Rebel and Divine Trans* Shoe and Clothing Bank
Channel: Claire Caulfield
Date: 24/04/2015

Phoenix has over forty clothing banks and a number of resources for homeless and at-risk youth. However, one aspect that’s lacking was a clothing bank specifically designed for the needs of transgender youth. That's where Pastor Jeffrey Dirrim comes in. As one of Arizona's only openly gay members of clergy, Dirrim has dedicated his life to helping at-risk and homeless youth in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) community. Dirrim points out that transgender youth, or a person who identifies as a different gender than the gender assigned to them at birth, are at very high risk for homelessness. Although they compromise only five to seven percent of the youth in America, LGBTQ youth make up 30 percent of the homeless youth, and a recent study by ASU's school of social work office of sex trafficking intervention and research found LGBTQ youth to be significantly more likely to report sex trafficking experiences than heterosexual youth. Dirrim has been working for years on this project that will serve as an outreach and safe space for transgender youth to try on clothes and know they will only receive love, support and some new shoes.