Jack Myers House opening as refuge for LGBTQIA+ community

    JACKSON, Mississippi (WAPT) -- Mississippi’s first LGBTQIA+ shelter is set to officially open in Jackson. The Jack Myers House is a domestic violence shelter that caters specifically to a community that is often overlooked.

"My demon is meth, and July 21 would be my 10-year anniversary of being clean," Mark Patrick said.

Patrick, 59, is now celebrating sobriety after years of going through rehab. He said he had a troubled life. His identity as a gay man played a monumental role in why he says he was mistreated growing up. That mistreatment eventually led him down a dark path of drug use.

"You’ve got to learn you become a chameleon. The LGBTQ of my generation learned to do that," Patrick said.

After years of getting back on his feet, the gardener is volunteering to make a change in other people’s lives at the Jack Myers shelter, one flower at a time.

"When Jason asked me would I design the front and get the front ready, I was like, 'Will I? Yes, I’m honored to do that,'" Patrick said.

The Jack Myers House, which is a branch of the Mississippi Harm Reduction Coalition, is opening Friday as a place of refuge, providing specific resources to members of the LGBTQAI+ community.

"It is the first — and recognized as the first domestic violence shelter in Mississippi specifically for the LGBTQ community," Kim Curtis said.

Curtis works as a counselor at the home and said people in the LGBTQIA+ community are often misunderstood in other shelters.

"I can’t tell you how many clients I have encountered that want help and need help but are scared to reach out because they have before and were ostracized for it, and to some degree, they feel like there is no help out there for them," Curtis said.

The Jack Myers House targets people of all genders, ages 17 and older, who are seeking shelter from traumatic situations. The entire staff is trained to care for the survivors in the 10-bedroom home. They provide a host of resources, including free home-cooked meals, clothing, employment assistance and several forms of counseling.

"It’s really about keeping them alive until we can get them the help they need," Curtis said.

The legacy of kindness originates with Myers, a man many consider an icon in the gay community.

"People in Belhaven, Fondren, Jackson, Pelahatchie (feel) like he’s a legend," Patrick said.

Myers said he was one of the first to open a gay club in the state of Mississippi. It was called JC’s, and it shut down in 2016 after 25 years.

"It just gets me choked up to think about what we went through," Myers said.

The 79-year-old recounted the moments of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s when he witnessed many people die right here in the Capital City.

"Certain people that would take their kids when they found out they were HIV positive, they would take them to (the University of Mississippi Medical Center) and drop them off and leave," Myers said. "It was horrible. I mean, I lost one of my closest cousins to the same thing."

Myers said he took several people into his home to give them a place to stay. He also took part in assisting shelters.

"It was called the Sandifer House. That’s where we housed people with AIDS when people kicked them out, and they didn’t have a place to go," Myers said.

His legacy of kindness helped pave the way for the LGBTQIA+ community.

"I feel so honored, really honored. I’m dedicated to this community," Myers said. "I’m just honored that they chose me."

Those who need more information, or who wish to donate money, clothing, food, furniture or to volunteer, can tap here for the Jack Myers House website.