Based in San Antonio, Holley serves as the executive director of Thrive Youth Center, a nonprofit organization working to provide homeless queer, trans and nonbinary youth with a safe and supportive environment. While being queer was never going to be an issue on surface level, Holley tells Reckon that this internal battle he dealt with regarding his sexuality led him to substance abuse—a point of connection he makes with the youth he sees at the center.

“My parents loved me, yet I didn’t feel loved enough. And although it’s not necessarily the reality of what was there, it was [still] my reality,” he said, explaining the profound significance of giving people a safe space. “If we can create that environment to individuals that have already gone through trauma, they can get back on track in their early teens and 20s instead of having to wait when they’re much older to deal with those issues.”

He recalls a particular story from last year, when a 19-year-old trans girl briefly stayed at Haven For Hope, another homeless shelter in San Antonio. Thrive Youth Center enrolled the teen—who had dropped out of school in seventh grade—into their own program. Within three months of staying with Thrive Youth Center, she earned her high school diploma. Today, she is in college.