Getting Started

At the heart of our organization is a desire to ensure that all trans people, regardless of their situation, can get connected with dedicated supporters who want to help. To bring this dream to reality, we have created a series of forms participants can fill to register their needs and resources. We call people requesting needs heroes and those offering resources supporters. To make the best use of our site, be sure to visit the App!

The TFN is a platform that facilitates connections between heroes and supporters based on their specific needs and resources. As such, we can’t offer support of our own and rely on the commitment and generosity of registered supporters. We encourage all participants to share this service as it relies on a large number of registrations to be able to meet the specific needs of our heroes. To become a hero or a supporter, register here! Our registration process will ask you a series of questions regarding your motivations for using our site and will be sent to our team to ensure you are acting in good faith and genuinely want to provide assistance to trans and gender non-conforming people. Once you have been registered as a verified user, you will receive an email and can then begin requesting needs and offers! This is done by a separate form and will break down what you need or what you can give in more detail. Our algorithm will then match you with a connection that is compatible with your request.

Connections are being proposed by an algorithm based on which offer fits which request most closely and which request was filed first. No other forms of prioritization are active as of now, but we are in the process of developing a system capable of prioritizing marginalized heroes including Indigenous and Black people, People of Color, disabled and immigrant people who are not citizens as well as currently and formerly incarcerated people. We will share more information on this once we have a finished proposal in place.

HEROES – Those who are requesting aid in the form of

  • Financial assistance
  • Emotional support
  • Resources (legal or otherwise)
  • Emergency housing

Heroes are trans and gender non-conforming people or the guardians of trans minors that are working to fight or escape systemic anti-trans environments. We use “trans” as an umbrella term to refer to anyone with complicated genders (including transgender, transsexual and non-binary people) as well as others who are not cis. Our registration process takes you through exactly what your needs are and formalizes the terms of your request. Once the form is filled out our algorithm will categorize your needs and requirements and find a supporter(s) that best matches your preferences.

Supporters – Those who can aid heroes through 

  • Financial assistance (donations, medical bills, gofundme’s, ect)
  • Emotional support (texting, phone calls, video chats)
  • Resources (legal, medical, psychological, employment)
  • Emergency housing (temporary, access to shelters, connection w/ appropriate organizations

Supporters are members of the LGBT community and allies that have resources they can offer to heroes in need. Once you complete the required application process to become a participant on our site, you will be able to submit support requests depending on what you are willing to offer as well as your connection preferences. However, you will not be able to choose who you support.

Connecting

Our process will automatically connect heroes and supporters and send an alert to the hero. Once they accept the offer, we will open a messaging channel between the hero and the supporter. Both will receive an introductory message explaining the terms of the connection to begin communication. If either heroes or supporters don’t respond to this within 48h, the connection will be terminated and you will have to re-register your requests and offers. Once communication has been established, you will have two weeks to give and receive support or to move communication to another platform before the connection is automatically broken and the conversation is archived. Once the support has been provided, please mark ‘Complete’ in your app’s dashboard to remove the request and sever the connection. Both parties will have the option to rate their experience at this point.

Depending on the sensitivity of a request, certain levels of verification need to be met before a connection is proposed. While a simple sign-up is enough to offer financial support, supporters need to verify their identity in order to offer shelter or transportation. By vetting all participants during the initial sign-up process, we attempt to create a basic level of safety and trust between every participant. Once a connection is proposed, it is the responsibility of the connected hero and supporter to decide whether they feel comfortable accepting the connection depending on their interaction and the specific nature of their offers and requests. Depending on the amount of available offers and the specificity of each request, it might take longer to connect heroes with appropriate supporters. Heroes can reject an offer and supporters can rescind their offers at any point of the process without consequence.

While minors are welcome to sign up themselves, we do not connect them with individual supporters, instead offering them a list of youth-focused resources and organizations. Guardians of tans minors are encouraged to sign up on their behalf to be connected directly to supporters.

Safety

We understand that this service is dealing with one of our most vulnerable communities. And though intentions are good, we are also taking every precaution to ensure that all users stay safe. To maximize safety, we are incorporating a number of safeguards and checkpoints within our app:

  • “Double Blind Matching“: Heroes and Supporters will be matched algorithmically on the basis of their answers to the application and their needs/resources. There will be no way for either side to target a specific user or discover any personal information about them. Connections will be severed if no actions have been made or if the request passes beyond the timeframe specified in the above sections.
  • “Hero’s First Move“: To prevent targeting of vulnerable populations, the Hero will have to make the first move once a connection has been established.
  • Specific Youth Support: For trans youth under the age of 18, we recognize they have a very different set of needs than a trans or gender non-conforming adult. Therefore, youths will only be matched with official organizations and resources aimed at assisting trans youths across America. This safeguard should give youths a much more comprehensive, safe, and knowledgeable support team and minimize dangerous situations. Note that this only applies to minors using our service themselves. Parents or Guardians will go through our request process in the standard way.
  • “Red Flag“: Users on both sides will have the opportunity to flag a connection they deem suspect or abusive in any way shape or form. Our team will examine the exchange and take appropriate action to sever the connection and remove the guilty party from our service.
  • “Anti-Spam“: Our website has a guard against how many requests can be made in a day and will keep track of users that may be spamming or attempting to make a large number of requests in a short timeframe, or attempting to connect and disconnect with the hopes of finding a specific person.

Still Have Questions?

Contact us through this email form and a member of our team will get back to you!