Jay Toole
Jay Toole knows the challenges of being queer and homeless: her battle with addiction led her to live on the streets or in homeless shelters for 25 years. Today Toole is Director of the Shelter Organizing Project at Queers for Economic Justice, a nonprofit organization focused on community organizing for poor and low-income LGBTGNC New Yorkers. With the help of volunteers and interns, the Project offers support groups for queer people living in New York City homeless shelters. Since 1999, Toole has been drug-free and in recovery. She became a founding member of QEJ in 2002. Toole says, “When I first heard the Queers for Economic Justice Network speak about poverty/welfare in our community I knew I wanted to be involved with these folks and to help form a new organization (QEJ) dealing with these very issues. Living in the shelter system myself at that time I wanted to work around that issue specifically.” -CB
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