My Sistah’s House fosters sustainability, safety, and liberation for the most vulnerable members of the transgender, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (TLGBQ) community in Memphis, Tennessee. We provide emergency housing, advocacy, and multi-layered resource support—delivered by and for transgender and gender-nonconforming (TGNC) people of color.

Founded in 2016 by two Black trans women, My Sistah’s House was created to confront a crisis that still persists today: Memphis continues to face a severe shortage of emergency housing and affirming services for trans and queer people of color. When we began, the metro area had only 71 emergency shelter beds—and none were designated for transgender people. Many shelters openly discriminated against trans people, leaving our community with nowhere to go.

Our Executive Director, Kayla Gore, launched My Sistah’s House to fill this gap. Kayla converted her own six-bedroom home into an eight-bed emergency housing facility for TLGBQ people experiencing homelessness, incarceration re-entry, intimate partner violence, or housing insecurity. From that single house, our work expanded: we built a bail fund for incarcerated trans women, created advocacy and legal support programs, and developed services to help our clients secure permanent housing, stable income, and long-term safety.

Today, in a political climate where the rights and safety of transgender people—especially Black trans people—are under direct attack, our work is more urgent than ever. While lawmakers escalate anti-trans policies and social hostility increases, My Sistah’s House continues to build real, tangible security for our community.

And we are growing.

To date, we have completed 11 permanent homes for Black trans and queer residents in Memphis.

We are now in development on a mixed-use project in South Memphis, located near six of our existing homes, which will expand access to affordable housing, supportive services, and community-led economic opportunities.

Any amount or resource helps. Your support directly builds homes, freedom, and futures.