Transgender Health & Wellness Center opens Healing Rainbows for housing, food assistance

The Transgender Health & Wellness Center is opening a new space dedicated to connecting transgender, gender non-conforming, intersex and allied individuals with a variety of services in Palm Springs.

Healing Rainbows, located at 3001 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way, will provide housing, mental health, food and other resources to clients who qualify. To mark the new space, the Transgender Health & Wellness Center is holding an open house event on Thursday, which is free and open to the public.

New space offers assistance, services to trans individuals

Thomi Clinton, CEO and founder of the Transgender Health & Wellness Center, said Healing Rainbows came about because trans individuals are underrepresented in housing.

"You have all these well-privileged organizations that say that they accommodate them, but they really don't," she said. "Trans people are different, and so the system is not made for them anywhere."

According to Advocates for Trans Equality, one in five transgender people in the United States has been discriminated against when seeking a home, and one in 10 has been evicted because of their gender identity. Additionally, one in five transgender people have experienced homelessness at some point in their lives.

Clinton added that transgender people are more likely to face violence in homeless shelters. According to a study by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, transgender people are more than four times more likely than cisgender people to experience violent victimization, including rape, sexual assault and aggravated or simple assault.

As a result, the Transgender Health & Wellness Center decided to step in and expand support and resources already offered to clients.

At Healing Rainbows, people can receive assistance in the form of finding housing and living in a safe house if they are facing domestic violence or abuse. Clinton shared there's also a program available for parents and LGBTQ youth. If, for example, a child comes out and there's a family member in their household who is not accepting and is abusive toward them, the family can contact the center and receive temporary housing.

Additionally, Healing Rainbows connects people to mental health services, food and hygiene assistance (including a food and hygiene pantry), referrals for medically necessary letters for hormones and surgeries, name and gender change assistance and more. The center also accepts people's mail, provides support groups and has activities available for people to decompress, such as board games and social interaction opportunities.

"We're trying to make it all-encompassing. It's a safe space for LGBTQ individuals and we're working with them to try to get them back on their feet," Clinton said. "We've noticed that it helps in preventing substance abuse, which is a big burden on taxpayers, and sex work, which leads to HIV. So if we're able to really reach out to these individuals where they can live authentic lives and not further burden the taxpayers, then we can use that money for schools and other things."

Clients must qualify to receive housing services

Clients have to first qualify in order to receive services from Healing Rainbows. Clinton said services are primarily for those on Medi-Cal, California's Medicaid program, but she added "we'll help anybody."

When they connect with Healing Rainbows, clients will go through an intake process to see if they qualify via the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. If they do, the center can start working with them to help find housing.

"That doesn't mean that we will find them housing, that means we're going to help them find housing, which means they've got to help too," Clinton said.

Finding ample affordable housing solutions in the Coachella Valley has been a struggle for various agencies in the region. According to data from Lift to Rise, a local organization dedicated to increasing housing stability, Riverside County has one of the nation’s most severe shortages of rental housing for extremely low-income households, and the third most severe in California. However, when Lift to Rise released its 2024-2026 action plan in May, it stated that there are more than 1,600 affordable units in the Coachella Valley were under construction or set to begin construction within six months. The action plan has a goal of reaching 7,500 new units of affordable housing in the Coachella Valley by 2026.

Healing Rainbows open house this Thursday

To celebrate the new space, the Transgender Health & Wellness Center will hold an open house from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday at Healing Rainbows, located at 3001 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way.

Attendees will be able to tour the new space, enjoy light refreshments and learn about services that are offered.

Those interested in attending the open house can register at https://tinyurl.com/HealingRainbows.

About the Transgender Health & Wellness Center

Clinton said the Transgender Health & Wellness Center was created to "disprove to health care agencies that trans people were not employable."

The center was created in 2018 and opened its first location in Palm Springs at 340 S. Farrell Drive, Suite A208. The center has served more than 3,000 people since 2018, linking them to medical and mental health care, legal services, housing, employment and other resources.

Since then, it has expanded to locations in Riverside and San Diego.

Earlier this year, the center opened the Marsha P. Johnson LGBTQ+ Youth Drop-In Center in Palm Springs, a space where teens can get resources, talk to peers and hang out.

Ema Sasic covers entertainment and health in the Coachella Valley. Reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @ema_sasic.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Transgender Health & Wellness Center opens Healing Rainbows in Palm Springs