Erwin moved back to Michigan in 2011 and was eager to continue working with youth, but this time, in the nonprofit sector. While volunteering at a local LGBTQ+ center, Erwin connected with Laura Hughes, the Executive Director at the Ruth Ellis Center.
"(Hughes) gave me a tour of the space and it was an instant feeling of this is exactly where I'm supposed to be," Erwin said. "A space for young people to just show up and be themselves and be celebrated for that."
Three months later, the position of Director of Programs at the Ruth Ellis Center opened. Erwin interviewed and was hired.
"I think a lot about me as a gay man growing up in Royal Oak," Erwin said. "When I was in high school, it wasn't safe for me to come out. The moment I went to Interlochen, I think it was the second day I was in my dorm -- 16 years old -- sat down with my roommate and came out because I knew it was a safe place to do that and I thrived in that setting.
"So, I too had a similar experience at that age of what can happen when you are given the opportunity to shine. That stuck with me for a long time and I think that inevitably is what led me here, to Ruth Ellis Center."
The Ruth Ellis Center was founded in 1999 with the mission to create opportunities for LGBTQ+ youth to build their vision for a positive future. The center provides trauma-informed services for LGBTQ+ youth, with a focus on young people of color, experiencing homelessness, in the child welfare system and/or experience any barriers to their health and wellbeing.
The Ruth Ellis Center is dedicated to working toward the ultimate goal - a world where LGBTQ+ youth are safe and supported, no matter where they go. The organization provides services and programs to the LGBTQ+ youth and young adult communities, including outreach, skill-building, safety-net service, HIV prevention programs and addressing and helping LGBTQ+ youth of color through their dedication to embedding racial equity and transformative justice into all of their work.
"There may be young people who come to Ruth Ellis Center who are experiencing homelessness or other barriers and it may not necessarily be entirely as a result of their sexual orientation or gender," Erwin said. "Race plays a huge role in their experience as well, with the majority of young people served at the Ruth Ellis Center identifying as black or a person of color.
"We've always recognized that to effectively provide care and services to the young person, we have to meet them where they are and we have to acknowledge, respect and work towards meeting their needs based on their own unique intersection of race, gender, age and socioeconomic status. All of those things are extraordinarily important."