East Village Bea Arthur Residence For Homeless LGBT Set To Open in 2017

In her hit television series "Maude" Bea Arthur played a well-off, tough-as-nails liberal with a soft spot for helping those less fortunate, a portrayal that wasn't far off from what she really was.

Upon her death in 2009, the beloved Broadway and television actress, who, along with starring in the classic "Golden Girls," created the roles of Yente the Matchmaker in FIDDLER ON THE ROOF and Vera Charles in MAME, left $300,000 to the Ali Forney Center, a New York-based non-profit dedicated to helping homeless LGBT youths live independently.

Partnering with the Cooper Square Committee, the Ali Forney Center has been converting an existing building at 222 E. 13th Street in Manhattan into an 18-bed shelter that will be named The Bea Arthur Residence.

"It's really accelerating," Steve Herrick of the Cooper Square Committee tells DNA. "The building is about 40 percent complete right now."

Scheduled to be completed in 2017 and open shortly afterwards, the residence will provide beds, on-site counseling, and case management to LGBT youth.

Visit AliForneyCenter.org.

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Click the screen shot below for a video where Ali Forney Center Executive Director Carl Siciliano talks about the crisis of LGBT homelessness and of Bea Arthur's involvement with the organization.

Photo by Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.