resources for trans women

OUTMemphis’ newest microgrant program aims to help transgender, nonbinary, and gender-expansive individuals with non-emergency and gender affirming resources.

According to the organization, the Uplift Fund will “provide $500 grants for individuals who identify as transgender, nonbinary, or gender expansive who are 18 and older, to support unique financial barriers to opportunity, or, simply, a lift up in Shelby, DeSoto, Crittenden, Tipton and Fayette counties.”

Some of the “non-emergency” needs include career or education advancement, investment in physical and mental health and well-being as well as legal expenses and “similar expenses.”

“The program will not cover everyday expenses like food and rent, and participants will be asked to provide narrative feedback on their experiences up to six months after receiving the grant,” the organization said in a statement. “ The program is funded in perpetuity for 12 grants per year thanks to a significant contribution from Lena Chipman and Amanda Banker.”

Molly Quinn, executive director of OUTMemphis said they have witnessed transgender individuals defy discrimination daily, and this grant is in response to these obstacles.

“Knowing the barriers trans people face in the Mid-South, we believe mutual aid is an act of resistance,” Quinn said. “The Uplift Program connects resources directly to individuals by their peers. Transgender individuals deserve the same access to opportunity and stability as all – and they know best what they need.”

TaMesha Kaye Prewitt serves as the trans services manager for OUTMemphis said that the need for this program is in response to things she has seen in her five-to-six months in her official role, as well as her perspective of the transgender community.

“We’ve needed this help,” Prewitt said. “Now somebody has finally put help into place.”

Prewitt is aware that they “can’t make everybody happy,” but she said there was a dire need in the community for support and funding, and that people come to her every day in hopes of finding funding for their unique expenses.

“You name it, I’ve heard it,” Prewitt said. “Things that I’ve seen on my own, things I’ve needed myself, have all been topics of conversation.”

According to Prewitt, people in minority communities already face discrimination and ostracization in society, making everyday activities such as shopping more difficult. She said the mircrogrants can help minimize these difficulties while also helping with some of the needs that are unique to the individual.

“I have trans women who come to me who are sex workers,” Prewitt said. “We can’t judge somebody for what they do, but we want to give you harm-reducting ways to do it.”

Prewitt said when granting rewards they are looking for transgender individuals as well as those suffering from the HIV epidemic. They are also looking for nonbinary individuals and Black trans women, who Prewitt said get the “short end of the stick” most of the time.
Those interested in applying can contact OUTMemphis at info@outmemphis.com or at 901-278-6422.

Black trans women and girls of color in Memphis will get better access to HIV education and prevention services thanks to a new grant for WeCareTN.

The money is part of a $10 million grant from Gilead Sciences for 19 organizations, including Memphis-based WeCareTN. The funds will help “increase HIV prevention and education efforts for cis- and transgender Black women and girls,” through the company’s new Setting the P.A.C.E. (prevention, arts and advocacy, community, education) initiative.

“Black women and girls continue to be disproportionately impacted by the HIV epidemic in the United States,” Gilead said in a statement. “Black women aged 16 and older account for 54 percent of new HIV diagnoses, but only 14 percent of the female population. Furthermore, Black transgender women have the highest national rates of new HIV diagnoses, and are more likely to go undiagnosed and untreated in comparison to their peers.”

WeCareTN “supports trans women of color through education and empowerment.” They host a jobs readiness program, a life skills program, and lead HIV preventions programs for sex workers. They’ll use the new funds to focus on HIV/ HCV (hepatitis C virus) prevention and education, outreach and partnerships, testing and helping people find the correct care care. The organization is also seeking to form “equitable and inclusive” relationships with community partners.

“We hope to address any barriers to care and resources as it relates to HIV/ HCV stigma, transphobia, and/or cultural insensitivity,” WeCareTN said in a statement. “We hope to link services and resources to community members and organizations that can help address housing, employment, gender-affirming care, HIV prevention, and harm reduction to name a few focus areas.”

Jakiera Stewart, director of operations for WeCareTN, said a lot of HIV prevention and education practices have focused on homosexual men, which excludes other minority populations, like women and girls.

“In the past few years folks have been amplifying how they are affected by HIV and how strategies leave certain communities in the gap,” Stewart said. “Just sitting at the table and being able to strategize with folks who are directly impacted is important to strategy.”

One of the ways that WeCareTN practices this is through their program Transformation, an eight-week program for Black trans women that focuses on HIV prevention, stigma, mental health, and personal development.

“Transformation targets Black transgender women that use drugs, utilize black market medicine/ hormone therapy, and/or engage in sex work,” a WeCareTN official said. “[We] host a series of [virtual] conversations … and weekly meetings such as ‘Survival Sex Work’ and ‘Hustle Economics’ to name a few specific topics.”

The organization said it’s important to have these tough and sometimes stigmatized conversations because it aids in harm reduction. Stewart said it can be difficult for people who are affected by the virus to meet with others to brainstorm and connect with other communities to change the narrative leading to these groups being alienated. However, when accomplished, it proves to be an effective strategy, Stewart said.

With Gilead’s funding, Stewart said they will be able to lead out of a “place of survival.” She hopes that other organizations will follow the precedent that Gilead has set by helping leaders bring more resources to the South.

“I think it’s time for the South to catch up,” said Stewart. “There are great strategies that work [in the South], they’re just not funded or they don’t have the resources to strategize on a grand level. A lot of organizations in the south are grassroots organizations, but their strategies work. They just don’t have the resources to scale those strategies out.”