Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced today that grant money will go to a local organization to help homeless youth. Some of the money, which is taken from the State Victims Assistance Act, will go to Cincinnati-based Lighthouse Youth Services (LYS) to help victims of domestic violence, including gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth, between the ages of 18 and 24. "These kids don't have to live on the streets and wonder every day where they'll be getting their next meal,” DeWine said in a statement. The grant money, which totals $430,000, will be shared between the Cincinnati organization and The Next Step, another homeless aid organization based in Geauga and Portage counties. LYS, which helps about 2,200 people in the Greater Cincinnati area each day, will get $137,500 year per year for two years. The money will primarily go to the Lighthouse on Highland facility, which is located in Clifton. Bob Mecum, CEO of LYS, says the facility helps youth between the ages of 16 and 24 that are typically victims of violence. During the day, Lighthouse on Highland provides nursing, showering, washing, food, shelter, computer and case-management services. At night, the organization acts as a 28-bed shelter. On the average day, the facility helps 10 to 30 people with its street outreach services and 40 to 60 people with its on-site services. On the typical night, 27 out of 28 beds are filled. “Through this grant from the attorney general offices, the services out of the Highland location will be funded,” Mecum says. On average, LGBT youth face greater homelessness rates. Even though LGBT youth makes up only about 10 percent of the general youth population, LGBT youth makes up about 20 percent of the homeless youth population, according to the National Coalition of Homelessness. LGBT youth are also twice as likely to experience sexual abuse by the age of 12, and they’re about 7.4 times more likely to experience acts of sexual violence than heterosexual youth.

There's been some brilliant art made from some pretty bizarre mediums — hair, push pins, bullets, garbage, chewing gum. Look around downtown Cincinnati beginning next Tuesday and you'll find another unlikely art form — statues made specifically from canned goods and other non-perishable food. Expect to see five jumbo structures scattered around different locations downtown, including a giant Pac-Man and a huge bridge-like arch. Why the canned constructions? It's part of a competition called "Canstruction," an exhibit that's part of a national effort to combine the "spirit of a design contest with a way to feed the hungry." Canstruction is a national charity, and it holds the competition in more than 100 cities across the U.S. The event touts itself as a unique, engaging way to bring attention to the issue of hunger in Greater Cincinnati; the works become a free, giant art exhibit open to the public. This year marks the 15th annual food sculpture competition, and once the judging is complete, the structure's materials — all cans and non-perishable food — will benefit the Freestore Foodbank. Don't expect the works to be rinky-dink, either; the competitions is headed up by bigwigs in Cincinnati's professional architecture, engineering and design community. The sculptures are estimated to require a whopping 40,000 canned goods to complete and teams have a strict five-hour limit to build their structures. The "canstruction" race begins at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 28. Once the statues are up, they'll be on display until March 18. Visit the Cincinnati Canstruction website to find out where downtown you can spot the sculptures.