research leads to designing a new wellness program

We believe in our community’s capability

We seek to empower our community and create the change we seek. From community-driven research exploring daily life, worry of discrimination, and how we cope (Finding Our Strength), to our overall health needs and access (Michigan Trans Health Survey) – we are committed to translating findings into tangible results.

Trans Wellness, Trans Brilliance: a virtual program to advance wellness

We’ve been hard at work inventorying existing peer support programs. We’ve interviewed community stakeholders across the state to better understand the gaps in supportive programs. Based on these findings, we have designed a wellness intervention, Trans Wellness, Trans Brilliance, which will led by peer support specialists. Before we launch the pilot program, our community-driven methodology (corroborated by MI-THRAB) means seeking for opportunities to improve, learn, and grow by listening to members of our community.  Help us identify areas for improvement, and/or validate that we are on the right track!

This is where you come in!

Focus group discussion

We are looking for 6 members of our trans/gender diverse community who are interested in promoting emotional wellness for our community to join us for a 90-minute focus group discussion. We’ll review the program, its goals, expected outcomes, structure, and activities. Here’s what you need to know: 

• You must be at least 18 years of age and a member of the transgender, nonbinary, gender-expansive (gender diverse) community to be eligible
• Your participation in the group is completely confidential
• The focus group will be held over Zoom on Sunday, February 20th, 3:00 pm EST, with an expected duration of 90 minutes
• You will need access to reliable internet
• We’ll ask about your perspective on the program, its goals, structure, and activities
• Questions are not designed to be invasive or focused on your personal history/experiences
• If you do experience discomfort in talking about the challenges our community faces in today’s society, we’ll have resources like the Trans Lifeline to provide to you
• Information gathered from our discussion will be de-identified! This means that no personal info will be recorded and your contributions will remain anonymous
• You will receive a $50 compensation as a THANK YOU for your time participating!

[ID: Coral, pink background of various gradients. The gradients include contrasting clouds, mountainous areas and some rocks with visuals that imply a sunset scene. There are indications of a body of water nearby. In white, bold lettering “Trans Wellness, Trans Brilliance.” Followed by bullets, below: (bullet 1) “Building emotional wellness and resilience”; (bullet 2) “8 week virtual pilot program”; (bullet 3) “for and by our trans/gender diverse community.” A circular icon with a dollar symbol is on the left with the text that says “paid opportunities” and a dividing line extends to the right of this text. Below, are a series of three icons on the left, with descriptive text adjacent to the right, which articulate the roles and ways to be a part of this pilot. An icon of hands interlocking in the outline of a heart is adjacent to “Help lead” (which is in bold), followed by smaller text: “become a peer support specialist.” The next icon below is an interconnecting line that sketches several people, next to bold text that reads: “Help pilot”, with smaller text below: “participate in a peer-led wellness group.” The bottom icon is of a hand, pointer finger extending upwards with five interconnecting points, just left of the bold text: “Help develop”; the smaller text below: “your insights drive future wellness programs.” At the top right of the graphic is Transcend the Binary’s simple logo, which is represented by capital letters vertically stacked – TTB – and a square box, and a narrow rectangle box extending above the height of the square. To the right is a bold M with white the two lines below reading: “School of Social Work” and “University of Michigan”. Both logos are solid white.]