LGBT transitional home, licensed and accepting applications

Sanctuary Palm Springs , a foster care transitional home for young LGBTQ adults, is now accepting resident applications. After years of trying to acquire a license from the state and county, Sanctuary is proud to be called the very first in Southern California. “Fourty percent of foster care population is LGBT,” said Julie Siri, program director at Sanctuary. The founders and CEO’s of the company, David Rothmiller and LD Thompson, say this group of young adults are under-served. “They may have issues, they may have problems, but being gay is not one of them,” said Rothmiller. As foster dads themselves, the two and their team, have worked for more than three years to get the proper license from the state and county. Siri said the process in acquiring the license was a learning curve for all entities involved. “And because we are new, we were examined from every perspective and we came through with flying colors,” said Siri. The startup company is hoping to go national one day. “We would like to be a model for the country, so that Sanctuary and what it stands for can be duplicated all over this country. We need to have quality housing, quality mentorship for this population of young people,” said Siri. Young adults who are housed at Sanctuary are also provided with training in independent life skills, like cooking, budgeting money, how to prepare for an interview, and many more programs.