A Strategy for Success

Trans Houses are community shelters created by and for trans women in Bolivia that offer comprehensive health services, psychological support, legal assistance, and entrepreneurship opportunities, evolving from basic assistance spaces into collective emancipation platforms that have served over 2,500 people across four cities and are expanding as a replicable model of social transformation. This story is available in Spanish here: https://solu.news/1qka

The Fitness Trans Formed program provides a safe space for trans people and members of the LGBTQ+ community to exercise and participate in fitness training from trans professionals. Training is available in a tiered pricing structure, including an option to pay nothing, and about 50 individuals have completed a Fitness Trans Formed training program since its inception. The group is also working on plans to provide informed training to other fitness professionals to make their gyms and workout spaces more inclusive.

Insurance provider GreenShield, in collaboration with university insurance broker Studentcare, provides lifetime coverage of up to $10,000 for gender-affirming care procedures not covered by provincial health insurance. This insurance benefit provides care to more than 200,000 university students across 20 participating schools in the country.

Several community organizations and municipalities like the Office of Transgender Initiatives (OTI) have come together to decrease homelessness rates among the transgender population. OTI formed a Trans Advisory Committee which focused on budget and policy advocacy based on input from the transgender community to address homelessness and partnered with efforts like the Transgender District. All in all, these combined efforts have decreased transgender homelessness by 15% since 2019.

Groups like Portland: Neighbors Welcome and Black & Beyond the Binary Collective aims to provide safe, affordable housing to people in crisis — specifically members of the LGBTQ+ community. The group partners with other local organizations to raise funds through donations and events like drag shows to help address extreme rates of homelessness and housing discrimination within the LGBTQ+ community. These groups have helped more than 200 people access housing in the past four years and are continuing to acquire funds to expand their services.

gods closet is a pop-up shop that aims to create a community experience around fashion for LGBTQ+ people who often struggle to find clothes that fit their gender identity and expression. gods closet provides the clothes and services like styling free of charge.

The João W. Nery Outpatient Clinic provides medical and transition-related care for the area’s trans community. The Clinic provides patients access to social workers, psychologists, endocrinologists, nurses, and general practitioners who help patients get prescriptions for hormones, referrals for gender-affirming surgery, and advice on legally changing their names, all of which are offered for free.

The Lavender Courtyard is an income-restricted, three-story complex designed to serve LGBTQ seniors by providing safe, inclusive and affordable housing. It has 53 units and serves seniors ages 62 and up who pay affordable rents based on income as determined by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development guidelines, which caps rents at 30% of their monthly adjusted income.

The Hope and Healing Survivor Resource Center in Akron, Ohio offers LGBTQ+ intimate partner violence survivors the option to stay in local hotels instead of traditional emergency shelters. After implementing LGBTQ+ cultural competency training in 2023, the organization saw a 10% increase in LGBTQ+ survivors accessing their services.

The city of Tucson and two nonprofit partners, Primavera Foundation and Old Pueblo Community Services, launched STAR Village, a safe sleeping site offering supervised tent housing, bathrooms, showers, case management, and outreach services for up to 25 homeless women and nonbinary people. The site is entering its second year, funded by approximately $300,000 in unspent city office budgets, plus nonprofit contributions.