About
Trans Lifeline is a grassroots hotline and microgrants 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization offering direct emotional and financial support to trans people in crisis — for the trans community, by the trans community. The organization is run by and for trans people and has been divested from police involvement since its founding, providing peer support that is anonymous, confidential, and guided by informed consent.
Mission
Trans Lifeline connects trans people to the community support and resources they need to survive and thrive. Its vision is a world where trans people have the connection, economic security, and care everyone needs and deserves.
What they do
- Operates a peer support and crisis hotline staffed by trans people, reachable in the US at (877) 565-8860, that is fully anonymous and confidential and never initiates nonconsensual interventions
- Runs a Microgrants program providing low-barrier funds for legal name and identification document changes, with no requirement that grantees prove how funds were spent
- Provides Inside Advocacy support — commissary funds, reentry grants, and ID changes — for trans people who are incarcerated, detained, or recently released
- Offers a Family and Friends Hotline to help partners, friends, and families support their trans loved ones
- Maintains a free community-supported ID Change Library of location-specific requirements and fees for updating documents, plus a national resource library
- Leads the Safe Hotlines advocacy campaign to end nonconsensual interventions on crisis hotlines
History
Trans Lifeline's hotline launched in 2014, shortly after Trans Day of Remembrance, in response to the epidemic of suicide in the trans community. The Microgrants program was founded in 2016 as the Trans Assistance Project and became part of Trans Lifeline in 2017. A Spanish-language extension launched in 2020, HRT Microgrants and domestic violence support services were added in 2021, and a dedicated Advocacy Department launched in 2022.
Scale and impact
According to figures published on its website, Trans Lifeline has answered over 150,000 calls, dispersed nearly 1.5 million dollars in funds, and trained more than 600 hotline operators.
Financials
Trans Lifeline is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN 47-2097494). Per ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, in fiscal year 2025 the organization reported total revenue of 9,219,522 dollars, total expenses of 4,720,594 dollars, and net assets of 7,641,093 dollars, with contributions accounting for 97.7 percent of revenue. The organization publishes audited financial statements and Forms 990 on its website.
