“Lambert House gives me a place where I can comfortably be other than home.”
Since 1981 the Lambert House LGBTQ+ Youth Center has cared for, championed, and celebrated over 15,000 individual minors and young adults through over 500,000 service contacts. Lambert House was founded by a child and adolescent medicine clinic director to address the physical and mental health disparities experienced by LGBTQ+ youth. These include suicide, homelessness, substance use disorders, survival sex, HIV, bullying and school failure, among others. Our employees and 123 skilled weekly volunteers provide in-person and virtual online programs to more LGBTQ+ youth than any other organization in the Northwestern United States. Lambert House is the only social service agency in Seattle and King County (Pop. 2.25 million) dedicated solely to LGBTQ+ youth.
Recently, Lambert House’s online programs have served LGBTQ+ youth living in 28 U.S. states and eight countries on six continents. Our national and international reach make Lambert House one of the leading LGBTQ+ youth agencies in the world. Seventy percent (70%) of the youth are minors, ages 10 - 17. Thirty percent (30%) are young adults, ages 18 - 22. The percentages of racial and ethnic minority youth and staff are proportional to the racial and ethnic composition of Seattle and King County, WA, where Lambert House is headquartered: 35%. International participants are mostly youth of color.
Lambert House delivers programs, services, and global advocacy that span eight categories: 1) Social Connection, Peer Support, Resilience, and Self-Esteem Building; 2) Family Success, Bullying Resistance and School Retention; 3) Mentoring; 4) Homeless Services including Meals, Clothing, Personal Hygiene Items, and Service Referrals; 5) HIV and STI Prevention and Healthy Relationships Education; 6) Culture, Sports, and Outdoor Recreation; 7) Workplace Skills Development, Youth Leadership, and Academic Internships, and; 8) Systems Advocacy and Training for Professionals from Around the World (30 countries to date).
Lambert House programs are evidence-based and informed by Positive Youth Development Theory and Minority Stress Theory. Several dozen prevention and intervention programs and services are offered across multiple locations and online. The prevention programs emphasize two protective factors for LGBTQ+ youth: peer social support and adult affirmation and mentoring. The intervention programs include meals, clothing, homeless case management, and referrals.
In one indication of program efficacy, LGBTQ+ youth have actively sought, participated in, and returned to Lambert House’s programs more than 10,000 times since the beginning of the Covid-19 Pandemic.
Lambert House is a force against prejudice in the struggle to build a world in which LGBTQ+ children and young adults are healthy and safe, and command equality in their families, schools, and communities.