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Content warning: This story mentions violence against trans and queer people, as well as suicide.

Like many community workers who have had to fight hard for funding, Jacob Barry knows their organization’s fundraising figures down to the last dollar. 

The amount, for instance, they’ve managed to raise through raffles, auctions and crowdfunding over the last three years: $22,432. 

The number of gender-affirming garments they’ve been able to provide to community members with those funds: 234.

And the number of micro-grants of between $75 and $1,800 they’ve been able to offer to trans and gender-diverse community members for things they need to thrive: 67. 

Barry is the executive director of TransCare+, a non-profit based in Kingston, Ontario, on the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, and Huron-Wendatpeoples, that serves trans and gender-diverse communities.

Despite their leadership role, Barry is unpaid; as are their volunteer teammates. 

“This is where my heart lies, so I’m going to do the work. It’s just tiring,” they say. “You’re so focused on survival and just getting the basic needs met that you can’t actually do the work that would have the impact.” 

Like many other trans-led and trans-serving organizations, TransCare+ has looked for grants, but there are very few funds the organization is eligible for. 

On Monday, the Sonor Foundation, a private family foundation, launched a new $1.5 million fund aiming to change just that — both through investing directly in organizations focused on the trans community and by spurring additional investment in the sector. 

The fund, called the Transcend Impact Challenge, is offered in partnership with the Canadian Women’s Foundation and the Chamandy Foundation and will provide grants of $50,000 to $300,000 over two to three years for organizations serving trans communities across Canada. 

Barry says it’s the only substantial trans-focused fund they’ve ever seen in Canada — and it has them excited. “I’ve been smiling about it ever since [I learned about it],” they say. 

A ‘patchwork’ of funding for trans communities in Canada

Across the country, trans-led and trans-serving organizations aren’t having an easy go of it.

Anti-trans violence is on the rise and transgender communities are continuing to experience worse health outcomes compared to their cisgender peers, making the work of trans-serving organizations more urgent and vital. 

A 2019 survey of about 3,000 transgender and non-binary youth found that 69 per cent of respondents experienced verbal harassment and 43 per cent of respondants experienced sexual harassment within the last five years. 

Rates of reported harassment were worse among racialized trans youth, when compared to their non-racialized peers. 

Further, the same survey found 45 per cent of respondents had an unmet healthcare need within the past year — 41 per cent higher than their cisgender peers. 

These challenges are taking a toll on the mental health of trans people. 

A 2019 study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal found Canadian transgender youth are over seven times more likely to attempt suicide than their cisgender, heterosexual peers.

Alongside this tidal wave of need, trans-led and trans-serving organizations are also facing considerable resource constraints, according to experts.

Tyler Boyce, executive director of the Enchanté Network, a membership organization of Canadian 2SLGBTQI+ initiatives, says trans-led and trans-serving organizations are “precariously funded throughout the country.” 

He says while some federal and foundation funding does exist to support trans-serving organizations, it’s an insufficient “patchwork” of support, requiring organizations to cobble together funding from multiple sources and fight to survive each year.    

Barry says when it comes to accessing funding for TransCare+, they’ve run into several thorny barriers. 

For one, they say, much of the funding available to trans-serving organizations is focused more narrowly on gender-based violence or more broadly on the whole 2SLGBTQ+ sector. Trans organizations can also sometimes access broader funds focused on education, health, workforce development or otherwise. But in each of these cases, the competition for funds is intense, Barry says, and the scope of what funders are willing to support sometimes does not fit what trans communities need. 

When it comes to health-related support, for instance, Barry says, it’s not just about access to the emergency room or a doctor, but rather it’s about offering a variety of different supports aligned to “different aspects of who we are and what we need to thrive.”

Through their micro-grants program, for instance, TransCare+ has provided funds for community members to help cover the cost of travelling for gender-affirming surgery or to access medication not covered by government funding. 

They’ve also, for instance, provided funding for “float therapy” — a treatment where you float, weightless, in a dark, quiet, water-filled pod — which is particularly helpful for autistic trans folks who benefit from sensory deprivation.  

In addition to funding parameters not always matching what they want to provide, Barry says, many trans-serving organizations that are trans-led are not registered non-profits — and the vast majority of institutional funding is only available to organizations who are. 

