’t want to pull it unless we had to,” she said.

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This article appears in Dec 11-17, 2024.

General news reporter for Orlando Weekly, with a focus on state and local government and workers' rights. You can find her bylines in Creative Loafing Tampa Bay, In These Times, and Facing South.