His business is donating vodka to PRIDE Haven, which donates it to local restaurants to make their own pride-themed cocktails. Tom's Town co-owner David Epstein said he is thrilled to be involved. is partnering with local businesses such as Bar K, Bistro 303, Café Trio, Char Bar, Mike’s Wine & Spirits, Ragazza & Tom’s Town for a variety of Pride Month events during June. It takes a lot of funding to keep the shelter up and running and purchase meals and toiletries for the youth who stay there.
"We try to keep them on a 30-day timeline, but if they're not able to obtain housing in that amount of time we don't try to discharge them because that just continues the problem of homelessness," Desimio said.
The shelter helps youth who stay there get connected with resources in the community to get them back on their feet. "We are serving some young people that were not able to be successful in some other programs and that's something that we're really proud of." "I think a lot of the young people enjoy that the space is affirming of their identities," Desimio said. "Nobody is turned away here because of their identity, nobody is turned away here based on their use of substances and nobody is turned away here based on their mental health status," Desimio said.ĭesimio said PRIDE Haven is the only shelter of its kind in the Kansas City area and works to be inclusive of everyone. Program manager Scout Desimio said currently, 17 of the shelter's 20 beds are filled. PRIDE Haven served as a drop-in center for young adults between the ages of 18-24 until transitioning to an overnight shelter in May. Save, Inc., a non-profit which runs a variety of housing programs, is partnering with businesses to raise money and awareness for PRIDE Haven, its overnight shelter for homeless youth. Kansas City-area businesses are coming together this Pride Month to make sure every young person who identifies as LGBTQIA+ has a place to sleep at night.