Transgender & Gender Non-Conforming Safety Grants (RFP)

SFCHC is providing 5-8 grants up to $75k to support critical one-time safety enhancements at agencies that serve transgender and gender non-conforming persons

The purpose of these grants is to provide enhancements that will protect the safety of staff and transgender and gender non-conforming clients. Some examples of enhancements:

• On-site organizational safety assessments

• Improvements in safety infrastructure, such as installation of safety doors, camera systems, remote door buzz-in equipment, motion detection lights

• Development and implementation of emergency plans and protocols

• Community safety trainings, including de-escalation, emergency, and/or critical responses for staff and clients

• 1. Summary of Funding Opportunity

  In late 2023, the San Francisco Mayor’s Office on Housing and Community Development (MOHCD) released a request for proposals seeking applications for a groundbreaking LGBTQ Safety Initiative (#2023-01e) designed to address growing threats and violence against LGBTQ organizations in San Francisco. The goal of the program was to provide funding to help LGBTQ organizations respond to threats of violence “in a pro-active way to ensure that both the organizations and the people they serve are protected from threats of violence.” A portion of the grant program was specifically designated for groups and organizations primarily serving thetransgender, gender non-conforming, non-binary, and intersex communities of San Francisco.

  The San Francisco Community Health Center (SFCHC) applied for and successfully received funding through the transgender and gender non-conforming portion of the program. In its application, SFCHC included a proposal to set aside $375,000 of the grant award to support a focused community safety grants program to fund critical safety enhancements at local agencies serving transgender, gender non-conforming, non-binary, and intersex communities. This Request for Proposals (RFP) is the direct product of that proposal.

  The SFCHC FY 2024-2025 Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Safety Grant Program will fund between 5 and 8 grants of up to $75,000 each to support critical, one-time safety enhancements at agencies that serve transgender and gender non-conforming persons. As noted above, the purpose of these enhancements will be to protect the safety of both agency staff and transgender and gender non-conforming clients of those agencies. Examples of activities to be supported through these grants include the following:

  • Provision of on-site organizational safety assessments;

  • Improvements in technical and physical safety infrastructure, such as installation of safety doors, camera systems, remote door buzz-in equipment, and/or trigger lights;

  • Development and implementation of organizational emergency plans and protocols; and/or

  • Provision of community safety trainings, including de-escalation, emergency, and/or critical responses for agency staff and/or clients.

  An organization may propose more than one activity to enhance the safety of trans and non-binary-serving staff and clients if the combined activities do not exceed the maximum $75,000 amount per grant.

  At the time of this writing, the anticipated grant period is expected to be approximately 5½ months, from February 3 through July 31, 2025. Agencies will receive funding in two allocations, with one-half of the grant award being distributed upon award and the second half distributed following receipt of a preliminary progress update 30 days following the initial funding disbursement.

• 2. Eligibility Requirements

  Applicants to the SFCHC Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Safety Grants Program must be community-based agencies that are non-profit and tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code or who operate under a valid fiscal sponsor. No public or governmental agencies or for-profit entities may apply for funding under this RFP. 

  Agencies applying for funding through the program must serve some combination of transgender, gender non-conforming, non-binary, and/or intersex persons living in the City of San Francisco. Applicant agencies are not required to have an exclusive or primary focus on transgender and gender non-conforming persons, although these agencies are welcome to apply. Agencies that are beginning to establish transgender programs or services and/or who have a relatively small but growing population of transgender and non-binary clients are encouraged to apply. 

• 3. Proposal Submission Instructions

  Cover Sheet: Please complete and sign the attached cover sheet form and submit it as the first page of your application. 

  Proposal Narrative: Please submit a narrative description of your agency and your request that is no more than 3 single-spaced pages using a 12-point font with 1-inch margins on all sides using an 8½ x 11-inch page format. Please respond to each of the following proposal questions – page number approximations have been provided as a guideline but are not required:

  1. Agency Background and Services (Approx ½ Page): Provide a brief summary of your organizational history, mission, and primary services, including the specific services you provide for transgender, gender non-conforming, non-binary, and/or intersex persons in San Francisco.

  2. Need for Transgender Safety Grant Funding (Approx. ½ Page): Describe the specific organizational safety issue or issues you plan to address through the proposed safety grant project. Feel free to use both statistical and anecdotal data to establish a need for requested funds.

  3. Proposed Project (Approx. 1 Page): Describe the specific safety enhancements, purchases, or projects for which you are requesting grant funds. Provide as much detail as you can regarding either the physical enhancements you plan to make to increase organizational safety or the programmatic enhancements you will fund to increase the safety of staff who serve transgender and gender non-conforming clients and/or of clients themselves. For example, if you are requesting funding for a series of staff and client safety trainings, specify who will participate in these trainings, how long they will be, how many there will be, how you will select a training provider or providers, and what you expect the outcome to be. Similarly, if you are proposing to add security enhancements to a physical space, describe those proposed enhancements in as much detail as possible. Also describe who in your agency will have primary responsibility for directing the project and how you will ensure the effective tracking and documentation of grant-related expenditures (see Grant Monitoring / Reporting Process below).

