Genderless fashion label Private Policy launches initiative to raise money for shelter serving homeless LGBTQ kids in New York

Private Policy is raising money for shelter serving homeless LGBTQ kids in New York.

A New York-based fashion label is helping to raise money for a shelter serving homeless LGBTQ youth.

Private Policy, a genderless streetwear label founded by designers Siying Qu and Haoran Li, has teamed up with the Ali Forney Center to raise some much needed funds for the organization — whose work became even more essential as the devastating effects of the pandemic quickly took over New York City, the nation’s epicenter for coronavirus.

On Thursday, Private Policy launched the #LoveAli campaign aiming to help the “largest agency dedicated to LGBTQ homeless youths in the country,” which assists nearly 1,400 young members of the LGBTQ community annually by providing food, medical support and housing for those who need it.

For the task, the brand, a 2019 CFDA Vogue Fashion Fund finalist, came up with a different take on the iconic “I love NY” design and used it on a U.S.-made T-shirt.

All proceeds from the sales of the $80 shirt will go towards the Ali Forney Center.

The 18-year-old nonprofit has maintained its doors open, even as the coronavirus outbreak forced many institutions to close, or to take their services to the virtual world.

“We are their home,” the center said in a statement explaining why they simply didn’t have the option of suspending their onsite services. “For LGBTQ youth experiencing the terrors of homelessness, we are their first responders. And now they need us more than ever.”

A GoFundMe page set up by the label underlines the importance of the organization’s work.

“In such a time of fear, AFC (the Ali Forney Center) is standing firm and keeping its doors open,” a statement by Private Policy reads.

“The center is the only homeless shelter specifically for LGBTQ youth in New York City,” the designers wrote.

AFC anticipates an increase in the number of at-need youth, “given the COVID-19 situation in New York. The organization needs as much help as possible to continue to serve the LGBTQ youth community!”

According to The Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, recent studies suggest that between 20% and 45% of homeless youth identify as LGBTQ — at least two to four times more than the estimated percentage of all youth who identify as LGBTQ.