IKEA donated furniture to the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s youth services. (photo courtesy of the Los Angeles LGBT Center)

The Los Angeles LGBT Center recently thanked IKEA for donating furniture for the center’s Anita May Rosenstein Campus in Hollywood.

Each year, the center serves approximately 2,000 youth, with 1,500 experiencing homelessness. A community room and an outdoor patio space upgraded by IKEA will be used for youth drop-in services and young residents of the center’s Transitional Living Program. Youth Academy supervisor Bernadette Ruby Lopez said the community room is used for group therapy sessions, health education talks, organized group activities and casual meetings.

“This is such an upgrade,” Lopez said. “The space is really creative. We wanted this to be very welcoming and inviting to our youth and this makeover is helping us fulfill that intention.”

IKEA sought to form a partnership with an organization dedicated to providing affordable housing solutions, shelter and support to unhoused LGBTQ youth and seniors. The center expanded the housing it provides this year with the opening of the Michaeljohn Horne and Thomas Eugene Jones Youth Housing, and the Ariadne Getty Foundation Senior Housing.

The retailer donated furniture valued at $6,300 for the youth room and $50,000 for center programs. Employees at IKEA’s Carson, Burbank, Costa Mesa and West Covina stores helped assemble the furniture at the Anita May Rosenstein Campus.

The retailer is planning a similar upgrade to a room inside the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Senior Center next year.

“We are so grateful to have IKEA as a partner,” said Diego Martinez, the center’s corporate relations supervisor. “Their philanthropic efforts uplift the center’s work providing life-saving services to LGBTQ+ young people. We couldn’t have done this without the support of IKEA and their entire team.”

“When we put youth in a better environment, they not only feel really cared for but also that they’re worth it,” Lopez added. “They’re really getting that message that we care. It helps and encourages them to take advantage of the well-rounded resources that we have here.”

For information, visit lalgbtcenter.org.