In lieu of accepting donations or honorariums, I request that you choose an organization from this list and make a donation in memory of my mother, Lola Kipnis Ladin, Leah bat Rivka.
Many of these resources have been collected by CNN’s Christopher Dawson.
For Transgender Individuals, Families, and Friends
The Ali Forney Center was founded in 2002 in memory of Ali Forney, a homeless gender-nonconforming youth who was forced to live on the streets, where they were tragically murdered. Committed to saving the lives of LGBTQ+ young people, our mission is to protect them from the harms of homelessness and empower them with the tools needed to live independently.
PFLAG’S: Straight for Equality
We provide interactive and engaging learning sessions, resources, programs, and more for allies committed to creating diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible workplaces and communities.
The LGBT National Help Center is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization that provides vital peer support, community connections, and resource information through helplines and online chatrooms. Our services focus on sexual orientation and/or gender identity and expression.
Call any time at 1-888-843-4564. LGBT Senior Hotline at 1-888-234-7243 and LGBTQ Youth can call 1-800-246-7743.
SOJOURN was founded in 2001 as The Rainbow Center. Supported by the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, it was a central point to promote change and inclusion for LGBTQ+ Jews and people of all faiths throughout metro Atlanta. As the country’s social and political attitudes evolved, The Rainbow Center experienced enormous growth.
Trans Lifeline is a grassroots hotline and microgrants 501(c)(3) non-profit organization offering direct emotional and financial support to trans people in crisis – for the trans community, by the trans community.
Call any time in the US at 1-877-565-8860 and in Canada at 1-877-330-6366.
The Trevor Project is the leading suicide prevention and crisis intervention nonprofit organization for LGBTQ+ young people. We provide information & support to LGBTQ+ young people 24/7, all year round.
Crises counselors can be reached at 1-866-488-7386. Text ‘START’ to 678-678 to connect via text message.
SAGE leads in addressing issues related to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning and other self-identifying members of the community (LGBTQ+) aging.
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
At the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, we understand that life’s challenges can sometimes be difficult. Dial 988 to reach the Lifeline.
Text ‘HOME’ to 741741 to connect with crisis counselors or click here to connect on WhatsApp.
TransFamilies inspires hope, increases understanding, and creates a visible pathway to support trans and gender diverse children and all those who touch their lives.
TransFamily Support Services guide transgender/non-binary youth and their families through the gender transitioning process to help make it the most positive experience possible.
Our mission is to create a gender-inclusive world for all children and youth. To accomplish this, we help families, organizations, and institutions increase their understanding of gender and consider the implications that evolving views have for each of us.
Legal Assistance
Transgender Law Center is the largest national, trans-led organization working to set all people free. We champion the right of all transgender and gender-nonconforming people to make their own choices and live freely, safely, and authentically. Prioritizing BIPOC, disabled, and HIV+ communities, we advances community-driven strategies that harness trans knowledge, power, and joy to ensure that we all not only survive but thrive at all ages and phases of life.
Lambda Legal’s Help desk is a resource for the community we serve in providing general legal information and resources relating to discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, and HIV status.
A directory of over 80 organizations providing legal services for the transgender community across the United States brought to you by Advocate for Trans Equality.
A resource for students, athletes, coaches, and administrators to find information about trans inclusion in athletics at various levels of play. This site pulls together existing information in one central location, and breaks down information into easy-to-reference areas to help you find what you need.
Gender Affirming Healthcare
The Advocates For Trans Equality’s Trans Health Project aims to ensure that all transgender and non-binary people can access the trans-related health care that they need. The Trans Health Project takes a comprehensive, systematic approach to expanding access to transgender-related health care by educating affected individuals about their legal rights; cultivating a robust movement to achieve health care equity; expanding enforcement of existing legal protections; and driving clinical policy changes among insurance carriers.
A Nurse’s Comprehensive Guide to Gender-Affirming Care
Explore the concepts and care recommendations for delivering gender-affirming nursing care
Point of Pride provides financial aid and direct support to trans folks in need of health and wellness care. Our mission is to help the most vulnerable members of our community feel seen and supported through access to life-saving health and wellness services.
