Contributed by Rebecca Johnson

Tyler Perry’s new studio will have a housing complex for displaced LGBTQ teens and homeless women.

Being the first black person in the United States to own a major film studio outright is a legacy in itself, but he wants his legacy to be more than the studio. In an interview with Gayle King for CBS this morning, Perry said he want his legacy to be the people that said shelter will help.

“Having a compound that is a beautiful place – right here that is somewhere in this 330 acres – where they’re trained in the business, and they become self-sufficient, they live in nice apartments, there’s daycare, there’s all of these wonderful things that allow them to reenter society,” he told King.

The shelter will be for homeless women, trafficking survivors and LGBTQ youth that have been kicked out of their homes.

Perry, who had to sleep in his car when he first moved to Atlanta, experienced homelessness.

“When I moved to Atlanta, I moved off of Syvlan [road] with my cousin and got put out, had no money, that kind of thing.”

In the same interview, the entertainment mogul discussed how it was important to him that black people are employed and celebrated in all parts of production. He said that as recently as 2019, he’s been the only black face on a set and his studio

“So when I come to work here, and every black person that comes to work here, they go “oh my God! It’s heaven! Here we are. We’re represented. Where everyone is represented,” he said.