[NEWS] First housing development for homeless LGBTQ youths opens in Pa.

From Newsworks: 

Nasir Fears first told his grandmother he was gay when he was 14-years old. She didn't throw him out, but she made it clear she didn't accept his sexuality.

"And I had left," he said. "And it was like ok, just do... whatever. Like, nobody actually really cared."

Fears spent years sleeping on the subway and house-hopping.

His experience is not uniqute. Nationwide, about 40 percent of homeless youth identify as LGBTQ and, like Fears, are often rejected by their families. In fact, the number of homeless young people is on the rise in Philadelphia and across the country.

In September, the Philadelphia nonprofit Project HOME plans to break ground on 30 units of affordable housing for young people between the ages of 18 and 23 with a special welcome for those who identify as LGBTQ.

Project HOME co-founder Sister Mary Scullion said it will be the first LGBTQ-friendly affordable housing development for young people in Pennsylvania.