A creative home for belonging

A place where everyone belongs.

We believe everyone deserves a place to create, belong, be seen, and be supported. Through creativity, connection, peer support, and compassionate community, we’re building the kind of place where everyone is welcome and no one has to face life’s challenges alone.

Join the movement

Explore our vision

People gathered around coffee in a bright kitchen

Shared tables, open doors

A group creating art together around a table

Not a program. A place.

Art tables. Shared coffee. Safe conversations. The ordinary rituals that help people feel less alone.

Everyone Deserves to…

Create

Creativity helps us express ourselves, discover new possibilities, and connect with others.

Belong

Everyone deserves a place where they feel welcomed, valued, and accepted exactly as they are.

Be Seen

Every person’s story matters, and every individual deserves dignity, compassion, and understanding.

Be Supported

Healthy communities care for one another, offering encouragement, practical help, and hope when it is needed most.

Our Vision

We believe everyone deserves a place to create, belong, be seen, and be supported.

Pink Giraffe House is more than a nonprofit. We’re building a community.

We envision a place where creativity brings people together, friendships are formed naturally, and support is always within reach. A place where someone can join a workshop, share a cup of coffee, learn a new skill, volunteer, or simply spend time in a welcoming environment—and know they belong.

Because we believe that strong communities aren’t built only by responding to crisis. They’re built by creating spaces where people feel connected long before they need help.

Where we are today

We’re currently searching for the future home of Pink Giraffe House. Every donation, volunteer, and community partnership helps bring this vision to life.

Community Before Crisis

Many of life’s greatest challenges begin with isolation. A loss of connection. A lack of belonging. Not knowing where to turn.

That’s why Pink Giraffe House begins with community.

We’re creating a welcoming community center where creativity, compassion, and connection come together every day. Whether someone joins us to make art, build something with their hands, meet new friends, attend a workshop, or simply enjoy a safe and welcoming space, they become part of a community that believes everyone deserves to belong.

And when someone walks through our doors in a moment of crisis, we don’t stop being a maker space or a community center. We simply do what healthy communities have always done. We welcome them in.

What We’re Building

Pink Giraffe House is growing in phases, allowing us to build a strong foundation while expanding our impact over time.

Phase One

A creative community center offering creative workshops and maker space activities, community events and gatherings, peer support, crisis and resource navigation, connections to local services and community partners, and a welcoming place to rest, recharge, connect, and belong.

Our doors are open to everyone. We intentionally prioritize the needs of LGBTQ+ individuals, women and children, and neurodivergent communities—groups that often face greater barriers to finding safe, affirming, and supportive spaces.

Looking Ahead

As Pink Giraffe House grows, so will the ways we serve our community. Future phases include expanding peer support services, developing emergency respite beds for individuals experiencing immediate crisis, and ultimately creating affordable supportive housing that offers long-term stability alongside an enduring sense of community.

Every step forward is guided by the same belief: everyone deserves a place to create, belong, be seen, and be supported.

Our Journey

Phase 1

Creative Community Center

↓

Phase 2

Expanded Peer Support & Resource Navigation

↓

Phase 3

Emergency Respite Services

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Phase 4

Affordable Supportive Housing Programs

Including our International Artist in Residency Program and affordable housing for the LGBTQ+ neurodivergent community.

Join Us

Pink Giraffe House is just beginning, and we know meaningful communities are built together.

Whether you choose to become a founding supporter, volunteer, teach a workshop, share your talents, or simply believe in what we’re creating, you’re helping build a place where compassion, creativity, and community come together.

Together, we’re creating the kind of place we all wish existed.

People sitting together around a wooden table

The quiet kind of change

The outcome is not a number. It’s a person who comes back next week.

We measure impact in returned texts, shared recipes, finished paintings, repaired chairs, remembered names, and the moment someone realizes there is a seat for them.

“I came for the art table. I stayed because someone remembered how I take my coffee.”

Community member

3×

more likely to return when welcomed by name

weekly creative tables and care circles

∞

small moments of being seen

Our Story

Every meaningful community begins with someone who believes a better future is possible.

Pink Giraffe House was originally founded in Houston, Texas by Chloe and Gaetane Pawels as a nonprofit dedicated to providing emergency shelter and support for LGBTQ+ youth experiencing homelessness. Their vision was rooted in a simple but powerful belief: that every person deserves safety, dignity, and a place where they are accepted for who they are.

Like many organizations, Pink Giraffe House faced unexpected challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. As Chloe and Gaetane made the difficult decision to return to their home country of France, they were faced with an equally difficult question: what would become of the mission they had worked so hard to create?

The answer came around their kitchen table in Houston.

For more than six hours, we talked about the future of Pink Giraffe House, the people it was created to serve, and what it would take to ensure the mission lived on. By the end of that evening, Chloe and Gaetane had officially appointed me as President and Executive Director, entrusting me with the responsibility of leading Pink Giraffe House into its next chapter.

I accepted that responsibility with deep gratitude and profound respect for what they had built. My goal has never been to replace their vision, but to honor it while allowing it to grow alongside the changing needs of our community.

Today, Pink Giraffe House is evolving into a creative community center where people can create, belong, be seen, and be supported. As we grow, we will expand our work through peer support, crisis navigation, emergency respite services, and ultimately affordable supportive housing.

Pink Giraffe House exists today because one vision inspired another. I will always be grateful to Chloe and Gaetane for planting the seed, and it is one of the greatest honors of my life to continue nurturing that vision and inviting others to help build its next chapter.

We don’t exist because people are in crisis.
We exist because we believe everyone deserves a place to create, belong, be seen, and be supported.

Join the next chapter.

Four simple ways to help Pink Giraffe House grow—each one rooted in care, connection, and community.

Become a Founding Supporter

Help build the kind of community we all wish existed.

Volunteer

Share your time, skills, welcome, and steady presence.

Partner With Us

Build bridges with artists, schools, neighbors, and local organizations.

Stay Connected

Receive gentle updates as Pink Giraffe House grows.

Stay Connected

Become a Founding Supporter

Stay connected with Pink Giraffe House as we grow.

Pink Giraffe House is a California nonprofit public benefit corporation recognized as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization.

EIN: 81-1286170. Official mailing address to be added.

Welcome Home.

Whether you’re here to create, connect, volunteer, partner, or simply learn more, we’re glad you found us.