A city-funded shelter specifically for transgender and gender-nonconforming people experiencing homelessness has opened in New York City, and its operators say it’s the first of its kind in the nation.
The shelter is located in Long Island City, a neighborhood in Queens, and managed by Destination Tomorrow, a Bronx-based LGBTQ+ nonprofit organization, Gothamist reports. It’s called Ace’s Place in honor of the late mother of Sean Ebony Coleman, the founder and CEO of Destination Tomorrow. Her nickname was Ace.
It has room for 150 people, increasing the city’s capacity to serve trans and gender-nonconforming people. The city is already required to provide at least 30 shelter beds for this population under a lawsuit settlement, and it houses them according to their gender identity. It will cost the city $65 million to run Ace’s Place through 2030.
The opening of Ace’s Place is an important move forward at a time when trans Americans are under attack, Coleman told Gothamist. “We’ve watched so many other corporations and foundations and businesses just like completely turn their back on the community, and the city didn’t do it,” said Coleman, who is transmasculine.
“The city is keeping in line with what New York City has always been, a sanctuary city, a safe haven, but more importantly, a trendsetter when it comes to LGBTQ rights.”
Almost a third of trans Americans have experienced homelessness at some time in their lives, according to the 2022 U.S. Transgender Survey.
“Whether that starts with being kicked out of the home or discrimination in the employment market or all kinds of other things, this is a group that faces real challenges in the housing sector,” Molly Wasow Park, commissioner of the city’s Department of Social Services, told Gothamist.
Coleman said Ace’s Place will provide its residents “an environment that completely affirms who they are and how they see themselves, which mentally gives you the strength to face any challenge you have.”
“It’s an opportunity for you to come home and for you to get loved up on and get all of the things that you need to get right back out here and face this world,” Coleman added.
This article originally appeared on Advocate: New York opens America’s first city-funded shelter specifically for trans people
