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According to the National Center of Transgender Equality, one in five transgender people have experienced homelessness in their lives, and LGBTQ people make up 20-40% of the homeless youth population.
True T PGH,a local community resource, activism, and entertainment organization, is aiming to reduce those numbers with Option-U, a program to provide transitional housing to trans people in need of short-term housing. It will also provide assistance with seeking employment, accessing healthcare, workshops, and more. The LGBTQ and POC-led program first piloted in July 2019, and has since provided housing to seven people.
Option-U provides free apartment-style living spaces for trans and non-binary people with room for five residents stay 30-90 days, and an extra emergency bed for those staying less than a week. The building, located in Bloomfield, also has a resident advisor.
“The necessity of the issues Option-U has been able to address in such a short time period is beyond compare,” says True T co-executive director John Easter in a press release. “This has become more than a program and sort of a 2nd family of sorts where the goal isn’t to just put you back out there on the streets, but to empower and give you the tools to succeed.”
In the press release, Easter notes that Option-U does not receive any government funding and is run on “personal donations from True T PGH and our small network of supporters.”
The program is a collaboration with Trans YOUniting, a trans resource organization that provides educational programs and other resources.
In a video testimonial, Mahogany Asunción Ríos, who was an Option-U participant, says the program has helped her “maintain a sense of independence” and find access to things like food stamps. “My time here, I felt like I was really at home, mostly with the staff members. Anytime I come here, they always have a smiles,” says Ríos.
The True T announcement comes a day after SisTers PGH, another local nonprofit providing housing and resources to trans people, launched an emergency fundraising campaign after a fire damaged its community center space.
This article appears in Dec 11-17, 2019.
