Destination Tomorrow Announces the Recipients of the 2022-2023 TRANScend Community Impact Fund

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Jun 08, 2022, 09:00 ET

As the only Black Trans funding source, the LGBTQ organization provides grants to 12 TGNC-led grassroots organizations serving the Trans community

NEW YORK, June 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Destination Tomorrow, a national LGBTQ organization with centers located in the South Bronx and Atlanta, is announcing the recipients of the 2022-2023 TRANScend Community Impact Fund today. Supported by Gilead Sciences, the fund addresses the disproportionate impact of HIV within transgender communities. Destination Tomorrow carefully selected 12 Transgender and Gender Nonconforming (TGNC) led grassroots organizations across the country, providing them with the necessary funds to create opportunities for the TGNC community on a national scale when it comes to employment, housing, health, education and more.

Destination Tomorrow's Founder and Executive Director Sean Ebony Coleman is the only Black Trans grantmaker in the country, which gives him a unique opportunity to elevate TGNC-led grassroots agencies with direct on-the-ground impact, especially in areas that are disproportionately impacted by HIV such as the South. The recipients of this year's $350,000 funding will be rewarded anywhere between $20,000 to $40,000 each. The same amount will be awarded to a new set of organizations next year.

"We're so excited to support these incredible organizations doing on-the-ground work that directly impacts the lives of TGNC individuals," said Coleman. "We are honored to be chosen as the TRANScend grantmaker for the third year, which gives us the ability to assess the dire needs of our communities on a national scale and allocate funding where it is most needed. We've selected these organizations based on their true commitment to providing life-saving services to and increasing visibility for TGNC folks in their respective communities."

The organizations chosen to receive the TRANScend impact fund work to help alleviate the struggles of TGNC communities across the nation who are disproportionately impacted by HIV, especially BIPOC communities who also face racial barriers to access to survival resources. Fourteen percent of Trans women in the U.S. are living with HIV. Black and Hispanic Trans women are disproportionately affected with rates of 44% and 26%, respectively. While these rates are alarming, they are also most likely underreported.

One of the organizations selected is Ark of Safety, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit that runs out of Next Level Revival Church, focused on creating a safe haven that will prioritize Trans women of color, granting them access to temporary housing, meals, prevention and other healthcare services, trauma services, clothes or condoms if they are in need. MULUSA Rainbow Visibility Group is a Washington DC-based, Latino and Trans led platform born out of the pageant scene to directly offer support and services such as education, mentorship, legal aid and health advice to youth and LGBTQ+ senior members equally. TransSOCIAL is the leading provider of name and gender marker assistance to Trans folks in the state of Florida and was created to promote unity within the Transgender community and to increase Trans visibility and understanding in our surrounding communities. In addition to these three organizations, Destination Tomorrow has also selected the following:

BONDS LLC (Brothers Obtaining and Navigating Dynamic Solidarity)
Game Changing Men
Empowering Transgender Services
New York Transgender Advocacy Group
Our Voices Are Free (Colectivo Intercultural TRANSgrediendo)
Power Safe Place Resource Center of Virginia
Save Our Sisters United
Trans Women of Color Healing Project
Unique Woman's Coalition

Since opening in 2009, Destination Tomorrow has served more than 50,000 individuals in the Bronx and in 2022 opened its doors to the Atlanta community. The organization offers services that take LGBTQ/TGNC individuals off the path of requiring emergency care with a focus on economic, social and mental empowerment on a holistic level. The center has administered hundreds of HIV tests to marginalized community members in addition to an array of other physical and mental health services. As a Black Trans-led org, Destination Tomorrow has built an offering of lifesaving services for the community and, through this grant provided by Gilead Sciences, is able to give the same opportunity to similar organizations around the country.

For media inquiries regarding Destination Tomorrow, please contact Lisa Burkert at 917-929-0123 or [email protected].

About Sean Ebony Coleman and Destination Tomorrow
Sean Ebony Coleman is the founder and executive director of Destination Tomorrow, a national LGBTQ organization with centers located in the South Bronx and Atlanta, serving the community through educational, financial, housing, health and personal support programs. The grassroots organization puts an emphasis on providing support to vulnerable members of the LGBTQ community that takes them off the path of requiring emergency care, focusing on economic, social and mental empowerment on a holistic level. As a nationally recognized leader in the Transgender community and the first African American of Transgender experience to operate a LGBTQ center in the state of New York, Sean plays a key role in advocating for policies that directly impact the lives of millions of LGBTQ individuals.Through Gilead Science's TRANScend Community Impact Fund, Sean is the only Black Trans grantmaker in the country, providing crucial funding to Transgender and Gender Nonconforming-led grassroots organizations nationally. Sean is also the founder and managing partner of Sean Ebony Coleman Consulting, where he has worked with companies including Unilever, Lululemon and Equinox on campaigns and DEI strategies to support the LGBTQ community.