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YEPP Statement: Advocating for Justice and Healing Amid Unexpected Eviction
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Youth Empowerment Performance Project Statement

Advocating for Justice and Healing Amid Unexpected Eviction

The Youth Empowerment Performance Project (YEPP) needs a new home – and your support.  

For 14 years, we have served LGBTQI+ youth experiencing homelessness, by providing direct services alongside arts programming.  Led by – and centering – our Black and Brown, Trans, and Gender Non-Conforming community in Chicago, we understand that our work is more urgent now than ever, but our work is being severely challenged on multiple fronts, both politically and structurally The Trump administration is waging targeted attacks on our rights, causing increased physical, emotional, and spiritual instability to our communities on a daily basis. In this hostile climate, YEPP’s programming is vital to promoting the safety, connection, and liberation of young people who are most impacted by these mounting threats.

At this very crucial moment, our capacity to continue our work is in jeopardy. We are facing eviction from our home of almost two years at Broadway United Methodist Church (BUMC) at the end of March.  We are heartbroken by this abrupt decision on the part of BUMC, and disappointed by the absence of a clear explanation.  We hope to have the opportunity to engage in a restorative justice process with BUMC in future.  But in this moment of immediate crisis, our focus is on the communities we serve.

This eviction brings enormous strain to our programming participants and impacts our ability to open up our programming to serve more people.  On top of this, we are in need of ongoing funding in order to provide the resources and programming needed to confront growing politicized threats against Black and Brown, Trans and Gender Non- Conforming young people.  We know that our communities have faced major challenges in the past, and have emerged stronger and more united.  Together, we can overcome these new obstacles, but we need your support.

How can you support?

  1. Suggest a space: We are looking both for an interim and a long term space.  Please consider completing the form Space Suggestions if you know of a location that would be a fit for YEPP’s current programming.  
  2. Volunteer support: If able to donate some of your time, please consider completing our volunteer form Supporting our Move.
  3. Monetary Donation: We need extra funding to cover unexpected expenses.  Please consider supporting our fundraising campaign “Finding Our Home” to make a monetary donation; you can also go to our GoFundMe page.
  4. Suggest Rapid Response Funds: If you know of any rapid response fund that we can consider based on who we are as an organization and the nature of our current situation, please consider filling out the Rapid Response Fund Support form to provide us with the information.    

 

Our History of Alignment with BUMC

     Year 2014 - Rev. Vernice Thorn facilitating a talk back with YEPP participants and team members

at BUMC after a performance during a Sunday Worship Service

“We are black, brown, red, yellow, white, and all the colors of God's created rainbow. We are lesbian, gay, bisexual, asexual, and straight. We are transgender,intersex, female, male, gender fluid. We are queer. We are questioning. We are every age. We are every ability. We are every economic & theological location.  

We are YOU.  

Welcome to God's Beloved Community at Broadway.”  

NOTE: Above is a message that BUMC has in their website’s homepage

Over the past 14 years, YEPP and the BUMC have cultivated a powerful community partnership rooted in our shared commitment to healing, trauma-informed care, inclusion, liberation, anti-oppression, and community accountability. United behind these core values, we have collaborated on a range of Black and Brown, Trans and Gender Non-Conforming led initiatives to ensure that LGBTQI+ youth experiencing homelessness have the support, protection, and love that these young people deserve.  

Together, we supported each other in keeping alive a near decade-long drop-in space administered by BUMC, and partnered on a series of YEPP rehearsals, performances, and youth-led panels to bridge meaningful connections between BUMC’s missionary message and YEPP’s community-based work. Through our collaboration we have fostered a deeper sense of connection, safety, and joy among members of the YEPP family and BUMC congregation, and across our broader communities. The impact of this partnership is a clear reflection of what can be achieved when our actions and relationships align with our values.

We also acknowledge the unique challenges and opportunities that arise when partnering with a small - but impactful - community organization, like YEPP.  At times, we have struggled to stretch our budget and cover the growing need for services and programming. We are grateful to BUMC for standing with us in these moments, when we have put the urgent resource needs of young people ahead of our rent.  In turn, we believe these instances have offered BUMC the opportunity to fully lean into its guiding values and  mission.

What Happened?

Given our longstanding history together, we are disheartened by BUMC’s abrupt decision to evict YEPP from our community-based home of nearly two years, without sufficient notice or explanation.  BUMC’s recent actions mark a troubling departure from the values that have shaped our relationship over the years. They have resulted in an erosion of trust between our organizations, as well as direct harm to YEPP participants and team members. We offer the following account to document the events that have impacted our current partnership.

