Hetrick-Martin Institute Brings in Big Names to Help Marginalized Queer Youth

The Hetrick-Martin Institute is celebrating 44 years of supporting LGBTQ+ youth in New York City. This Saturday, July 15, the group is looking to set another record for its fundraising at its star-studded summer fundraiser.

HMI is the country’s oldest LGBTQ+ organization working with youth, primarily youth of color, between 13 and 24 years old. The group offers a variety of services from mental health counseling to tutoring support.

“We're there to provide a community of wellness and care for LGBTQIA+ young people. More than 90 percent of them are young people of color, so they sit at a really challenging intersection in terms of accessing services, navigating systems that aren't really built for them, and so HMI acts as a safety net to those young people,” says the group’s interim CEO and chief development officer, Amy Harclerode.

At its location at 2 Astor Place in downtown New York, HMI also provides a clothes pantry, a soup kitchen for youth to have a hot meal, and other services.

Every summer since 1998, the organization holds a Hamptons summer event called School’s Out. The hosts for this year are Jose Castro and Nathan Orsman.

The first School’s Out fundraiser is meant to help raise money to support youth in the summer months.

“Most of the times services for…marginalized youth generally are offered through the school system. It's also a very real thing that queer and trans people of color don't feel safe in schools, but when they do access [resources], they're accessing it in a school system. And in the summer, a lot of those services go away,” explains Harclerode.

This year’s event is cochaired by Ben Dixon, HMI Board member and founder of Douglas Elliman’s Mackay Dixon Team; Alessandro Ford-Rippolone, Saks Fifth Avenue capital projects development manager; and Brian Kelly, founder of The Points Guy.

“Last year we raised more than $350,000, the most ever raised in the 23-year history of School’s Out. We’re really proud of our achievements and grateful to the sponsors, board members, staff, donors and volunteers who have helped make School’s Out a success year after year,” Dixon said in a statement. “This singular event has made a substantial impact in changing and saving lives of countless LGBTQIA+ youth, which has been and remains personally rewarding for me.”

The School’s Out host committee includes Dennis Basso, Nate Berkus & Jeremiah Brent, Isaac Boots, Andy Cohen, Thom Filicia, Steven Gambrel, David Kleinberg, Michael Lorber, and Sydney Sadick, among others.

You can purchase tickets to the event’s cocktail reception here.