First-of-its-Kind Trans Wellness Center Opens in Los Angeles

First-of-its-kind Trans Wellness Center (TWC) opened in Los Angeles, Tuesday, April 24, thanks to the efforts of six local community organizations with common goals to provide comprehensive services and support under one roof to transgender and non-binary people.

The pioneering Trans Wellness Center was funded through a $1 million, three-to-five-year annual grant from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. The development and opening of TWC is 10 years in the making. It is the result of a collaboration of the following local community organizations: APAIT (Asian Pacific AIDS Intervention Team), Bienestar, Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles (CHLA), Friends Community Center, [email protected] Coalition, and the Los Angeles LGBT Center, which is leading the management and operations support for TWC.

“For the first time in the history of the transgender movement, trans and non-binary individuals finally have a safe, friendly, and non-judgmental area where they can find a wide range of vital services under one roof created by—and for—the community,” said TWC Program Manager Mariana Marroquin. “With the generous support of the County of Los Angeles and the partnership of six local organizations, the Trans Wellness Center will be an exemplary landmark for the LGBT community.”

“I am thrilled. I’m so excited,” Lorri L. Jean, CEO of the Los Angeles LGBT Center, tells WEHO TIMES. “It’s taken more than a decade of hard work, mostly by trans activists in this community, to get the funding that was necessary to get this thing going. Now we have to fulfill this promise. We have a community advisory board that’s going to help us figure out what the community really needs the most. We’re going to make it happen. I think this is going to take off very quickly. We’re going to have many, many people here and we’re going to be growing out of our space very quickly is what I predict. It’s very exciting.”

“I’m very proud we have a Trans Wellness Center in the heart of L.A. County,” said Mario J. Perez, Director of the Los Angeles Division of HIV and STD Programs. “For the first time we began to holistically address transgender needs. We are very excited that this community has a place of its own, designed and operated by transgender persons. This is an important day for Los Angeles County.”

The Trans Wellness Center is centrally located at 3055 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 360 in Los Angeles. It is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and can be contacted via phone at 323-993-2900 or via email at [email protected] Visitor parking is available in the building’s garage (enter on S. Westmoreland Ave.). Clients and visitors may also ride the Metro Red or Purple Lines to reach the TWC. Disembark at the Wilshire/Vermont Station, and walk two blocks east.

To learn more about the organizations partnering to create the Trans Wellness Center visit the links below

APAIT: apaitonline.org
Facebook: APAITSSG

Bienestar: bienestar.org
Facebook: bienestar.familia

Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles:chla.org
Facebook: ChildrensLA

Friends Community Center: friendscommunitycenter.org
Facebook: FriendsResearch

Los Angeles LGBT Center: lalgbtcenter.org
Facebook: lalgbtcenter

[email protected] Coalition: translatinacoalition.org
Facebook: translatinacoalition