History
The T Project is Singapore’s first and only social service for the transgender community. This independent community initiative was set up by Miss June Chua and her late sister Miss Alicia Chua in June 2014. They realised that there were many gaps in the existing social service sectors, which did not address the needs of Singapore’s transgender community.
Aware of the challenges faced by transgender individuals, they first decided to open a shelter that would serve as a temporary safe haven for anyone who was homeless in the community. The residents are welcome to stay at the shelter for an initial period of 6 months, until they are able to find alternative housing or a more permanent place.
In June 2014, our first shelter was set up with the help of another NGO.
The T Project shelter is the only social service in Singapore that exists specifically to cater to the female transgender community and transgender people living with HIV. Our shelter program also provides suitable referral support to our residents to meet their employment, social, healthcare, and emotional needs.
We started our psycho-social programs by inviting registered social workers and counsellors to visit our shelter to offer counselling services to residents.
In June 2016, with the help of the community and allies, The T Project managed to raise approximately $130,000 to set up our current shelter. In July and August 2018, we managed to raise another $60,000 for shelter rent and operations in a campaign called ‘Project Re-Lease’. And in 2022, a new fundraise is launched to support our work, “Can you please be a champion for the most neglected and forgotten today”.
Project Re-Lease, T Project’s fundraising initiative
In our outreach efforts to corporations and social service sectors, it became clear that job opportunities were really limited for the transgender community. Therefore, The T Project decided to create job opportunities for our own community.
We actively connect interested trans individuals (both resident and non-resident) to jobs that are trans-affirmative. The T Project also connects residents to a social worker if they are eligible for financial or medical aid.
We hope that with a safe, rent-free place to stay at, the residents will have stability and a sense of permanency in their lives. This will better enable them to plan for their futures.
We also conduct an ongoing volunteer recruitment drive to train volunteers to support shelter programs like our food ration drives and fundraising events.
A 2018 Empowerment Workshop (funded by AWARE), held at the shelter
In 2018, the Alicia Community Centre was set up to provide a safe space for transgender/gender-non-binary individuals of all ages—particularly the youth. Apart from peer counselling services for the marginalised, the centre offers a non-judgmental place for LGBTQ youths to meet up and get social support.
The public is welcome to hold workshops and visit the centre to get more information about the community. The centre will house a library featuring trans-themed literature, as well as a museum documenting the history of the community in Singapore.
The beginning of the Alicia Community Centre.beginning of the Alicia Community Centre.
Visit us at the Alicia Community Centre