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About Us:

Mission Statement:

Glits has been led to change systemic and economical oppressions of systemic and financial discrimination not only in NYC but also globally when it comes to our marginal communities, We approach the health and rights crises faced by transgender community members and the sex worker community , holistically using harm reduction, human rights principles, economic and social justice, along with a commitment to empowerment and pride in finding solutions from our own community. The first issue we address is that of immediate need/crisis support for transgender sex workers and the TLGBQIA and Bi Poc community members from the NYC area, across the US and globally through supporting asylum seekers from our priority communities. The next issue we address is health care and health resilience for transgender sex workers. We need to address this issue because our community is hype marginalized and has a profound need for safe sex supplies and free/low cost health to address both trans specific and holistic needs. We currently work on housing since so many in our G.L.I.T.S.’ community are without stable housing, deepening the cycle of disenfranchisement. G.L.I.T.S. also advocates and educates to ensure health, wellness and inclusion of transgender people in our society and to address the stigmatization and criminalization of trans people because of anti-prostitution/anti-sex work laws.

GLITS creates holistic solutions to the health and housing crises faced by TGBLQIA+ individuals experiencing systemic discrimination at intersecting oppressions impacted by racism and criminalization, through a lens of harm reduction, human rights principles, social justice and community empowerment, imbued with a commitment to empowerment and pride in finding solutions in our own community. Centering Black trans leadership, GLITS is committed to building future community leaders and is grounded in a multi-generational approach to growth. GLITS uses advocacy as well as press and media appearances to educate the public about health, wellness and inclusion of TGBLQIA+ people in our society and to address the stigmatization and criminalization. GLITS holistically addresses the barriers the TGBLQIA+ community experience particularly at the intersection of gender, class and race identities. GLITS first faces immediate need and crisis support including for transgender sex workers, and incarcerated community members, in the NYC area as well as globally through supporting TGBLQIA+ asylum seekers. GLITS recognizes housing as a cornerstone of health and wellness and has created sustainable stable housing through GLITS I SOUTH & The Leadership Academy including 12 individual apartments with leadership, healing and educational services. Finally, GLITS address disparity in health care and health resilience for the TGBLQIA+ community through our preliminary work to establish a dedicated health clinic co-designed with health practitioners and TGBLQIA+ community members. GLITS initiatives are groundbreaking and each is being documented to serve as a pilot project exemplifying approaches that can and will be applied in other cities around the country and the world.

In addition to providing leadership to this project, founder Ms. Ceyenne Doroshow is an international speaker and media figure addressing the many issues facing Black, POC, trans and TGBLQIA community members , and is a powerful advocate fighting discriminatory policies


Activities:

Residential Building

In the upcoming year GLITS will launch a new housing site, with 12 apartments. Each unit will be filled by a member of the LGBTQIA+ community who is experiencing homelessness. This transitional housing will go far beyond the scope of a shelter to offer dignified long-term stability for residents who will engage with continuing education, training, counseling, and career development resources. GLITS will coordinate weekly development programming including guest lecturers and workshops. Community healers will be available to facilitate conflict resolution training from a restorative/transformative justice framework on an ongoing basis. Stipends will be provided to offer residents a dignified and independent means to engage with meeting their basic needs self-sufficiently. This intensive case management will result in clear benchmarks being met toward healing and sustainability for the residents and the usage of the community space in the building will foster intercommunication between multiple communities and the residents. GLITS housing will be a transformative space centering Black trans leadership and wisdom for community development and healing.  


Health Center

On an aligned track with this project, GLITS is committed to building and developing a health center, a multi-year initiative. In the upcoming year toward that aim GLITS will continue conducting a series of focus groups methodically documenting community, particularly Black trans community, needs and wants from a health center and engaging in a continued cycle of conversations with experts in the health field to develop and evaluate systematically just and operationally secure improvements to the current provision of services in New York. The research stages of opening the health center will be a fundamentally transformative process not only to create a patient centered health care facility with the ability to provide care for hundreds of patients a month but also to develop a comprehensively researched prototype that can offer a replicable model to other areas for how to build community-designed healthcare infrastructure inclusive of LGBTQIA+ identities.

Pilot Programs and Leader Sponsorship

Each GLITS program will be documented and evaluated as a pilot program to be replicated in other areas. GLITS actively seeks out building community leaders. One way in which GLITS builds the next generation of work is through providing fiscal sponsorship and operational insight to exceptional new organizations that are aligned with the mission.