The Rainbow Youth Project USA, Inc. is pleased to offer assistance in obtaining non-surgical gender affirming health care to those transgender individuals negatively impacted by Medicaid or state-level prohibitions against necessary care. The program can assist with scheduling appointments with physicians for initial consultation or continuation of care.
Gender Spectrum: Understanding Gender
Understandings of gender continually evolve. In the course of a person’s life, the interests, activities, clothing, and professions that are considered the domain of one gender or another evolve in ways both small and large.
Looking for affirming medical providers? Try the LGBTQ+ Healthcare Directory. You can search for LGBT-friendly primary care providers, specialists, therapists, dentists, and other health professionals in your area.
We elevate conventional healthcare, making our clients feel safe and supported and helping them understand their right to healthcare. Most critically, this occurs in an environment where they’re treated with respect and dignity. Our offerings include everything from HIV and Hep C screenings, to needle exchanges, to workshops exploring sexual and gender identity and how to give our clients voice to advocate for themselves.
Destination Tomorrow has an array of in-house and referral based medical/mental health services.
For Safety Concerns and Well Being
AVP empowers lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and HIV-affected communities and allies to end all forms of violence through organizing and education, and supports survivors through counseling and advocacy.
AVP offers a free 24-hour bilingual crisis intervention hotline. Call or text 1-212-714-1141 to report violence anonymously, connect to counseling, or get safety guidance and legal help. You can also report violence online here.
Northern Illinois Recovery Center
At NIR, our LGBTQ addiction treatment programs in Illinois are a breath of fresh air for anybody struggling with substance abuse within the community. Personal lifestyles and sexual orientation are irrelevant here. All that matters is getting the treatment you’ve been longing for. Your needs and your recovery come first at all of our recovery centers.
National Domestic Violence Hotline
24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, the National Domestic Violence Hotline provides essential tools and support to help survivors of domestic violence so they can live their lives free of abuse. NDVH advocates can also provide LGBTQ resources and help create a safety plan.
Text “START” to 88788 or call 1-800-799-7233 for the hotline.
RAINN is committed to supporting survivors of sexual violence, cultivating communities of anti-sexual violence activism, and promoting policies that deliver justice and hold perpetrators accountable.
FORGE reduces the impact of trauma on trans/non-binary survivors and communities by empowering service providers, advocating for systems reform, and connecting survivors to healing possibilities. FORGE strives to create a world where ALL voices, people and bodies are valued, respected, honored, and celebrated; where every individual feels safe, supported, respected, and empowered.
Battered Women’s Support Services
Battered Women’s Support Services provides education, advocacy, and support services to end gender-based violence from a feminist perspective that promotes gender equity.
Call 1-855-687-1868 for crisis and intake.
Grants and Funding
The Uplifting Trans Fund is a 501(c3) nonprofit organization that raises funds and directs microgrant funding to projects that help support and celebrate transgender, non-binary and intersex people and communities.
Call 1-855-687-1868 for crisis and intake.
More Resources
2022 U.S. Trans Survey—The 2022 U.S. Trans Survey was fielded from October 19 to December 5, 2022. As a community-based survey, the USTS was developed with the assistance of dozens of individuals and organizations with robust connections to trans people and communities throughout the United States and with subject-matter expertise.
Vetch—Vetch is the first magazine of its kind, a journal of poetry solely by trans writers. We aim to publish work that is as excited about being poetry as it is engaged with the social conditions that allow for its production. Say it has an aesthetic and doubles down hard, wouldn’t that be fun.
Gender 2.0—Gender 2.0 is an ongoing experiment in both gender and writing, publishing work about gender that speaks to issues and forms that are not represented in other places.
National Center for Transgender Equality—The National Center for Transgender Equality advocates to change policies and society to increase understanding and acceptance of transgender people. In the nation’s capital and throughout the country, NCTE works to replace disrespect, discrimination, and violence with empathy, opportunity, and justice.
Nursing Home Abuse Center (NHAC)—NHAC offers support for at-risk LGBTQ elders
RegisteredNursing.Org—Supporting the transgender community with gender affirming care resources.
Joy Ladin 
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