Bea Arthur, Late ‘Golden Girls’ Star, Funds LGBT Homeless Shelter In NYC

Golden Girls actress Bea Arthur’s charitable donation is behind a new LGBT homeless shelter in New York City.

Bea Arthur LGBT Homeless Shelter

When Arthur died in 2009, she had left $300,000 to the Ali Forney Center, the nonprofit that plans to open the LGBT center in her name. Arthur had been a longtime outspoken supporter of the Ali Forney Center and the work it did in helping young people in the LGBT community.

“These kids at the Ali Forney Center are literally dumped by their families because of the fact that they are lesbian, gay or transgender,” Arthur told New York Magazine in 2005. “This organization really is saving lives.”

And now, Arthur’s donation will help save more lives. The Bea Arthur Residence, located in New York City’s East Village, will be an 18-bed shelter for LGBT youth. In addition to providing beds, The Bea Arthur Residence will have counseling and case management services for those in need.

“Now between our 12 housing sites and 24/7 drop-in center we are able to provide for over 1,000 youths per year,” Carl Siciliano, the Executive Director of the Ali Forney Center, wrote about Arthur in the Huffington Post. “I honestly don’t know how we would have made it through the recession without that extraordinary gift. Bea Arthur truly meant it when she said she would do anything to help our kids.”