We’re creating permanent housing solutions for trans + gnc community members experiencing homelessness.
Introducing House of Tulip.
House of Tulip is a Community Land Trust launching in the summer of 2020 to create housing solutions for trans and gender-nonconforming (TGNC) people in Louisiana.
1 in 3 trans people in Louisiana report experiencing homelessness at some point in their life.* With your help, we will break that cycle for good in the New Orleans area.
Who We Are:
Our Founders Circle is a multicultural and multigenerational leadership body of 11 individuals in the New Orleans area. We are majority-Black and majority-women, and a majority of us have our family roots in Louisiana for several generations. Together, we have over 100 years of experience as community organizers and activists serving the transgender community in Louisiana. We are Milan Nicole Sherry, Mariah Moore, Jai Celestial, Sultana Isham, Camilla Marchena, Dylan Waguespack, Ben Collongues, Wendi Cooper, Toni Jones, Zahair Martinez, and Spirit McIntyre.
Our Short-Term Vision:
We’re raising funds to buy and restore a 6-unit property on N. Claiborne Ave, currently unoccupied and blighted. This will be our pilot campus, and it will house up to 9 TGNC people. If for any reason, we're unable to purchase this property (if it's sold or taken off the market before we raise the funds we need), the funds raised by this campaign will still go directly toward providing housing to TGNC people in New Orleans, in line with the long-term vision below.
Our Long-Term Vision:
Housing Solutions.
According to the US Trans Survey, 1 in 3 trans people in Louisiana reports experiencing homelessness at some point in their lives. House of Tulip will provide zero-barrier housing to trans and gender-nonconforming people in need of a safe place to stay while growing the supply of affordable housing in New Orleans.
Citywide Benefits.
By operating as a Community Land Trust, the entire city of New Orleans (as well as anywhere we expand beyond our pilot campus) will benefit from the increase in affordable housing supply and safeguards against exclusionary development and gentrification.
Paths to Home-Ownership.
House of Tulip isn’t an emergency shelter or a transitional living house. It’s a long-term investment in housing solutions. As members of our community gain stability through housing, they’ll have a path to homeownership. Meanwhile, House of Tulip will continue to own the land, ensuring our housing stays affordable forever.
Self-Sustaining.
While initially our funding will be entirely donation-based, our model will grow to include sustainable sources of income so that we can invest strategically.
We have $50,000 in seed funding--12.5 percent of the way to our goal--but we need your investment to get to $400,000 by August 31, 2020.
*See the Louisiana breakout report from the 2015 US Trans Survey for more information about the experiences of transgender Louisianans:https://www.transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/usts/USTSLAStateReport%281017%29.pdf
