El Rescate, which translates as “the rescue,” has witnessed its programs and facilities triple in size as the need for housing and advocacy for queer youth has expanded. As the only transitional housing program dedicated solely to homeless LGBTQ youth, El Rescate is poised to start a new undertaking in three weeks. In partnership with the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, the congregate will be unveiling El Rescate 2.0, a transitional housing project specifically for HIV-positive homeless individuals. The goal of both El Rescate and El Rescate 2.0 is to assist homeless LGBTQ youth transition into permanent and individual living situations through training and mentorship.
El Rescate program director Jackie Gonzalez said that El Rescate offers a wide range of services for LGBTQ homeless youth, including case management, living skills training, goal planning, career and education planning, tutoring and mentoring, job preparation and links for health care.
This smaller, low-key benefit event—which LGBTQ activist and artist Lair Scott co-produced—was, in itself, as diverse, colorful and unpredictable as the location suggested. The first performer was poet/spoken-word artist Jason No Ah, who startled the largely unsuspecting bar crowd with his passionate original work and a selection by queer icon/poet Allen Ginsberg. Scott then took the stage in his visage as Ziggy 2000, his David Bowie tribute, for performances of “The Man who Sold the World,” “Space Oddity” and a particularly hard-rocking version of “Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)” that turned the bar into a dance marathon. Peter Starita, also known as Hunt Hunt Hunt Camp, performed a six-song set of electronically distorted pop while straightforward band Suicide Bunnies closed the show with a rowdy and passionate set of pure rock ‘n’ roll.
The next QFA Benefit is set for April 18 at SFR in Logan Square with legendary songstress Ava Cherry slated as the headliner.