CHARITY SPOTLIGHT {giving back}
ONE•N•TEN
Enhancing the lives of LGBTQ youth and young adults Jamie Killin | Web Editor
THE STORY one•n•ten’s history began 25 years ago, providing a community space for LGBTQ youth to gather in a safe space, where they could be with others that they could relate to. “It mostly functioned as a community space,” said executive director Nate Rhoton. “If you remember the 90s — I graduated high school in ’96 — I didn’t know a single ‘out’ gay person in school. It’s very different now. But back then, you just wanted a space you could go to if you didn’t want to tell anyone you were going.” For a long time, that worked. But as the organization matured, it got to a place where it 38 FRONTDOORS MEDIA | SEPTEMBER 2018
could start responding to some of the community’s other needs. “Namely homelessness amongst LGBTQ youth,” Rhoton said. Programs continued to grow and evolve, prompting one•n•ten to offer professional development programming, education, camp and more. “No matter what, we stay true to our mission, which is pure and simple to help LGBTQ youth ages 11 to 24 be the best that they can be,” Rhoton said. “All of the programs we offer are vehicles by which we’re delivering on that mission, and those vehicles can change.”
