So, apparently not everyone got the message.
What you need to know (TL;DR):
- 604 Pacific is the 5th location for the Trans Center. Over the past 14 years, there’s been 4 locations in the Montrose and one in the Heights. If you count the Trans Shelter as a type of “center,” then you’ll need to add one location to the count.
- We, the Houston trans community, have been through several moves before and we hope this will be the last.
- TFA announced at the last Unity Banquet that it was starting a campaign to buy its own space.
- TFA is closing the 604 Pacific location, not the future of a Trans Center. Most all services will continue.
- The goal is to move into our own community space as soon as is practical.
The back story:
The factors that came together to force the move are:
A.) The city health dept. has lost about 1/4 of its funding due to congressional budget cuts (be sure to ‘thank’ your Congressional Rep for the cuts and remember to vote next time). TFA’s health dept. grant was not renewed. That particular grant covered somewhere around 1/2 of the Center’s expenses. While I do believe that the Center could have limped along until new funding kicked in, other factors became more pressing (B & C below).
B.) The Center has dangerous structural issues that the TFA board has been trying to get the land lord to address for more than a year now. For example:
C.) An antagonistic land lord. Aside from the bad habit of sending aggressive emails late at night and then normal emails during the day, a couple of months ago, the land lord arbitrarily added fees to what they wanted TFA to pay that isn’t – in any way – supported by the TFA lease agreement. TFA tried to work with them but even though the rent was paid in full, the landlord sent a 3-day vacate notice because TFA hadn’t agreed to send them the extra cash they were demanding. Instead of playing Russian Roulette with the archive, the decision was made to move.
The goal is to go from the 604 Pacific building and into a community-owned building. TFA started a capitol campaign at the last unity banquet. We’ve moved to and from several buildings over the years and TFA would like to have its own space that can’t be sold out from under us (which we’ve experienced twice) and/or isn’t attached to mercurial land lords.
The plan is to be out by the last day of January – which means a move this week. Fortunately, TFA is using PODS, so the headache of moving will be greatly minimized. The various groups met already to discuss the move and locations for all the Center activities – yes, even the free therapy – has been arranged. Additionally, a community meeting was held last Weds at the Center to discuss the move. Check with your group facilitator for the low-down on the particulars.
There will be future meetings to identify exactly what we as a community need for a building. Hopefully this – our community’s 6th (or 7th if you count the shelter) move – will be the last one for many years to come.