Cyndi Launching LGBT Youth Shelter in Harlem

Pop icon Cyndi Lauper announced that her True Colors Foundation will establish a shelter for homeless LGBT youths in New York City's Harlem neighborhood.

The True Colors Residence is aiming to open in winter 2011 and will house young people ages 18-24, according to DNA Info. The 30-unit building will also include a communal space, library, and computer room.

"Kids are coming out in greater numbers as they see themselves accepted and represented on TV and in movies, but they're still being kicked out of their homes or running away and living on the streets," Lauper said in a statement.

The space will be able to accommodate some of the estimated 3,000 to 8,000 LGBT youths who live on the streets or in shelters in New York.

The project is a collaboration between Lauper, her publicist Lisa Barbaris, and Colleen Jackson, executive director of the West End Intergenerational Residence, a similar shelter for young adults and young families.