Bridges to Care grant

Bridges to Care grant is sponsored by Foundation for Sexual and Gender Affirmation and Research (FSGAR). The Bridges to Care grant provides financial support for transportation and related travel expenses for transgender youth (ages 5–18) and their parents or guardians seeking gender-affirming healthcare.

Foundation for Sexual and Gender Affirmation and Research Foundation for Sexual & Gender Affirmation and Research Helping you shine as your truest self The Foundation for Sexual and Gender Affirmation and Research (FSGAR) is a multidisciplinary effort to expand access to gender-affirming healthcare nationwide.

Our mission is to further gender-affirming care throughout the United States through research funding, educational opportunities, and organizational grants. Guided by passionate health experts The foundation evolved out of a research project led by medical students at the University of Nevada, Reno, which found significant gaps in access to competent, affirming healthcare for transgender people.

The Nevada Gender Clinic , the first FSGAR supported initiative, was also developed in response to the findings. Supportive services that are tailored to address the specific needs of transgender people include mental health counseling, hormone therapy, gender-affirming surgeries, preventive healthcare, legal assistance, education, insurance navigation, family and relationship support, and advocacy.

Funding these kinds of services helps create a safe and inclusive healthcare environment, empowers transgender people by enabling them to make informed decisions about their health, and reduces healthcare disparities while improving wellbeing. Transgender people face many barriers in access to care, which has increased exponentially recently due to anti-trans legislation throughout the country.

While efforts are being made to address these barriers, too many transgender people are unable to access safe and affirming healthcare due to stigma, discrimination, limited healthcare providers, and insurance or financial issues. FSGAR is committed to helping the transgender community get access to care through scholarships and by supporting provider education & training.

We provide financial support through the Bridges to Care grant for transportation and related travel expenses for transgender youth (ages 5–18) and their parents or guardians seeking gender-affirming healthcare. This includes travel to clinics, hospitals, therapists, or specialists not available locally.

We may be able to help with expenses such as mileage reimbursement, public transit, airfare, lodging, and other travel related expenses, with priority given to rural applicants and underserved communities. Many mental and medical healthcare providers have a desire to work with queer and transgender patients, but feel unequipped to do so because of the short-comings in educational curriculums on the topics of gender and sexuality.

Providing support to comprehensive training programs that will help providers develop cultural competence through a deep and nuanced understanding of issues in LGBTQ+ healthcare helps create a more compassionate and accessible healthcare system, improving the lives of many patients.

It is critical now more than ever that decisions about transgender health are being made in congruence with best practices according to research, and not making decisions from a place of emotion or misinformation. By sponsoring research projects related to queer and transgender healthcare, we are helping ensure ethical, responsible decision making and increasing access to services.

In order to assess the impact of the initiatives FSGAR is funding, we are also engaged in internal, ongoing program evaluation. The transgender community faces a state of emergency: in today’s current political climate, we have seen an unprecedented increase in denial or downright dangerous healthcare for transgender and gender non-conforming folks.

Your contribution will have a direct and meaningful impact in the lives of the most vulnerable members of our community by helping expand access to competent and affirming healthcare. it takes courage to grow up and become who you really are .