Construction has started on a historical LGBTQIA+ youth community hub that's been in dire need for two years after extensive water damage. The Little Blue Bungalow, home of the local nonprofit OutYouth, has been an important part of the community for decades.

A press release announces that OutYouth broke ground on the new Blue Bungalow at 909 E. 49th ½ St. on October 6. The organization is calling for help from supporters to raise $1.3 million for construction. The current phase of the project, Coming Home, is part of a larger Dream Campaign that needs to raise $3.52 million in total.

The bungalow is where OutYouth hosts its programs and services, which include therapy and other social work. The new building will significantly larger — 4,500 square feet, as opposed to the original 1,700-square-foot building — allowing for more counselors and social workers, a larger programs team, more clients in individual therapy, drop-in and youth programs five days a week, and many more youth reached through youth programs per year (5,500, up from 1,377 in 2025).

In practical terms, that will include a drop-in center, seven therapy offices, a library named after Jerry Strickland Jr. and Steve Kubenka, a media arts lab, a secure-entry lobby, and a kitchen and pantry. Other amenities to come include a patio, an elevator, an ADA-compliant ramp, and accommodations that make the space more comfortable for neurodivergent clients.

In addition to the physical work, donations will help establish a maintenance endowment that will take care of the space "for decades to come," the release says.

OutYouth moved into the building in 1998 and started using it for after-school programs where they could unwind after a long day of being in a potentially hostile, or at least less empathetic, environment. Some of the first kids who visited the space still help to run it now. Before OutYouth was there, the building housed Texas Triangle, a newspaper about LGBTQ life in the Lone Star State.

OutYouth has been planning to update the building since late 2022. Even before the water damage, it was clear that the community's needs were rising. The nonprofit's therapy waitlist is often at least 40 clients long, and may leave youth waiting eight to nine months to receive care. These months of waiting can present very high stakes, as 42 percent of LGBTQIA+ young people in Texas have seriously considered suicide in the past year, according to data from the Trevor Project.

“Our clients don't leave the news at the door," said OutYouth director of clinical and social services Rachael Longoria. "When a bill targeting LGBTQIA+ 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 youth and young people.”

To make a donation of any size, readers can visit outyouth.org. For major gifts, contact development manager Emily Heroux at emily.heroux@outyouth.org or 512-270-8306. OutYouth also acknowledges National Coming Out Day on Sunday, October 11.