“Lambert House gives me a place where I can comfortably be other than home.”
Since 1981 the Lambert House LGBTQ Youth Center has cared for, championed, and celebrated over 15,000 individual minors and young adults through over 500,000 service contacts. Lambert House was founded by a University of Washington clinic director to address the physical and mental health disparities experienced by LGBTQ youth. In 1991 a group of determined individuals worked tirelessly to expand Lambert House into the first community-based drop-in center in the United States for LGBTQ youth.
Today, Lambert House employees and 123 weekly volunteers deliver LGBTQ-specific programming to more youth than any other organization in the Northwestern United States. Known for decades as Seattle’s LGBTQ youth center, Lambert House is the only social service agency in King County, WA, (Pop. 2.25 million) with a mission dedicated solely to LGBTQ youth. Its online programs have drawn youth who live in 28 U.S. states, and in 10 countries on six continents. Lambert House is one of only two LGBTQ youth organizations in the world with such a broad geographical reach.
Seventy percent (70%) of Lambert House program participants are minors, ages 10 - 17. Thirty percent (30%) are young adults, ages 18 - 22. The percentage of racial and ethnic minority youth and staff slightly exceeds the racial and ethnic minority composition of our in-person geographical reach of Seattle and King County. International participants are mostly youth of color.
Lambert House programs are evidence-based and informed by Positive Youth Development and by Minority Stress Theory. Programs span eight categories: 1) Social Connection, Peer Support, Resilience, and Self-Esteem Building; 2) Family Success, Bullying Resistance and School Retention; 3) Mentoring; 4) Homeless Services including Meals, Clothing, Personal Hygiene Items, and LGBTQ-Competent Housing, Medical, and Mental Health Referrals; 5) HIV and STI Prevention Education, and Violence Prevention through Healthy Relationships Education; 6) Culture, Sports, and Outdoor Recreation; 7) Youth Leadership, Workplace Skills Development, and Academic Internships, and; 8) Systems Advocacy and Training for Professionals (from 30 countries to date).
Lambert House is a force for good in the effort to build a world in which LGBTQ youth command equality in their families, schools, and communities.