Eight years after her death, “Golden Girls” star Bea Arthur continues to be a friend to the LGBTQ community.

The Ali Forney Center, which is the largest agency dedicated to homeless LGBTQ youth in the country, opened the doors of its new Bea Arthur Residence with a holiday-themed fête on Nov. 30.

The 18-bed facility, located in New York’s East Village neighborhood, will house participants in the center’s two-year transitional living program, designed to prepare homeless LGBTQ young people for successfully living alone. Arthur was a staunch LGBTQ rights advocate during her lifetime, and lent her support to the Ali Forney Center, which she praised for “saving lives,” on a number of occasions. A 2005 benefit performance of her one-woman show, “Bea Arthur on Broadway: Just Between Friends,” raised more than $40,000 for the center.

When she died in 2009, the Emmy- and Tony-winning actress left $300,000 to the Ali Forney Center in her will. At the time, officials say the facility had been struggling to survive because it had fallen behind on rent. Read more via HuffPost