[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”||0px||false|false”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _dynamic_attributes=”content” _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Montserrat|700|||||||” text_font_size=”50px” text_line_height=”1em” text_orientation=”center”]@ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoicG9zdF90aXRsZSIsInNldHRpbmdzIjp7ImJlZm9yZSI6IiIsImFmdGVyIjoiIn19@[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Montserrat|300|||||||” text_font_size=”30px” text_line_height=”1.3em” text_orientation=”center” max_width=”75%” module_alignment=”center”]<\/p>\n
Sandra Whitley felt alone growing up, so she made it her mission to provide community for others. And even during the pandemic, she refuses to close the door.<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _dynamic_attributes=”content” _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Montserrat||||||||” text_orientation=”center”]@ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoicG9zdF9hdXRob3IiLCJzZXR0aW5ncyI6eyJiZWZvcmUiOiJCeSAiLCJhZnRlciI6IiIsIm5hbWVfZm9ybWF0IjoiZmlyc3RfbGFzdF9uYW1lIiwibGluayI6Im9mZiIsImxpbmtfZGVzdGluYXRpb24iOiJhdXRob3JfYXJjaGl2ZSJ9fQ==@[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”0px||||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||||false|false”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_blurb image=”https:\/\/txnewsroom2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2020\/12\/Solomon_EmilyWhang_final.jpg” alt=”Illustration by Emily Whang” content_max_width=”100%” _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default” body_font=”Montserrat||||||||” body_font_size=”14px” body_line_height=”1.2em” text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”0px||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”||40px||false|false” animation=”off”]<\/p>\n Illustration by Emily Whang<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_blurb][et_pb_audio audio=”https:\/\/txnewsroom2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2020\/12\/SolomonMaster.mp3″ title=”Listen to Sandra Whitley’s story” artist_name=”Solomon Wilson” _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][\/et_pb_audio][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”7px|||||”]<\/p>\n From a young age, Sandra Whitley knew she would live a unique life. At first it looked like she might become an Olympian.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cFor some reason, I was born fast. I was in Junior Olympics and everybody thought I was going to the Olympics,\u201d Whitley said. \u201cEverything was looking good.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Then in an instant, things changed: Whitley was caught kissing girls.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThat didn\u2019t go over too well,\u201d she said. \u201cThe school district actually tried to get me kicked out of school indefinitely, and my parents ended up putting me in a mental institution.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n It was the mid-1970s. Whitley lived in the South and being gay was still essentially considered a disease.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI can tell you that women were raped [in the institution]. If you did something wrong, you were put in a 2-by-4 padded cell,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n Shortly after her time there and partly because of it, her family uprooted from rural West Texas to San Antonio.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Whitley\u2019s next hurdle was during college, when she officially came out to her parents.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThey disowned me, and we didn\u2019t speak for 20 years,\u201d Whitley said. \u201cSo I was very depressed, to be honest.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n She went looking for peace and began traveling the world. Along the way, she discovered her mission was to help young adults who also felt ostracized for being queer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThen I started researching and found that in the United States, you know, there\u2019s 1.6 million homeless youth,\u201d Whitley said. \u201cThey say that 40 percent are LGBT, and in the South … probably about 50 percent are LGBT.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n It hit her hard that 40 years after she had been institutionalized, so little had changed and so little was being done to help.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIf there\u2019s such an epidemic of homeless youth and homeless LGBT youth, there must be a lot of shelters,\u201d Whitley said. \u201cThere was zero in Texas.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_blurb image=”https:\/\/txnewsroom2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2020\/12\/Solomon_Wilson_01.jpg” alt=”Sandra Whitley” content_max_width=”100%” _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default” body_font=”Montserrat||||||||” body_font_size=”14px” body_line_height=”1.2em” text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”0px||0px||false|false” animation=”off” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n Sandra Whitley, founder and executive director of Thrive Youth Center, stands in a hallway decorated with motivational messages and artwork at her San Antonio shelter for LGBTQ+\u00a0 youth. (Photo by Solomon Wilson)<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_blurb][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”]<\/p>\n After a visit to New York City\u2019s largest LGBTQ+ youth shelter, the <\/span>Ali Forney Center<\/span><\/a>, Whitley was determined and inspired to open her own shelter in San Antonio.<\/span><\/p>\n She volunteered for an outreach program and began to build connections with the unserved youth sleeping under bridges and highways throughout the city.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou know, I don\u2019t think that they trusted me and I don\u2019t blame them,\u201d Whitley said. \u201cI didn\u2019t trust anybody, either.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n She told about 10 individuals she was in the process of getting a place for them; she assured them she would be back.<\/span><\/p>\n When she returned, she found, \u201cthey all painted their nails the same color so I wouldn\u2019t forget them,\u201d Whitley said. \u201cLike I was going to forget.