ATLANTA — A new resolution passed by Atlanta City Council authorizes the city to donate up to $25,000 to Destination Tomorrow, a LGBTQ+ mentoring program for youth in the city.
The money was recently mentioned by Mayor Andre Dickens among a total of $55,000 being dedicated to Atlanta's transgender community.
The Atlanta Legal Aid Society would receive $10,000 to help trans and nonbinary people change their names, and $20,000 would go to the Black Emotional Mental Health Collective for youth to receive scholarships for peer training.
That news came after three transgender women were the victims of violent crime in April.
Destination Tomorrow is described as a space where youth can "grow, learn and flourish, regardless of their sexual identity or gender expression and without having to leave their own neighborhood."
The organization's first location was opened outside of New York City.
It's Chief Advocacy Officer for the Atlanta Office, Octavia Lewis, says their mentoring pilot program will help trans youth know others are going through a similar situation.
"For many of us, who our biological families expel us from our homes - or what should've been our home - it's crucial… it's critical to our development to know we're not alone," Lewis said.
Lewis says the power of mentorship will go far in this community. She says she experienced that power firsthand.
"My mentor saved my life. My mentor came into my life when I got my HIV diagnosis. I thought it was the end of the world for me," Lewis recalled. "Without him, there would be no me. So mentoring definitely works and it changes lives. I'm a witness of what it can do."
Additional services that will be provided at the center include:
- Diversity and Inclusion Training
- HIV Testing
- Housing Referrals
- Trans Masculine Support Groups
- Trans Women Support Groups
Destination Tomorrow's Atlanta facility opened its doors on Mayson Street back on May 2 of this year.
“Atlanta has a large LGBTQ+ population and, specifically, is home to many Trans and Gender Non-Conforming (TGNC) individuals of color. Organizations’ services often cater to white LGB folks and, as a Black Trans man, I recognize the importance of representation and saw a need for a center with a community-led approach,” Sean Ebony Coleman, Destination Tomorrow’s founder and executive director said in a statement. “We pride ourselves on being closely connected with the community and are looking forward to building relationships with and responding to the specific needs of LGBTQ+ folks in Atlanta.”
Councilmember Matt Westmoreland introduced and sponsored this legislation.
"$55,000: it's both the largest investment in the transgender community today, but it's also fairly modest. So I think it's clear that we're not done yet," he explained.
Westmoreland says more needs to be done, especially as, he says, the transgender and LGBTQ+ community faces violence.
This year alone, Atlanta police have investigated three shootings involving transgender women.
"Especially in the LGBTQ community, portions of that community have come under recent and constant attack. I think these pieces of legislation and the steps the city will continue to take is just the first kind of wave that will show that city government has the backs of residents who have come under attack."
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