The home can house up to four individuals to live safely and comfortably. In partnership with NAESM Inc., the project is more than just a brick and mortar, it’s a testament to the unwavering commitment to the trans community, Ts Madison says. Photo by Isaiah Singleton/The Atlanta VoiceIn honor of Trans Day of Visibility, the Atlanta community celebrates the grand opening of the Ts Madison Starter House, a new Sisterhood Alliance for Freedom and Equality (SAFE) reentry home for formerly incarcerated transgender women.The Ts Madison Starter House is a groundbreaking housing and empowerment initiative led by media mogul and community advocate Ts Madison.The Ts Madison starter house is more than a brick and mortar, it’s a testament to the unwavering commitment to the trans community, Madison says.Rooted in her lived experience as a Black Trans woman who navigated homelessness and survival sex work, this visionary program represents a new standard of care, designed by and for Black Trans women.Reentry housing is desperately needed across America, with 2.5 million women are released from jails and prisons facing countless barriers to reentry.Formerly incarcerated LGBTQ+ individuals face compounded challenges as their unique healthcare needs and experiences of discrimination intersect with existing barriers to reentry, making it even more difficult to rebuild their lives after incarceration.Sexual minorities are incarcerated at a rate three times higher than that of the US adult population, and transgender people are also incarcerated at disproportionate rates, with Black transgender women incarcerated at approximately 10 times the rate of the general population incarceration rate. Photo by Isaiah Singleton/The Atlanta VoiceLack of access to housing is a primary driver of recidivism. The Ts Madison Starter House is a member of A New Way of Life’s SAFE Housing Network, an international collective of 30+ organizations dedicated to offering reentry services to formerly incarcerated people. For LGBTQ+ people, particularly those living with HIV, many existing reentry policies and programs remain out of reach or worse, perpetuate harm through exclusion, stigma, or lack of cultural competency. Across the country, trans people experience disproportionate rates of housing instability, a trend rooted in society’s vilification of trans people.Black trans people experience this discrimination most acutely (PDF), with an unemployment rate of 20 percent (four times that of the general population) and a poverty rate of 38 percent (three times that of the general population). “In the face of erasure, we still find solutions. They are trying to erase Black trans and nonbinary individuals throughout the country, the 1%. It really isn’t about us, but they’re just starting with us,” Trans activist and actress Monroe Alise said. “In this time, we must come together. stand together and be more visible than ever.”Black trans women are among the most marginalized and criminalized people in our society,” said Susan Burton, founder of A New Way of Life, CNN Hero, and a 2023 NBC News Inspiring America honoree.Madison discussed her emotional return to her old home, now a transitional house for transgender women, emphasizing the importance of giving back to the community.Photo by Isaiah Singleton/The Atlanta VoiceThe new facility welcomes up to four women returning to the community following their incarceration. Also, this program is made possible through a powerful partnership with NAESM, Inc., one of the oldest Black-led HIV/AIDS service organizations in the South.Providing support to formerly incarcerated individuals as they return to their communities is essential for meeting basic needs and lowering the risk of recidivism.Madison said she’s a “sea of emotions” after hearing everyone give speeches during the event on what she meant to them in their lives during the grand opening of the starter house. She also said she was apprehensive at first because she’s not renting a house to a family, it’s becoming a transitional home.“There’s going to be many souls, many bodies coming in and out. Like I was asking myself, ‘do I really want this?’ And after hearing what I meant to people’s lives, I was like, ‘there’s nothing else I would do’”, Madison said.The importance of giving back to the black and brown LGBTQ+ community, Madison says, is knowing you can never lose your crown.“RuPaul remains the Queen because she passes her crown, you will never lose your crown because you give. You will never lose your crown because you pass it. You’ll always have your crown,” she said. “A true Queen or Queens always crowns another, that is the joy of knowing your legacy, your presence, and your being will forever be passed on forever and you’ll never be forgotten.When it comes to public scrutiny, being told no, and personal struggles, Madison doesn’t shy away from being herself. For advice to others, she says you only need one yes and to not be discouraged because that one yes will come.Additionally, with the current threat of erasure of the LGBTQ+ community, specifically for Black and brown Trans people, Madison says the current administration is “white Christian nationalists who have been secretly, openly, and easily maneuvering through and using fear-mongering.“The current administration are white Christina nationalists who have been using us as pawns. Standing on God that means something different from them, that God means to us, but has used our connection to God as people of color, to abuse us,” she said. “Everybody working, getting paid.She said it may look like it’s working in our favor now, but all the great crumble that shall happen when the cookie finish baking,” she said.Additionally, many trans people often have hard relationships with their parents and Madison says although her and her mom are very close now, it wasn’t always like that.“My mother had to understand I was willing to walk away completely from her and everything else to find me. My mother had to know there was nobody more important than me and nobody was more important than my peace of mind,” she said.Madison said once she collected her peace of mind, then they could get back to the importance of their relationship. However, she said she had to find herself first because she wasn’t going to be in this world like a tornado or a world where she’s going through it trying to figure out what’s going to appease someone.“It can’t happen like that”, she said.For advice to other Black and brown Trans men and women, Madison says you don’t have to be liked and to love yourself.“You love yourself first and everything else will fall in place,” she said. “It’s not going to be easy, but you don’t have to be liked, just love yourself. That’s the most important thing.”As far as what’s next for the Ts Madison Starter House Project, she says when God gives her another big wave of greatness, which is coming very soon, her new house will become the next starter house.“I bought a $1.2 million house and I’ll be buying a $3.2 million house and will be giving the girls and that’ll be the intermediate house,” she said.Furthermore, Madison says she needs people to donate to the Ts Madison Starter House Project because this isn’t funded by the government.“I need y’all to donate to this project because this isn’t funded by anyone but us. This is by us, for us, and this is why we need us,” she said.To donate to the Ts Madison Starter House Project, visit https://naesminc.org/ts-madison-starter-house/.The post A Beacon of Hope: Ts Madison opens re-entry home for formerly incarcerated Black trans on Trans Day of Visibility appeared first on The Atlanta Voice. ...read more read less