Southwire’s employee resource group, Allied – one of six ERGs that make up the company’s diversity and inclusion (D&I) initiative, FUSE – and Project GIFT ^®, the organization’s employee-driven non-profit, created a partnership with CHRIS 180. Allied is dedicated to creating a more inclusive culture, specifically focusing on advocating for members of the LGBTQ+ community.

CHRIS 180, which stands for Creativity, Honor, Respect, Integrity and Safety, is a non-profit that helps children, youth and families change the direction of their lives and become more self-sufficient, contributing adults despite challenging circumstances. The program provides access to mental health counseling, group homes for abused and neglected children in foster care, adoption services, a Drop-In Center for homeless young adults and more.

One area of focus for CHRIS 180 is LGBTQ+ youth. According to CHRIS 180’s website, “in 2000, CHRIS 180 established the first program in the southeast to target a disproportionate percentage of LGBTQ homeless youth.” Since then, the organization has continued to reach out to LGBTQ+ youth in need.

“One of the reasons we chose to partner with CHRIS 180 is because a large number of the young adult homeless population that they support identify as LGBTQ+,” said Wendy Lucio, vice president of human resources and shared services. “After meeting some of the CHRIS 180 team at Atlanta Pride and learning about all of the incredible things they do, we were excited to get involved.”

Allied, in partnership with Project GIFT, collected items to create welcome kits for young adults transitioning out of homelessness. Items that they collected included kitchen utensils, cleaning supplies, personal hygiene products and more.

For more information about CHRIS 180, visit chris180.org, and stay tuned to Southwire Community on Facebook for updates about Southwire’s D&I, sustainability and Giving Back efforts.