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_blurb image=”https:\/\/txnewsroom2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2020\/12\/Solomon_Wilson_02.jpg” alt=”Unoccupied resident rooms” _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default” body_font=”Montserrat||||||||” body_font_size=”14px” body_line_height=”1.2em” text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”0px||0px||false|false” animation=”off”]<\/p>\n Dec. 3, 2020: Unoccupied resident rooms, left bare for future residents to move-in and decorate, at Thrive Youth Center in San Antonio. (Photo by Solomon Wilson)<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_blurb][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”]<\/p>\n Her first plan fell through. But the trust the youth placed on her pushed Whitley to fulfill her promise: She would shelter these teens \u2013 whether in hotel rooms or a rental house; no one would be left behind. In 2015, <\/span>Haven for Hope<\/span><\/a>, Texas\u2019 largest transition center, reached out to her and she was able to establish an official home for <\/span>Thrive Youth Center<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Housed in its own wing on the campus, Thrive provides youth 18-24 their own rooms, showers, counseling, medical care and transitional services.<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_testimonial author=”Sandra Whitley” portrait_width=”0px” portrait_height=”0px” _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default” author_text_align=”right” text_orientation=”center” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cI know how it feels to be absolutely alone. But whatever your dream is we will walk through it together and remove every single boundary that is in your way.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_testimonial][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n \u201cI know how it feels to be absolutely alone,\u201d Whitley tells the youth. \u201cBut whatever your dream is we will walk through it together and remove every single boundary that is in your way.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Thrive has kept an open-door policy throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Extra temperature checks, masks and testing have become the new normal, Whitley said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_blurb image=”https:\/\/txnewsroom2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2020\/12\/Solomon_Wilson_03.jpg” alt=”Welcome kits” content_max_width=”100%” _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default” body_font=”Montserrat||||||||” body_font_size=”14px” body_line_height=”1.2em” text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”0px||0px||false|false” animation=”off” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n Youth entering the shelter receive welcome kits that include protective face masks.\u00a0<\/span>(Photo by Solomon Wilson)<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_blurb][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n \u201cWhat you do outside of here impacts us all,\u201d she reminds the youth every day.<\/span><\/p>\n With federal pandemic relief money, Thrive has been able to provide homes outside the shelter for over 20 individuals, along with necessities like food, counseling and phones, so they can stay in contact from a safe distance.<\/span><\/p>\n While 2020 has thrown curveballs to so many, Whitley said the pandemic reminds her of the lesson she learned when she was 13.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThinking I\u2019m going to the Olympics and, you know, the next minute, because I\u2019m gay, I\u2019m locked up in an institution,\u201d Whitley said. \u201cYou know, life can change.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c[The pandemic] has made all of us kind of take a step back and say, \u2018Am I really doing what I really want to do? Is there something that I should be doing right now or that I\u2019d love to do?\u2019\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n With Thrive, Whitley\u2019s doing exactly what she always dreamed of: helping LGBTQ+ youth.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m here to tell you I give a shit, and you do not have to be alone,\u201d she tells them.<\/span><\/p>\n Whitley said she now feels confident Thrive will be here in the future. She hopes to one day open a separate building that will allow youth to drop in, even if they don\u2019t need help for an extended period of time. <\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_blurb image=”https:\/\/txnewsroom2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2020\/12\/Solomon_Wilson_04.jpg” alt=”The courtyard outside of Thrive Youth Center in San Antonio” _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default” body_font=”Montserrat||||||||” body_font_size=”14px” body_line_height=”1.2em” text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”0px||0px||false|false” animation=”off” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n The courtyard outside Thrive Youth Center is shared by residents of the youth shelter and members of the San Antonio community experiencing homelesness.\u00a0<\/span>(Photo by Solomon Wilson)<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_blurb][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sandra Whitley felt alone growing up, so she made it her mission to provide community for others. And even during the pandemic, she refuses to close the door.Illustration by Emily WhangFrom a young age, Sandra Whitley knew she would live a unique life. At first it looked like she might become an Olympian.\u00a0 \u201cFor some […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":407,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"1080","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"coauthors":[15],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/txnewsroom2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/txnewsroom2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/txnewsroom2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txnewsroom2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/407"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txnewsroom2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=356"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/txnewsroom2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/txnewsroom2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txnewsroom2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txnewsroom2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=356"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txnewsroom2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}