  4. Proposed Project Timeline (Approx ½ Page): Provide either a narrative timeline or a simple chart describing the process of program implementation over the 5-month period, including possible milestones such as identification of outside consultants or vendors; installation of equipment; conducting of trainings; or development of organizational safety plans.

  5. Program Evaluation (Approx. ½ Page): Briefly describe the process you will use to assess the impact and effectiveness of the grant program. This could include elements such as staff and/or client surveys to measure improvements in personal sense of safety; pre and post-tests conducted before and after training programs; or organizational changes expected to result from the program. As noted in the Grant Monitoring / Reporting Process section below, agencies will be expected to submit a very brief, preliminary progress report 30 days following initial grant disbursement, along with a more detailed Final Project Report which will be due by the conclusion of the grant period on approximately May 31, 2025.

  Proposal Budget (Maximum 1 Page): Submit a budget outlining the anticipated costs of your program, including estimated costs of equipment, consulting services, training, and other related expenses. A portion of grant funds may be used to support staff and agency expenses needed to oversee and conduct the program; however, the primary emphasis should be on utilizing funds to support specific activities and purchases that the agency could not otherwise conduct on its own without grant funding. Agencies may also charge 10% of the total project budget to support indirect costs.

  Required Attachments: Submit a copy of your organization’s IRS letter verifying your non-profit, 501(c)(3) status, or a copy of your fiscal agent agreement, if applicable.

  Additional Materials (OPTIONAL - Maximum 5 Pages): Agencies may submit up to 5 pages or supporting materials such as flyers, news articles, brochures, client testimonials, past grant reports, training agendas, or other materials to document their involvement with and/or services to transgender and gender non-conforming populations.

  Process for Submitting the Application: Please submit your application as a single PDF file with numbered pages to the following e-mail address no later than 5:00 PM PST on Monday, January 6, 2025. If you are having trouble assembling the proposal into a single PDF file, separate files are acceptable if they are numbered consecutively. Please send your completed application to the following e-mail address using the e-mail subject header SFCHC Transgender Safety Grant Application: TransSafetyApplication@gmail.com

  Applications received after the deadline above will not be accepted or reviewed.

  Required Application Documents in the following order:

  • Signed Cover Sheet

  • Maximum 3-Page Proposal Narrative

  • Maximum 1-Page Project Budget

  • IRS Non-Profit Status Letter

  • Up to 5 Pages of Optional Additional Materials

• 4. Review Process and Application Scoring

  An independent review panel made up of transgender and gender non-conforming community service and safety specialists will review and score all applications using the following 100-point scale: 

  • Agency Background and Services: 25 Points

  • Need for Transgender Safety Grant Funding: 15 Points

  • Proposed Project and Project Timeline: 40 Points

  • Program Evaluation: 10 Points

  • Proposed Project Budget: 10 Points

  Funds will be awarded based on the order of scoring by the review panel. If an insufficient number of applications are received to allocate the full $375,000 available, agencies may be contacted to negotiate changes to their original proposed project budgets.

• 5. Appeals Process

  Applications will be determined to be non-responsive if they are incomplete, undelivered, or do not meet the Eligibility Requirements (see p. 4.) If it is determined that your application is non-responsive, we will inform you. Applicants may appeal a determination of non-responsiveness to this RFP by submitting notice by email to SFCHC setting forth the grounds for the appeal by no later than five (5) business days after receiving SFCHC’s determination.

  Organizations will be notified if their application was not selected for an award. If there is disagreement with the decision, organizations may file a formal appeal within five (5) business days of the award announcement. SFCHC must receive the appeal on or before 5:00 PM PST on the fifth business day. The appeal must include a written statement on each of the grounds for appeal. An individual authorized to represent the respondent must submit the appeal by e-mail to the submission e-mail above. The appeal must specify facts and evidence that are the basis of the appeal. Disagreements about program quality or value do not constitute grounds for appeal. A panel selected by SFCHC will review all eligible appeals, and the panel decisions will be final. If necessary, we will schedule a meeting with the respondent within ten (10) calendar days of receiving the appeal.

• 6. Grant Funds Distribution and Grant Monitoring / Reporting Process

  At the time of this writing, we are anticipating that grant decisions will be announced no later than Monday, February 3, 2025. Successful agencies will be notified by e-mail of grant awards, and agencies will sign an agreement detailing grant responsibilities and expectations. One-half of the grant amount is expected to be transferred to clients before February 24, 2025. An initial 30-day report on the progress of the program, using a format that we will send to grantees, will be due on approximately March 31, 2025, after which the second half of the grant award will be expedited.

