Members of Houston Dynamo Football Club recently spent an evening volunteering at Montrose Grace Place (MGP), an organization that provides youth experiencing homelessness of all sexualities and genders between the ages of 13 and 24 years old with food and other resources.
On Mondays and Thursdays at 6:00 p.m., MGP hosts Youth Night, an evening of food, mentorship, skills building, and access to direct resources with interactive volunteers and staff in a supportive, affirming space that allows youth to be who they are.
As part of MLS’ Soccer For All week with MLS Works, the Dynamo volunteered by serving food and helping to run a soccer clinic. For Montrose Grace Place program director Chaunteion Hall, having sports teams support the organization’s mission is of the utmost importance.
“It's a huge deal for a sports team to support LGBTQ+ youth homelessness because in society we have been conditioned to unconsciously believe sports is made to be played by cis-gendered heterosexual individuals,” Hall said. “In reality, as humans we are made of many skills and talents and find enjoyment in a variety of hobbies. Having a sports team like the Houston Dynamo and Dash volunteer with Montrose Grace Place promotes visibility to individuals who have been denied fulfillment and expression based on their sexuality and gender. We should keep going in an effort to correct what society has denied for so many youth.”
MGP has been providing resources to LGBTQ+ youth since it first opened its doors in 2010 at Grace Lutheran Church in the heart of Montrose. They now operate out of Kindred Montrose. Volunteers such as the Dynamo offered last week are crucial to the organization’s operations.
“Dynamo Charities volunteers were awesome enough to help serve the youth dinner at 6:30 on a warm Thursday evening and even play a few rounds of soccer with them,” Hall said. “It was very nice of them to facilitate the soccer clinic because it was the first time we had ever played a game while outside. The youth loved participating and others watched enthusiastically.”
For more information on Montrose Grace Place, visit www.montrosegraceplace.org/.