On November 22nd, 2024, the YEPP Executive and Artistic Director Bonsai Bermúdez and Board Co-Chair Vincent Wiggins met with a representative of their Admin Council (also known as Broadway Ministry Advocates), to bring to their attention some concerns about how the Black and Brown Trans and Gender Non-Conforming YEPP team members and participants have been treated by white identified and/or passable individuals accessing the building, and explore ways to address and prevent these harmful interactions.  During the meeting, YEPP posed the following questions to the Broadway Ministry Advocates:

For each of these questions, the BUMC Admin Council representative stated that they did not have the information to provide any answers, but committed to follow up with more information. However they have not provided YEPP with additional information on these questions to date.

After an exchange of emails to coordinate a meeting to present a payment plan as YEPP was running behind rental payments, and to further conversations around the meeting on November 22nd, 2024, we scheduled a second meeting for February 3rd, 2025.  During this meeting, BUMC informed YEPP of their decision to terminate its rental agreement with just 30 days to move out.  When we asked the reasons for their decision, they communicated that, “we were not a good fit for each other.” They also shared with us that if we needed more time to regroup and make the necessary decisions for our move, that they were open to hear our lease extension timeline for them to review and continue making decisions.  

On February 24th, YEPP formally requested a six-month lease extension from BUMC to allow for a careful and intentional transition, minimizing disruption and harm to our participants. In response, BUMC stated on February 25th: "Unfortunately, a six-month lease does not work for the BUMC team. Unless there are specific dates or conditions needed in the near term, we kindly request discontinued use of the property as of March 31st. This is 56 days after the notification of our intent not to continue the space relationship."

While BUMC initially expressed openness to discussing a transition timeline that worked for us, they ultimately granted only 34 additional days, far short of what was needed. The lack of a comprehensive explanation and insufficient time to relocate places an immense strain on our community, especially at a moment of heightened physical, emotional, and spiritual instability for the Trans and Gender Non-Confirming people under the current U.S. administration. This forced move also comes at a critical moment for our organization, as we add new team members and ramp up to expand our programming and services.

Given BUMC’s stated commitment to principles of accountability and community care, YEPP is disappointed by their refusal to engage in meaningful dialogue after we raised concerns about the racial and gender-based harms within their space. We are particularly alarmed by the subsequent eviction notice. This sequence of events perpetuates socially entrenched patterns of power wielding, in which groups with greater privilege leverage their power to cut off resources and relationships as a means to avoid difficult conversations and accountability.

Our Accountability

Even though we don’t have a clear picture about the specific actions on YEPP’s end (aside from running behind in our monthly rental payment) that the BUMC took into consideration when making decisions, we are fully open to hearing this feedback and bringing any related accountability to our team.  In regards to late payments, we hold ourselves fully accountable; our Board of Directors is working toward bringing the organization to a healthier financial place in order for this to not happen in the future.  Alongside the Board of Directors, we have also formed a Fundraising Committee that will be both leading our fundraising campaign “Finding Our Home” as well as a capital campaign that we will be launching in the near future, and will be working with our team on how to increase funding and manage costs during this abrupt change in operation.  We are also committed to paying our space rental debt to the BUMC.  

Due to the amount of work that YEPP is currently navigating in order to move out of the BUMC by March 31st, as well as the process of identifying a space where we can continue operating our programs and services, we do not have the capacity to mobilize communities to demand a systemic transformation and restoration process between the BUMC and the Black and Brown, Trans and Gender Non-Confirming communities impacted. However, YEPP is open to engage in these transformative conversations with the BUMC in the future, once our organization is more physically, emotionally, and spiritually stable.

Restorative and Transformative Future

We believe in the power of systemic transformation and community restorative work.  We believe that united we can continue creating the needed healing and community building spaces that people urgently need. We believe that the BUMC and YEPP will find a way to restore, transform and continue looking for ways to serve Black and Brown, Trans and Gender Non-Confirming Communities in Chicago and beyond. We believe that we will, with the support of our community, find a new physical space that YEPP can call home.

Keeping our Communities Informed

Even though we will continue updating our communities across our social media about the progress of our work (e.g., how to support us, conversations about our new home, information about our programs and services, etc.), we will keep a summary of our updates in this same document.  You can visit us once a week here to learn the latest updates.  You can also follow us on our social media: Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.  You can also consider signing up for Our Newsletter.