  SFCHC will also distribute a Final Project Report Form in early 2025 that agencies will use to report on the grant program’s activities and impacts. At the present time, we expect this final report form to be due on July 31, 2025.

• 7. RFP Assistance and Resources

  Potential applicants may contact SFCHC at the e-mail address below to submit questions regarding this grant program and the grant preparation and submission process. While SFCHC cannot provide direct assistance in preparing grant proposals or in assessing the merits of specific program concepts, we will be happy to respond to questions regarding the contents of the application package or of specific proposal requirements or sections: TransSafetyApplication@gmail.com

• 8. About the San Francisco Community Health Center (SFCHC)

  Originally founded in 1987, San Francisco Community Health Center (SFCHC) was established as a grassroots response to the HIV crisis in Asian and Pacific Islander communities, and for much of its history was known as Asian and Pacific Islander Wellness Center, Inc. (API Wellness). With our headquarters in the heavily impacted Tenderloin neighborhood, SFCHC has become a multicultural health, education, research, and policy organization with a continued focus on serving unhoused individuals, people of color, HIV-positive individuals, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) communities. In 2015, SFCHC achieved a milestone by being designated as a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) providing respectful, compassionate, trauma-informed, free and low-cost comprehensive primary medical and behavioral health care to heavily underserved and homeless communities. In 2017, SFCHC added a second medical site within the offices of the SF LGBT Center at 1800 Market Street.

  SFCHC currently employs more than two dozen transgender and gender non-conforming staff members, more than two-thirds of whom are former clients who our agency has supported and nurtured in acquiring new skills and transitioning to full-time professional roles within the agency. Through our agency’s highly successful Community Ambassador program, we have trained over 100 community members - many of them trans and non-binary clients - to provide peer-based support and education on key health and wellness issues. Many peers employed by SFCHC go on to hold both staff and leadership positions within the organization, including many Ambassadors who are now current, full-time staff members at SFCHC, and others who we are currently supporting in attending college and acquiring certification to become agency staff.

  SFCHC has an unparalleled range of experience in meeting the health needs of the transgender community and has become by far the largest provider of medical and psychosocial services for transgender people in San Francisco, serving more than 1,250 transgender and non-binary individuals each year. In addition to the TransThrive program which was originally established in 2007 through funding by the SF Department of Public Health and remains a beacon for respectful and trauma-informed trans services, SFCHC operates:

  • The Trans Access program, funded by the US Health Resources and Services Administration (SAMHSA) beginning in 2012 and now funded through the SF General Fund, provides wraparound HIV-specific services such as case management, substance use and mental health counseling, and patient navigation services to engage transgender people of color in HIV treatment and whole person care;

  • Gender-affirming HIV medical services through our FQHC medical clinic, including drop-in services for transgender clients, and encompassing services that support clients through the gender-affirming surgery process, including home visits, meal services, case management, and mobile behavioral health services staffed by licensed providers;

  • TransCare, which supports clients with pre- and post-surgery resources and preparation, and provides case management and navigation support throughout the entire surgery and recovery process; and

  • STAHR (San Francisco Transgender Alliance for Health Resources), an innovative, collaborative, County-funded transgender HIV prevention initiative that operates through a close working partnership of four highly respected SF trans-serving agencies and programs - SFCHC, Taja’s Coalition, Instituto Familiar de la Raza, and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation - and which incorporates creative, peer-based community outreach and engagement activities; field and clinic-based HIV, STD, and hepatitis testing and service linkage; and a basic needs programs specifically for transgender women, including housing support, hygiene kits, harm reduction/syringe exchange services, a clothing closet, and subsidized transportation services.

              Additionally, SFCHC recently received a grant from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to implement a cross-bay augmentation to the STAHR program that links transgender outreach, service engagement, and HIV prevention services in SF and Alameda Counties, and in 2023, SFCHC was awarded four additional project grants specifically directed toward transgender populations. These include: 1) a SAMHSA grant supporting a 5-year program toward unhoused and unstably housed transgender persons, specifically transgender women living in the Tenderloin neighborhood, called TransLink; 2) a peer-directed program funded by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) grant called TransHOPE (Transgender Health Outreach, Promotion, and Engagement) that will identify new approaches to building community, supporting health and wellness, and decreasing disparities in sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among young transgender women ages 18-34; 3) a grant through the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) LGBT Health Equity Initiative that will support capacity-building services for trans and non-binary communities that will be implemented in 48 Northern California counties and will be directed toward staff and representatives of public and private health and social service agencies who serve transgender, non-binary, and GNC populations; and 4) a large-scale grant from Gilead Sciences called EmpowerHer which will support trans women and girls in relation to our agency’s unique She Boutique program, which provides clothing, accessories, beauty supplies, and professional beauty services to trans women free of charge.