Transgender Resource Center of New Mexico

Grant Recipient: Transgender Resource Center of New Mexico

Photograph by Hyunju Blemel

Transgender Resource Center of New Mexico

Grant recipient Transgender Resource Center of New Mexico (TGRCNM) was founded in 2008 to be a clearinghouse of direct services, education and advocacy for the transgender community. Today, it provides advocacy, education and direct services in support of transgender, gender nonconforming, nonbinary, and gender variant people and their families.

“These are services for some of the most marginalized transgender people in the community,” says Adrien Lawyer, Executive Director. “If a trans woman lives on the street with no place to shower, there is tremendous fear. Survival is on the line.”

The grant from the Foundation came with no restrictions, meaning the award could be used for general operating funds so grant recipients can decide where best to use the award. The TGRCNM used its grant to hire a part-time position at its drop-in center. At this facility, participants (overwhelmingly transgender women of color and many times experiencing unemployment and homelessness) are offered food, safe bathrooms and showers, a mailing address, free monthly bus passes, rapid HIV testing, and resources for other social services and care. Most importantly, they have a place to get out of the weather and be together.

“Having the right amount of staff, and empathetic staff, is crucial to making sure people have access to our services. We didn’t have another way to hire someone, and we’re working on ways to continue to support the position. Grassroots organizations like ours often operate with way too little. It takes time and funds to build a program. We’re ramping up and on our way to having enough,” Lawyer continues.

As trans people become more visible in the community, TGRCNM fills a breach in services in the region. In addition to the drop-in facility, the TGRCNM operates a thrift store that accepts donations of clothing, electronics and household goods. Participants in the Center’s programs receive vouchers to shop at the store at no cost to them. The TGRCNM also serves many participants who are housed and employed, running nine different support groups each month. The Center provides help with name and identity document changes, trainings and transition support, too. Training on transgender lives and issues for any class, workplace, or group that is interested is also available, in which Foundation staff have participated.

The Center’s programs also benefit participants who are not located in the greater Albuquerque area or even New Mexico. The Center is the only organization of its kind for hundreds of miles in any direction, says Lawyer. “But it shouldn’t be. There should be one in every state and community. That’s why it’s so important to us that a foundation like the Albuquerque Community Foundation supports us.”

“Families from other states also call us to talk about moving here. To me that’s terrifying, uprooting a family in this way. But they find us and think about New Mexico as viable option, because our organization is here and our community is supportive,” Lawyer says.