What are my options?

[Guest]

I live in an emotionally abusive household, and I'm not sure what to do. I have no other family that would be any better of an environment for me. I have a friend who offered to let me stay at her house if I was emancipated, until I get on my feet and can afford a place, but I don't know if I would ever be granted an emancipation. Since most of the abusive is verbal I really don't have proof. Not to mention, I am part of the lgbtq community and live in a very conservative state, so I feel like my parents could easily use this against me. If I tried to get emancipated and failed, my home life would only become more volatile and difficult to stand. I'm not sure if I have any options that would help me and not make things worse. I'm just wondering if there is something I'm missing.

[ccsmod10]

I live in an emotionally abusive household, and I'm not sure what to do. I have no other family that would be any better of an environment for me. I have a friend who offered to let me stay at her house if I was emancipated, until I get on my feet and can afford a place, but I don't know if I would ever be granted an emancipation. Since most of the abusive is verbal I really don't have proof. Not to mention, I am part of the lgbtq community and live in a very conservative state, so I feel like my parents could easily use this against me. If I tried to get emancipated and failed, my home life would only become more volatile and difficult to stand. I'm not sure if I have any options that would help me and not make things worse. I'm just wondering if there is something I'm missing.

We're thankful you reached out to us. It sounds like you've been in a home with people who cause you more emotional distress than support. That's both unfair and undeserved. It can be especially hard being lgbtq+ and living in an environment where you don't feel safe or welcome.

Emancipation is a pretty lengthy process and is typically only granted to youth who are already living on their own and fully supporting themselves. We might be able to look into transitional living programs / long-term youth shelters, but unfortunately most federally funded institutions like that can't allow you to stay there without parental consent.

It seems like it might be worth discussing some small-scale steps we could take to make coping in your home easier, and lessening the stress of being around your family. If we can't fully solve the problem, we'd want to at least reduce the amount of emotional harm happening by talking through some sustainable coping skills.

You can live chat us at 1800runway.org or call us at 1-800-RUNAWAY to discuss these more. You don't have to deal with this alone.