For #AWP24, we’re giving back to the Kansas City community by partnering with Pride Haven for #WritersServe. To aid Pride Haven in their mission to provide a safe and welcoming overnight shelter for all Kansas City LGBTQIA+ youth aged 18–24, we will be collecting the following items for Pride Haven residents:

• Journals
• Books
• Cold weather essentials such as hats, gloves, scarves, and handwarmers

If you are flying into the conference and wish to travel light, journals and books from Pride Haven’s wish list will be available for purchase at the #AWP24 official bookseller on-site. If you are attending virtually or just would prefer to buy online, you can purchase through the Pride Haven book wish list, and books will be shipped directly to the shelter.

Pride Haven will be located at booth 631 of the #AWP24 Bookfair, staffed with representatives from the organization. When you arrive at the bookfair, make sure to stop by to learn more about Pride Haven and their mission and outreach, and drop off a book or cold-weather essential!

More about Pride Haven:

Pride Haven is SAVE, Inc.’s overnight shelter for transition-aged youth, aged 18–24, facing homelessness. Their safe and accepting space offers a welcoming and affirming environment for all youth.

Pride Haven’s parent organization, SAVE, Inc. was founded in 1986 when the AIDS epidemic hit Kansas City. It began as a volunteer-run hospice center where folks diagnosed with HIV/AIDS could die with dignity. In the early nineties, it expanded to provide housing assistance to those diagnosed with HIV or those struggling with mental health, helping people live with dignity.

In 2020, SAVE, Inc. created Pride Haven, which started as a drop-in site providing resources for transition aged LGBTQIA+ youth, and expanded to provide overnight housing in 2021. There was previously no resource for this demographic in Kansas City, and it is an age where unhoused individuals are at particularly high risk.

Pride Haven is currently the most low-barrier program in the city. They do not preclude anyone from their services due to substance use, psychosis, or identity. Pride Haven looks at the evidence of what has proved most effective in aiding youth and uses a practice of restorative justice in their programs.

More Ways to Support Pride Haven

• Donate directly to the organization
• Purchase a book from the Pride Haven book wish list
• Send them resources from their Amazon wish list

Pride Haven Services

• Case Management
• Meal / Budget planning
• Transportation
• Housing / Job Assistance
• Group Activities
• Resources
• Medical / Mental Health Referrals
• Common Areas
• Computers
• Laundry
• Showers
• Meals
• Beds
• Kitchen