San Francisco, CA- The API Wellness Center stands in solidarity with the transgender and gender non-conforming community on the 19th annual Transgender Day of Remembrance, Monday, November 20th, 2017.
On this day we honor those lives lost due to transphobia, homophobia and police violence against transgender (Trans) and gender non-conforming people (GNC). In 2017, the United States alone experienced 26 murders resulting in one of the deadliest years for the community. The violence is particularly hard on Trans women of color who experience the brunt of discrimination.
‘Transgender Day of Remembrance [TDOR] is a time that we can come together as a Trans community and honor those we’ve lost.” Said Niko Kowell, Program Manager at API Wellness. “It’s always a beautiful event that invokes healing across the community, while still being a staggering reminder there is so much work left to be done for our community especially for trans women of color.”
Trans THRIVE is the premier program of API wellness offering a home and safe space for the Trans community of San Francisco. The program sees hundreds of Trans identified and GNC people a month, providing critical medical and social services like primary care, counseling and case management and mental health therapy.
“We as Trans people need a space to grieve over the people and things we have lost.” Said Carsen Nepomuceno, Trans THIRVE Program Supervisor. “Trans people, especially trans women of color experience violence in many different forms every single day, from physical violence of random attacks by strangers to the systemic dismantling of our right to be in public through bathroom laws and the difficulty in accessing the correct identity documents. TDOR gives us a shared moment to just take the time to feel the pain and grieve, even if it is just for one day every year.”
Trans THRIVE also partners with other progressive organizations to combat the continual violence in the community as such the program sits a part of a coalition of nonprofit partners and community leaders that will be holding a tribute at the LGBT Center 1800 Market Street, San Francisco at 5:30pm
About API Wellness
API Wellness is an LGBTQ and people of color community health center that transforms lives by advancing health, wellness, and equality. It believes everyone deserves to be healthy and needs access to the highest quality health care. At API Wellness, health care is grounded in social justice. With two locations, API Wellness is an anchor institution in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood and a comprehensive health home for the LGBTQ community in the Castro. API Wellness operates a fully licensed, federally qualified health center; runs one of the largest transgender community drop-in centers in the country; and is the premier HIV treatment and care provider for people living with HIV in the Tenderloin.
This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under H80CS28978 and Health Center Program for $650,000.00. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.e