SILVERTON — The local organization helping transgender and gender non-conforming youth find comfort in clothes and style has a new home - and new opportunities to expand its mission.
Transform launched in 2019 in the back of the space for Brideface in Over-the-Rhine. It then moved nearby to a small space just north of Findlay Market.
Now, it has moved into a house on Montgomery Road in Silverton. A supporter, parent of a transgender child, helped the organization find the space after years of searching.
"We all looked at it and it was absolutely perfect," said co-founder Tristan Vaught. "We wanted the clients and anyone coming to it to feel welcome and to feel like it's their home."
Not only is it nearly three times the size of the former location, being in a house is a symbolic and strategic choice.
"A lot of times, we as LGBTQ individuals, lose our family and have to find chosen family, create our own community," Vaught said. "So having a space that feels like home and is home for LGBTQ individuals, I think, is extremely important."
The house features rooms for client styling and closet sessions, for which Transform is nationally known. A comfortable seating area inside the front door connects to a changing room, where curated outfits awaited a young client the day WCPO toured the new space.
In 2022, Transform helped more than 300 clients. Vaught said it was on pace to help nearly 500 in 2023.
There is also space for small gatherings, like game or movie nights. And several events can happen simultaneously, with space on two floors.
"[This space] allows us not to do craft night while we have dresses hanging around us at the tables. And it allows us to break things up," Vaught said.
A large kitchen and dining room allow for meals and other gatherings. Vaught said they envision morning coffee events and potlucks, along with hosting holiday meals for those who don't have a safe space to go at those times.
"We know some of our youth can't go home," they said. "We know some adults can't go home."
The basement - and a mobile POD outside - are filled with some of the donated clothing, sorted and organized by size and style. In all, across a few storage sites, Vaught estimated Transform has some 60,000 pieces of clothing.
Not all of it is appealing to the youth clients, so Vaught and their partner are renovating a covered rear space at the new Transform house to be able to host donation drives - and reverse donation drives. The vision, they said, is to open the doors and offer items to anyone who makes a donation.
That space and a large parking lot out back will host a house warming event on Saturday from 4 - 9 p.m. with food, drinks, a DJ, raffles, and more.
Vaught, who is working on a small office space on the second floor in which to have private conversations with parents and guardians who don't feel comfortable asking questions about what their child is going through publicly, called the space a catalyst for growth of Transform's role in the LGBTQ+ community.
"It's lifesaving," they said. "Having a space where they can build community and see themselves in adults and see themselves in their peers, it's lifesaving."
At a time when transgender youth are the focus of state legislatures in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, Vaught noted the mission of Transform wasn't political - but personal.
"There's on the ground work, no matter what politics shakes out, there's still stuff we can do," they said.
You can donate to the organization here. You can request a styling appointment here. Follow Transform Cincy’s social media pages to stay up-to-date with the latest events and programs.
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