This was the case, for instance, with the federal government’s $15 million LGBTQ2 Community Capacity Fund, which required applicants to be registered non-profits, leaving many well-positioned organizations ineligible. 

A third major challenge, Barry says, is that most funding is project-based, which limits the capacity, particularly for volunteer-driven, trans-led organizations to fund core staff roles. 

This year, for instance, TransCare+ managed to snag a federal grant to develop digital resources for trans folks across the country. The bulk of their funds, however, are tied tightly to the deliverables associated with the project, leaving little support for organizational development or management staff. 

It’s with this context in mind, the Sonor Foundation’s new fund is so exciting, Barry says. 

Fund will prioritize trans-led organizations

The Transcend Impact Challenge has been designed with the needs of trans-led organizations in mind.  

Narinder Dhami, president of the Sonor Foundation, says they are working to ensure the fund is accessible to “non-qualified donees” — organizations that do not have registered charitable status. The fund also offers multi-year, flexible funding. While the foundation asks applicants for a budget, the application criteria indicates they do not place restrictions on how funds are used, nor limits on the amount of money that’s used for administrative or overhead costs. 

In addition, the foundation is taking a “broad” view on the types of projects that can receive support, Dhami says. They are open to any project that supports trans and gender diverse communities to “thrive and live prosperous lives.” 

This means projects that use a wide variety of tactics, such as peer support, advocacy, or legal interventions are fair game within a broad array of sectors, including education, housing, employment, mental health and more. 

Further, funding is open to all organizations in Canada serving trans people, but the foundation’s application materials say priority will go to trans-led, trans-focused and trans-serving organizations. 

Finally, Dhami adds that trans people have been and will continue to be tightly involved in the design and implementation of the fund. 

In scoping its creation, she says, the foundation spoke with many leaders in the trans and 2SLGBTQ+ communities. Additionally, the foundation hired Tania Cheng, a consultant who is non-binary, to lead its development. 

The foundation also pulled together a five-member, trans-led, advisory committee with representatives from coast to coast, Cheng says. This group provided input on the design of the fund and will review all applications and recommend those that should receive funding. 

‘$1.5 million is the minimum commitment’: Challenge aims to spur additional capital for trans communities

With the Transcend Impact Challenge, the Sonor Foundation is also hopeful to catalyze a new cohort of funders to begin offering support for trans communities. 

As part of the development of the fund, Dhami says, her team had conversations with other family foundations, corporate foundations and public foundations about the needs and the opportunities associated with funding trans communities. 

Two of those conversations, with the Canadian Women’s Foundation and the Chamandy Foundation, have already materialized into formal partnerships on the Challenge; and Dhami says there are a couple of additional funders who are also exploring joining in. 

As for whether new partners will mean more capital will be added to the fund, Dhami says $1.5 million is the “minimum” and that the “commitment can go higher.” 

In addition, she says positioning the fund as a “challenge,” and inviting applications from organizations across the country, gives the foundation the opportunity to “create more awareness on the gap of funding [and] mobilize other partners” as part of a “national movement” to support the trans community. 

As part of this initiative to spur more money for the sector, the Sonor Foundation is also working with partners to establish a 2SLGBTQ+ funder collaborative, which will serve as a peer group for foundation and government funders who support queer and trans communities. 

In November 2022, the foundation hosted an initial gathering in partnership with the Enchanté Network and the Dignity Network, an association of organizations fighting for human rights for LGBTI people globally. 

A second funder collaborative meeting is planned for late May or early June, Dhami says, in parallel with the annual Community Foundations of Canada conference. 

Injection of cash ‘long overdue’ 

Both Boyce and Barry say they’re hopeful this is the first of many funding announcements in support of trans and gender diverse communities in Canada.  

“With this new trans fund, it’s such a moment because I think it will set an example for other private and family foundations to step up to the plate,” says Boyce. “It’s super long overdue.” 

“I’m excited to see a trans-led funding project go forward, and I hope to see many more,” Barry adds. 

Correction: A previous version of this article mistakenly stated that Kingston, ON is the traditional territory of the Wolastoqiyik peoples. In fact, it is the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, and Huron-Wendat peoples. Future of Good regrets the error.

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