OutYouth, a pioneering Austin social-service nonprofit, is rebuilding its flagship headquarters off Airport Boulevard.
For almost three decades, the “Little Blue Bungalow” at 909 E. 49th½ St. has been a refuge where young LGBTQ+ people have gathered, organized and found one another.
A catastrophic water leak in August 2024 left the original house uninhabitable. Rather than relocate, OutYouth chose to rebuild on the site that generations of Central Texans already know as a safe place and second home.
This week, OutYouth announced “Coming Home,” the public phase of its $3.52 million rebuilding campaign, and is calling on supporters nationwide to help raise the final $1.3 million to preserve the Blue Bungalow for the next generation. OutYouth has already raised more than $2.2 million toward its goal.
The announcement arrives just before National Coming Out Day on Oct. 11 and follows a private groundbreaking ceremony held at the site on Oct. 6.
“National Coming Out Day asks young people to be brave,” says Jaryn Holbrook Janeway, the group’s executive director. “Our job is to make sure that when they are, there’s somewhere safe to land. Breaking ground on the new Blue Bungalow isn’t just about honoring where we’ve been; it’s a promise that this place will be here for every young person still finding their way to us.”
Before it was OutYouth’s home, the property housed the Texas Triangle, the newspaper that chronicled LGBTQ+ life across the state for more than a decade. OutYouth moved there in 1998 and began to expand the facility in 2002.
The Jerry Strickland Jr. and Steve Kubenka Memorial Library, one of the largest community-based lending libraries in Texas, will have a permanent home in the new Blue Bungalow. This comes at a time when anti-gay forces, including conservative members of the Texas Legislature, are stripping public and school libraries of queer-friendly material. National studies such as a 2025 mental health report from the Trevor Project show that young people face negative stereotypes and comments in school and elsewhere.
“Our clients don’t leave the news at the door,” says Rachael Longoria, OutYouth’s director of clinical and social services. “When a bill targeting LGBTQ+ young people is debated, when the political climate shifts, requests for counseling services and support skyrocket. The need for free, affirming mental health care in Central Texas has grown faster than any one organization can meet it. We know what helps these young people: being accepted exactly as they are and having a space that is their own. The new Blue Bungalow means we can offer that and reach many more young people.”