The Houston Chronicle reports:

By some estimates, at least 10,000 youth aged 15 to 17 in the Houston area don’t have a place to sleep on any given night. Many identify as LGBTQ+ and may be fleeing unsupportive or unsafe living environments. A new emergency shelter aims to give those most at risk a safe place to rest their heads.

On Monday, LGBTQ+ community leaders and advocates unveiled Asia’s House, the city’s first temporary emergency shelter for queer and trans youth. The shelter is a partnership between Houston’s Montrose Center and Grace Place, a nonprofit that provides support for homeless youth in the region.

Grace Place Executive Director Courtney Sellers said that Asia’s House, which is open to those between the ages of 15 and 17, is a natural outgrowth of Grace Place’s work since it was established in 2010. Through conversations with the youth Grace Place serves, Sellers said organizers realized that there was a real need for an overnight space for older teenagers who may be too old for existing youth shelters but are not yet adults.

Read the full article. Official press release here.