Kate Barnhart, founder and director of New Alternatives, hosted a 50th birthday party at Metro Baptist Church on Nov. 11 in a celebration that also doubled as a fundraiser for her non-profit, which serves LGBTQ youth and young adults experiencing homelessness.
The night began with soft piano and conversation, which led into a program of gratitude and appreciation. Board members of New Alternatives, like treasurer Jeffry Mummert and president Andy Humm, a Gay City News contributor, stepped to the microphone to express their admiration for Barnhart’s work as founding director of the program.
“For 17 years, Kate has led a program where the most marginalized group of people can feel comfortable,” Mummert said. “But even before opening New Alternatives, Kate was a prominent activist for LGBTQ rights, equality, and visibility.”
In 1991, members of ACT UP pressed the New York City Board of Education to provide more comprehensive HIV and AIDS education, along with free access to condoms. Barnhart was working on the front lines of this movement as a student youth activist until this policy was eventually implemented. Since then, her fight for queer youth has been ongoing.
Prior to founding New Alternatives, Barnhart was the director of Sylvia’s Place, an LGBTQ shelter and food pantry in New York City. While at Sylvia’s, she noticed that people cycled between shelters, receiving new case managers each time. That meant restarting lengthy processes, like applying for Supplemental Security Income (SSI), from scratch. She founded New Alternatives to provide LGBTQ homeless individuals with a long-term and consistent case manager.
Since its founding, both New Alternatives and Barnhart herself have left substantial impacts on their clients, as told by Casanova Hunter, an alum of NA.
“I was lost and unsure of myself and where I fit in the city, but I found a community in New Alternatives and was able to imagine better for myself,” Hunter said. “What society saw as a problem, Kate saw as potential.”
But the fight for New Alternatives is rapidly growing as the homeless LGBTQ population is being increasingly targeted by the Trump administration. According to Barnhart, there have been almost 160 new clients since January. Some of these new clients are migrants from different countries, but others are those moving from red states because of anti-LGBTQ laws.
“I’ve had clients ask me if they will be able to get their surgery because of the laws being passed,” said Barnhart. “I’ve even had some of my trans clients talk to me about leaving the country.”
A lot of these questions are difficult to answer, but Barnhart said she is doing her best to assist New Alternatives’ clients in any way possible, such as paying for enhanced IDs — which allow for international travel to limited destinations, like Canada and Mexico — in the event that someone needs to leave the country.
Clients of New Alternatives have also been disproportionately affected by the interruption to SNAP, a program that about 98% of Barnhart’s clients benefit from. Not only has New Alternatives had to account for providing more food, but it has also generated major anxiety among clients, which Barnhart has had to navigate.
Although times are tough right now, Barnhart finds hope in the future of New York City following the recent election of Zohran Mamdani as the next mayor. The birthday party featured a surprise visit by Manhattan Borough President-Elect Brad Hoylman-Sigal, who vowed to support New Alternatives with “much-needed city funding.”
As Barnhart thanked attendees for joining the event, she doubled down on her commitment to serving individuals in need.
“I don’t know how long this fight will be,” Barnhart said, “but I do know that we will do everything we can to protect our clients and make sure their needs are being met.”
