In honor of Pride Month, Kiehl's has announced a global philanthropic initiative, Kiehl's Open Doors, providing safe, temporary housing, as well as life tools and developmental resources to LGBTQIA2+ homeless youth.
To support the mission, Kiehl's has partnered with the Ali Forney Center, a New York-based non-profit that provides LGBTQIA2+ youth with warm, supportive environments to escape the streets and prepare them for independent living. Their services include a 24/7 drop-in center, transitional housing, job readiness training and health resources.
Kiehl's has committed to donating $150,000 to the Ali Forney Center. This donation will help provide safe, temporary housing as well as life-saving and developmental services to over 2,200 LGBTQIA2+ homeless youth. Kiehl's has proudly supported the LGBTQIA2+ community since the late 1980s—including financial support of HIV/AIDS research, suicide prevention and as an NYC Pride March sponsor for the past 27 years.
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Of the youth Ali Forney Center serves, 80% are kicked out of their homes and families due to their LGBTQIA2+ identity and 85% are enrolled in mental health counseling services, STD education prevention, testing and treatment
This year, Kiehl's has also partnered with Venezuelan illustrator, Fernando Cobelo, to design surreal key visuals that will come to life in Kiehl's stores and digital touchpoints around the world. Cobelo's work, Proud & Open, depicts a visual nod to the launch of Kiehl's new brand cause platform. Cobelo uses abstract characters to represent members of the LGBTQIA2+ community dreaming about their future, lifting each other up, participating in activism and being proud of their identity.
"We're proud to launch a platform that supports a community Kiehl's has been passionate about protecting for decades," said Jon Saenz, Kiehl's global brand president. "Some of our very own skin pros have suffered similar adversity after coming out. We want to bring awareness to this issue, while ultimately helping to reduce the number of LGBTQIA2+ youth on the streets."
