If not for a Rainbow

[Shana A]

If not for a Rainbow
CHRIS Kids Rainbow Program saves gay youth from the streets

By MATT SCHAFER
JUN. 20, 2008

http://www.southernvoice.com/2008/6-20/locallife/feature/8725.cfm

IN 2004, NICOLE CARTER was 17 and out of options. She couldn't go home, the state cut off funding for her bed at CHRIS Kids and as a lesbian she didn't feel safe in many homeless shelters.

"I didn't run away, or if I would have [stolen] a car it would have lasted longer," Carter says of her stay as a ward of the state. "Because I didn't do anything wrong I basically got punished for it."

Carter lived at a group home with CHRIS Kids and was one of the few who could transfer into its Rainbow Program, which helps gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people from ages 17 to 21.