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. For contact information of sites with TGD healthcare navigation, click here.

Statewide

Legal Council for Health Justice provides personalized and professional legal services and advocacy to overcome and dismantle barriers to care, services, and well-being. Legal Council is funded to create and operate IL Pride Connect, which serves as an LGBTQIA+ resource hub in areas of healthcare, vital records, family issues, schools, discrimination, and immigration. Additionally, they operate the IL Pride Connect Legal Hotline, a free and confidential service offering legal information in Illinois for LGBTQIA+ individuals and families facing legal issues that impact health, safety, or access to care.

Carbondale

Rainbow Community Health and Wellness (RCHW), an extension of Rainbow Café LGBTQ Center, is a non-profit behavioral health and wellness center committed to providing the LGBTQ+ community with affirming counseling and community health services. RCHW addresses mental health needs by providing the Transgender and Gender Diverse community in Southern Illinois one-on-one and group counseling, case management, healthcare navigation, and gender affirming vocal therapy.

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 has launched 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) offers a comprehensive array of initiatives designed to address the distinctive needs of the transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) community, with an emphasis on supporting Latinés, 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 sexual health services to specifically address the needs of LGBTQ+ Latinés.

Center on Halsted continues to 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 include group therapy, client care, and holistic case management for youth across programs. These offerings are informed by young adult and youth advisory boards.

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. TLC’s peer health navigators facilitate linkage to trans and gender affirming medical care, Ryan White case management, social support, and housing.

Chicago Women’s Health Center continues building capacity for group services in both Counseling and Trans Health programs to increase service accessibility for TGD/LGBTQ+ community members. Available services include group therapy, health care, health education in a community setting, and gender affirming voice coaching.

School of Opulence – Chicago provides gender affirming care for young LGBTQ+ individuals within the Southeast corridor of Chicago through mental health treatment, group art therapy, and housing opportunities. School of Opulence also provides healthcare navigation to connect clients with behavioral, physical, and holistic health care and social services, as well as promoting harm reduction.

Kankakee

School of Opulence – Kankakee provides gender affirming care for young LGBTQ+ individuals in Kankakee County through wellness events, art therapy, and health education and promotion of harm reduction. School of Opulence also provides healthcare navigation to connect clients with behavioral, physical, and holistic health care and social services.

Moline

The Project of the Quad Cities‘ behavioral health program provides gender affirming care consultations, as well as individual and group therapy. The Project also employs a Care Navigator who 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 offers Health and Wellness Navigation services across north and central Illinois, including but not limited to DuPage, Kane, Will, DeKalb, LaSalle, north suburban Cook, Peoria, and Whiteside counties, including navigation/case management support for youth and families to find physical and mental health providers with experience in LGBTQ+ care. Youth Outlook also provides 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 supports the LGBTQ+ community holistically by providing affirmative counseling and therapeutic support groups for LGBTQ+ individuals and their families and care coordination for LGBTQ+ clients through their Trans Healthcare Navigation Specialist. Central Illinois Friends also provides gender affirming care, psychiatric care, and case management services through their new clinic inside Peoria’s very first LGBTQ+ Community Center.

West Chicago

Casa Michoacán supports community members at the intersection of immigration, Transgender and Gender Diverse identities, and racial/ethnic minorities in DuPage and Kane Counties. This initiative addresses the fear caused by harmful rhetoric that prevents people from accessing supportive services. Casa Michoacán provides care through outreach, identity building, and clinical behavioral health services for TGD immigrants of color and their families.

Previous Participating Sites:



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.

Learn more about the program here.