Nation’s First Full-Service Transgender Center Opens in Chicago

Lewis Kendall
In These Times
July 17, 2013

Stan Sloan, CEO of Chicago House, cuts the ribbon to the new TransLife Center with Stormie Williams, the center's first resident.
Stan Sloan, CEO of Chicago House, cuts the ribbon to the new TransLife Center with Stormie Williams, the center’s first resident.

Monday morning marked the official opening of a unique transgender services facility in North Chicago.

Touted as the first of its kind in the nation, the TransLife Center (TLC) will offer a range of programs, including legal counsel, employment services and housing to the transgender community. The TLC is a project of the Chicago House and Social Service Agency, an outreach nonprofit that focuses on providing supportive services to the LBGT community and people with HIV and AIDS.

Through a combination of donations and government grants, Chicago House renovated its four-story AIDS hospice building into the new center, which includes nine bedrooms, large bathrooms and computers.

“That place where people got to die with a sense of dignity is now going to be a starting place for people to move forward with lives of dignity, and we’re so excited,” says Stan Sloan, CEO of Chicago House.

Read More