CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The impact of the coronavirus pandemic spreads far and wide across a variety of economic and social groups.

What You Need To Know

  • The CTHCG is providing funding to 22 individuals for mental health and hormone replacement therapy

  • The funding is for men and women impacted by COVID-19's economic toll

  • Applications are still open until funding is exhausted

One impacted group is Charlotte’s LGBTQ community, particularly transgender men and women, being put in difficult financial situations. One Charlotte nonprofit, the Charlotte Transgender Healthcare Group, is doing what it can to help men and women struggling to make ends meet and receive the care they need.

For transgender men and women, some psychologists say access to mental health therapy and hormone replacement therapy is crucial.

"You need somebody to talk to you, it gets lonely. It gets extremely lonely, and you get extremely in your head,” Peyton-Namire Harris says.

Harris, a Charlotte 21-year-old, describes how he left home and sought out mental counseling because he did not receive the care he needed from parents who did not understand. He credits the Time Out Youth Center in Charlotte, a counseling center which works with LGBTQ young people, as his saving grace. There, Harris says he received the emotional and mental support he needed to finally embrace himself.

"You can’t really express to anybody what you’re feeling because it’s new. It’s very brand new and therapy helps you talk about it. You work it out,” Harris says.

Harris is not a recipient of the fund, but emphasized the importance of access to both kinds of therapy for men and women like him. It’s a story repeating itself with transgender individuals across the city and country. Access to mental health therapy and hormone replacement therapy is critical and supporters of the transgender community consider it life-saving and life-affirming.

"For me, I kept it a secret my entire life. I never told a soul, until I told the therapist,” Jenny Walton says.

Walton is self-employed, and the COVID-19 pandemic threatened to cut off her access to life-affirming treatment.

"It’s helping you become the person you want to be. You really...I kind of look forward to taking my medication and just...I’m more at peace than ever in my life, living the way I want to live,” Walton explains.

Like many, as COVID-19 hit the country and economy, business dried up, leaving her ability to pay bills and for the treatment she needed in doubt.

Now, Walton is one of more than 20 people receiving help from the Charlotte Transgender Healthcare Group. The group is providing funds for either a month of hormone replacement medication or four sessions of therapy. For the moment, it’s what the group can afford, but they hope to do more.

Dr. Holly Savoy, a psychologist with more than 16 years experience, helped form the CTHCG several years ago. She and other medical professionals noticed a lack of affirming and welcoming care for Charlotte’s LGBTQ community.

“The trans community is the most marginalized community in terms of employment, and access to health care, and discrimination, and harassment, and so what we wanted to do was create more affordable access,” Savoy says.

Using a COVID-19 relief grant and donations, Savoy and the group have been able to help clients get the funding they need. Last year, the CTHCG became a nonprofit and continued to grow in size. Over the years, it has added dozens of providers who pledge to be a welcoming and affirming space for LGBTQ patients and clients, particularly transgender men and women.

Grant Administrator Maks Gomez calls it a passion project. Joining the group more recently, he volunteered to be grant administrator and says he’s read every application for the fund. He describes it as sometimes overwhelming.

"Transgender care is life-saving care, to be able to say that and, you know, see those stories and just go, ‘That's OK.’ I understand, I know how hard it is to ask for help. Let me help you, let us help you, it’s huge,” Gomez says with a smile.

If you are in need, the group is still accepting applications and hopes to expand their access to life-saving, life-affirming care. However, to be eligible for the fund, you must reside in Mecklenburg County and be impacted by COVID-19. The CTHCG is accepting donations and will continue to provide funding for approved applicants until it runs out.

Eventually, the Charlotte Transgender Healthcare Group is hoping to one day open an LGBTQ health care center in the city.