Frequently Asked Questions

You do not need to bring anything! All of our programs and services are free of charge.  Depending on your age, you may be given a guardian consent form to bring home and have signed by your next visit.

If you’re child is a part of our 13 and under group, it is your choice! Most of our youth are dropped off and utilize YPI without their guardians present, but if this is not ideal guardians are more than welcome to stay in our library while drop-in is going on.

Guardians of 14 and older youth are welcome to come in to receive a tour and meet staff, but are asked to leave during drop-in. In close proximity to YPI there is a wonderful coffee shop,White Electric, and a bookstore, Ada Books, on the same street. These are great places to check out while waiting for your youth if you want to stay close by.

When we’re asked for recommendations, we direct people to our health provider list. The providers on these lists have either reached out to offer their services, or have been recommended to us by youth who have had positive experiences with them. The providers are familiar with the LGBTQ community. Our recommendations are not an endorsement and you are encouraged to research any potential provider and be an active consumer in your health care.

Yes, YPI accepts donations of clothes, food, toiletries, and school supplies. If you are donating clothes, please make sure they are appropriate for the season you are donating in (warm weather clothes in the spring/summer, cold weather clothes in the fall/winter) and that they clothes are age appropriate for young adults. Clothing donations need to be clean, and folded when donated.

You may drop off donations whenever we are open, please check our calendar. Emailing or calling ahead of time is appreciated! You will be asked to fill our a donation acknowledgment form when you drop off your donations, this is just a way for us to keep in touch with donors and properly thank you for your contribution. If you would like to fill out the donation acknowledgment form and bring it in with your donation, that is even better and can be downloaded here.

Please make checks out to ‘Youth Pride, Inc.’ and mail to 743 Westminster St. Providence, RI 02908.

If we are hiring, all positions will be posted on our Job Opportunity page as well as being shared on our email listserv and social media platforms.

YPI does recruit several interns throughout the year. If you are interested in interning for the academic school year, please email a cover letter describing your needs/hour requirements along with your resume to Info@youthprideri.org in the Spring. If you are looking to intern for the calendar year, please email your cover letter and resume in the Fall.

We currently do not host open volunteer hours, we strictly reach out to registered volunteers as opportunities arise. To sign up for our volunteer list, visit our volunteer page and fill our our forms!  Our largest volunteer event happens in June: RI Pride. So keep your calendars clear over the summer!

YPI is home to a Basic Needs Pantry that supplies youth with food, clothes, toiletries, and school supplies free of charge. Youth can utilize the pantry once a week and take what they need for their household for the week (7 day period). Youth will be asked for their name and how many people are in their household.

We have clinians in our space for individual counseling on Tuesdays from 3-8pm and Wednesdays from 5-8pm. Youth can formally request an appointment by talking to a staff member or emailing Info@youthprideri.org. Youth may also informally ask a clinician themselves while in the space when they have time available to meet; that day of or in the future. The latter is preferred and encouraged!

If you’re interested in sitting on our Board of Directors, send us a cover letter and remune at Info@youthprideri.org. New members may first be directed to one of our committees before working towards a seat on our board. Our current committees include our Internal Committee which deals with internal operations, our External Committee which deals with fundraising and program planning, and our Governance Committee which oversees our Board of Directors.

We have an individual from the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless in our space every Tuesday from 3-6pm that assists with housing help amongst other things such as applying to subsidized housing, assisting with transportation to appointments, understanding government benefits like SNAP (food stamps), educating on how to get a GED, connecting people to mental health resources, providing information on food pantries and hot meal sites, and discussing immigration, substance abuse, domestic violence, veteran’s services, & legal advice. Her name is Tory Kern and can be reached at Tory@rihomeless.org.