It’s a warm Thursday morning in a quaint office space on Orlando’s Mills Avenue when Heather Wilkie, executive director of the nonprofit Zebra Youth, walks out of her private office in the back of the building with a glowing smile. She and other Zebra nonprofit board members, who quietly trickle out of the building, have just completed another job interview for a candidate vying to succeed Wilkie as the face and leader of the youth services organization.
Hers will be large shoes to fill, and they’re difficult ones for Wilkie to leave on the front stoop. Zebra Youth, a group that provides housing and other supportive services to disadvantaged LGBTQ+ youth, announced Wilkie’s departure from the Orlando-based organization last week. She has served in the role of executive director for a decade after joining the organization as a graduate intern in counseling.
Wilkie told Orlando Weekly that she informed the board of her decision to leave some time ago, sharing that, for her, it just felt like the “right time.” There were no dramatics, no blow-ups, just a need for more flexibility and a desire to spend more time with family. With a tumultuous political environment and the recent passing away of her stepfather, she felt the need to reevaluate her priorities.
“This job is wonderful, but it’s very demanding,” she admitted. “Sometimes it feels like I’m married to Zebra,” she added with a laugh. The licensed mental health counselor has a young son, a partner who works as a teacher in the local public school system, and aging parents in her home state of West Virginia that she would like to see more often.
She began her own private LGBTQ-friendly counseling practice last year — serving youth, families and queer couples — and plans to continue that work within the Orlando community. “I love working with youth, specifically trans youth,” she said. “I love working with their families. So I’m hoping to take that to my private practice.”
Wilkie is staying on in her role as executive director of Zebra Youth until the nonprofit’s board and staff find the right replacement. They kicked off a national search for their next executive director this week. As Wilkie herself conceded, it’ll be a challenging job, if also rewarding.
“Everything is changing, you know, with the political climate and funding. I think it’s time to bring someone in who has a fresh perspective on that,” she said.
Under the Trump administration, nonprofits across the country — in addition to public universities and research institutions — have seen federal grant funds frozen or otherwise cut completely.
A White House spokesperson told the Associated Press this week, in explanation of the cuts, “Instead of government largesse that’s often riddled with corruption, waste, fraud, and abuse, the Trump administration is focused on unleashing America’s economic resurgence to fuel Americans’ individual generosity.”
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Wilkie said Zebra Youth specifically has seen just one of its federal grants cut so far, one that formerly allowed them to provide housing assistance for young people with HIV. She said those currently being served through the program will continue to receive that assistance until they “age out,” but the funding cut leaves the nonprofit unable to accept new recipients. “The funding is going to run out, so that has been hard,” she said. “Otherwise, we’re OK.”
The organization, which also offers mental health counseling and activity groups for LGBTQ+ youth, has a diverse funding strategy. They receive financial support through private donors and corporations like Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando, in addition to local and federal government grants. A 2023 tax filing shows that government grants made up about a quarter of Zebra’s total revenue that year.
“Ideally, we would shift that and focus more on bringing in more dollars that are not [federal] grant dollars,” said Wilkie. “So we’re looking in the new executive director role for someone who really has that expertise.”
Zebra Youth specifically serves young people between the ages of 13 and 24. They provide transitional housing for homeless LGBTQ youth, offer free mental health counseling, and host LGBTQ+-friendly events — like an annual Pride Prom — and youth activity groups, such as gaming and craft nights, for young people who register as Zebra Youth members.
Membership with Zebra is free — the only eligibility requirement is being within their age range — but if you’re under 18, parental consent is required. Wilkie said she’d like to see the organization rebuild its relationship with local schools, so that Zebra can be a more visible resource for young people who identify as LGBTQ+, or suspect they might be, but struggle with a lack of support.
“Before the pandemic hit, we had great relationships with the schools,” she said. But the COVID-19 shutdown, plus a state government that became increasingly hostile to LGBTQ+ rights and the mere mention of “gay” in classrooms, effectively chilled that.
A 2022 state law, dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” by critics, restricted Florida teachers from offering any instruction that mentions or touches on sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools. Other state laws, championed by “anti-woke” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, have taken aim at diversity, equity and inclusion programming, teachers’ use of personal pronouns, drag performances, and gender-affirming treatment for transgender youth.
Even though there have been court orders effectively blocking or halting several of these policies, in response to legal challenges, Wilkie said there’s “still this fear” among school administrators and teachers that DeSantis — a governor known for going after elected officials who defy his political agenda — could come after them next. “My partner is a teacher, and, like, I can tell you firsthand that the teachers are afraid of losing their job,” she said.
Meeting young, queer people where they’re at isn’t just important for the kids, said Wilkie, but also for their families. Zebra, she believes, serves as an educational resource and a source of support for parents and families who are also navigating a political environment that now isn’t just hostile to LGBTQ+ people on a state level, but on the federal level, too.
That extends from direct attacks on LGBTQ+ rights under Trump to federal funding cuts for housing programs and other social welfare services serving low- or no-income families. According to the National Coalition for Homelessness, LGBTQ+ youth are 120 percent more likely to experience homelessness than their straight cisgender peers.
They may be kicked out of their homes by unsupportive families, or may run away due to feeling unsafe in an unsupportive household. Youth may face discrimination or harassment in shelters, and find themselves with nowhere else to go.
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“If you are finding yourself in a situation where you’re homeless at a young age, being able to get all those support systems is nearly impossible,” said Wilkie. “And so having a case manager here who’s helping them go through that, having a counselor who’s helping them with their mental health so they can support themselves in that way, is so critical.”
Wilkie strongly believes that, despite a less than friendly political environment on the state and federal level, the Orlando community has consistently shown up for Zebra Youth and offered a supportive, inclusive environment for those they serve, especially following the 2016 mass shooting at the gay nightclub Pulse that killed 49 mostly young people.
“We kind of live in a place where the state is so not supportive of us, and every day we’re fighting these battles,” she said. “But you know, Orlando continues to be a loving and safe place for youth, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
She feels she’s leaving Zebra in a good place, and is looking forward to seeing how the organization continues to persevere and grow moving forward. “This organization is strong, and we will continue to do the services that we have done since 2010 when we opened our doors. We’re in good hands with the community support, with the board support and [with] the staff that are here.”
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This article appears in Jul 23-29, 2025.
