The Transgender and Gender Diverse Wellness and Equity Program expands comprehensive, lifesaving, and medically necessary gender affirming care for transgender, gender diverse, and LGBTQ+ people throughout the state of Illinois.

Following are the participating sites and a short description of their services offered through this program:

Carbondale:
Rainbow Café LGBTQ Center is working on a Community Behavioral Health Center that will be primarily focused on addressing the mental health needs of the Transgender and Gender Diverse Population in Southern Illinois. The new space will be called Rainbow Community Health & Wellness and will also offer patient navigation support services.

Champaign:
Familia First Health NFP from Champaign-Urbana Public Health District is a non-profit primary care medical clinic in Champaign, Illinois that was founded in late 2022 with the mission of providing family centered primary care, integrated with mental health and case management, for all patients regardless of their ability to pay. Familia First Health aims to serve marginalized individuals who have traditionally struggled to access high quality healthcare, specifically, Black and Latinx, immigrants, LGBTQ+, and neurodivergent individuals.

Chicago:
Brave Space Alliance (BSA) is a Black-led, trans-led LGBTQ+ Center located on the South Side of Chicago, dedicated to creating and providing affirming, culturally competent, for-us by-us resources, programming, and services for LGBTQ+ individuals on the South and West sides. With PHIMC’s support, Brave Space is launching a mental health program for its community within the BSA office, providing licensed, competent counseling services in an affirming and safe environment.

CALOR (dba AIDS Healthcare Foundation) is implementing a comprehensive array of initiatives designed to address the distinctive needs of the transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) community, with an emphasis on supporting Latines, Spanish-speaking individuals, and/or immigrants. Programming includes facilitating access to medical and supportive services, organizing drop-in events, amplifying promotional efforts, providing inclusivity training for both staff and partners, and expanding current sexual health services to specifically address the needs of LGBTQ+ Latines.

Center on Halsted will deepen its commitment and program offerings for LGBTQ+ youth by growing and sustaining its capacity to provide housing and culturally and medically competent gender affirming behavioral healthcare. With a focus on BIPOC individuals and those who identify as transgender, gender diverse, or nonbinary, activities will include additional group therapy offerings and a greater focus on client care and holistic case management for youth across programs.

Chicago House and Social Service Agency’s TransLife Care Program (TLC) provides health navigation services for transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) individuals. TLC has been serving the TGNC communities since 2013 through housing, healthcare navigation, employment, and legal services. With this funding opportunity, TLC will employ two part-time peer health navigators to expand its current staff capacity. The program will serve 50-75 individuals to facilitate linkage to trans and gender affirming medical care, Ryan White case management, social support, and housing.

Chicago Women’s Health Center will build capacity for group services in both Counseling and Trans Health programs to increase service provision for TGD/LGBTQ+ community members. The Counseling program will increase staffing for counseling services and develop group therapy sessions. Within the Trans Health Program, clinical staff will undergo training for group medical visits and develop group visits focused on trans health.

Legal Council for Health Justice (Legal Council) received funding to hire an external consulting group to provide training to Legal Council staff on trauma-informed, culturally competent legal representation of trans and gender diverse folks. This short-term training project will ensure all Legal Council staff, from those who serve clients directly to those who support programs and operations, have a strong foundation of knowledge in working with and providing services to the trans and gender diverse community.

School of Opulence will provide gender affirming care for LGBTQ+ individuals within the Southeast corridor of Chicago – including hormone therapy, mental health treatment, and housing opportunities. They will develop and implement trainings on gender affirming care, provide education to healthcare providers regarding trans and gender diverse matters, and connect clients with community resources that fit their needs.

Moline:
The Project of the Quad Cities will establish a Care Navigator role. This position provides client-centered access, facilitates linkage to care, offers resource navigation, and advocates for transgender and gender expansive individuals and families, ensuring equitable access to essential healthcare and resources.

Naperville:
Youth Outlook will expand its Health and Wellness Navigation services to counties such as DuPage, DeKalb, and Whiteside, offering navigation/case management support for youth and families to find physical and mental health providers with experience in LGBTQ+ care. Additionally, Youth Outlook will provide training to build the capacity of healthcare organizations through northern Illinois to provide affirming care to trans and gender expansive patients.

Peoria:
Central Illinois Friends will expand its services to more holistically support the LGBTQ+ community with new initiatives, provide affirmative counseling and therapeutic support groups for LGBTQ+ individuals and their families, and hire a full-time Trans Healthcare Navigation Specialist to provide care coordination for LGBTQ+ clients. Funding will also support the enhancement of existing programs, gender affirming care, psychiatric care, case management services, and support the launch of the brand-new clinic inside Peoria’s very first LGBTQ+ Community Center.

Springfield:
The Transgender and Gender Equity Clinic, housed within the Southern Illinois University Family Medicine Clinic in Springfield, Illinois, offers gender affirming primary care, hormone therapy, surgical referrals, and mental health services.

Tuscola:
Douglas County Health Department (DCHD), with awarded funding, will introduce the role of a Healthcare Navigation Specialist (HNS) who will assist residents from Douglas and surrounding counties to encourage informed decisions about their healthcare journey and assist them in connecting with resources. Additional responsibilities for the HNS will include social marketing efforts relating to all outreach and awareness, creating relevant health education, and completing a Community Health Worker training curriculum.

West Frankfort:
Centerstone’s outpatient team and leaders are committed to growing clinical skill sets, expanding competency, and becoming aligned with the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) standards of care to provide top notch behavioral health services ethically and compassionately. With the awarded funds, Centerstone will provide educational materials and training opportunities to clinicians who are direct service providers to members of the TGD/LGBTQ+ community and increase safe space marketing for all of its sites offering outpatient services.

Pictured above are staff from Brave Space Alliance, CALOR, Center on Halsted, Central Illinois Friends, Chicago Women’s Health Center, Constellation Collective, Rainbow Café LGBTQ Center, School of Opulence, SIU, and Youth Outlook, during the POP Affirming Care Training Summit held in Springfield, Illinois in May 2024.

See Press Release of June 10, 2024

Learn more about the program here.