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African-American
Gay Man Appointed to Lead AIRS
F.T. Burden was named as the first African-American and gay man to ever
hold the position of President and CEO of AIDS Interfaith Residential
Services (AIRS) as well as Empire Homes of Maryland (EHM). These
organizations are among the city’s largest providers of housing and
supportive services to homeless and/or disabled individuals and
families. They work to enhance the quality of life, emphasizing
self-sufficiency for low-income and homeless individuals and families
living with or at risk of HIV/AIDS or other disabilities.
The appointment of Mr. Burden on August 10 was aimed at creating
greater efficiency and integration as well as eliminating redundancies
between the two organizations. He replaces Leslie Leitch, who left the
organization. Burden will be responsible for the performance and
results of both organizations where he has served 8 years in various
leadership roles. Since founding EHM, a wholly owned
subsidiary of AIRS in 2006, Burden has been its Executive Director and
has led the organization to three consecutive years of operating
surpluses. In this role, he has developed 53 housing units, and
currently has 55 units in production. Prior to becoming
Executive Director of EHM, Burden served as Deputy Executive Director
for AIRS for 3 years where he supervised case management and program
activities. In this position, he implemented many innovative policies
and procedures that enhanced the organization’s case management
services. "Under my leadership, AIRS is going back to its roots in many respects." Burden told OUTloud.
"Our program started with serving the gay community with our first
property, The Don Miller Homes." He explains that Don Miller sought
options for his care when he was infected with AIDS during the 1980s,
and was shunned. Accordingly, he became a prominent activist for
providing housing and supportive services to the AIDS community. More
than twenty years later, The Don Miller Homes still stand today. F.T.
Burden wants AIRS to provide services beyond those who have served
traditionally. "We are turning our focus to help another group that has
been shunned: they are homeless LGBTQ youth." Burden says. "Gay
homeless youth represent a significant percentage of those we are
currently assisting," he points out. "They are individuals who have
come out to their families and been thrown out of the house without
support. Once on the street, homeless youth are particularly vulnerable
to mental health problems, drug abuse, prostitution and HIV/AIDS." Many
of these youth don’t see themselves as homeless as they tend to bounce
around among various residences in what is referred to as "couch
surfing" whereby they crash at the homes of friends or acquaintances
however temporary, unstable, transitional and risky that may be. "In
2008 we established City Steps, a comprehensive youth program that
include transitional and permanent supportive housing, a Youth Resource
center and street outreach," says Burden. "This was created to address
the growing problem of youth homelessness, many of whom have been
thrown away because of revealing their sexual orientations to their
families. "We plan to provide increased awareness about the
issues to attract more support for our mission. In fact, we are
planning a groundbreaking ceremony in October for Restoration Gardens—a
43- unit newly constructed permanent housing facility for youth who are
homeless or unstably housed. We will also have our annual Oscar Night®
Baltimore event in March 7th, 2010, designed specifically to help with
this goal." Although AIRS will be seeking widespread support,
Burden and his staff are particularly hopeful that the lgbt community
will help to lead the charge as they have done in the past. "Providing
housing and culturally competent services to this population requires a
significant investment of human and financial resources," says Burden.
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