October 11th, 2022 is National Coming Out Day and Transgender American Veterans Association (TAVA) will be hosting A TELETHON starting at NOON EST. TAVA will be checking in via Facebook Live across 24 hours with the goal of raising $5,000.

As many of you know, TAVA has been very busy this past year. We traveled the lower 48 states and visited Veterans Affairs Medical Centers and members across the country with our TAVA Tour. We launched multiple surveys to benefit transgender and LGBQ+ veterans. We initiated a partnership with Dr. Tiffany Lange to write a Peer-to-Peer Group book. We spoke at and attended multiple conferences. We even went to the White House for their Pride Month Celebration. We have been very busy this past year and plan to be even busier in 2023.

Our planned programs for this next year are exciting change makers. The TAVA Tour is being expanded and we are planning to visit influential medical centers, community centers, support facilities, military bases and everyone that plays a part in supporting our members. Our Speaker’s Bureau is getting revitalized so that we are included in conversations about our community. We plan on having a presence at Pride celebrations and conferences across the country with programs to increase the visibility and representation of trans veterans. The virtual peer-to-peer support groups we have been hosting are being expanded to cater to the diversity of our community to promote inclusion. We are creating guides and education for not only our members, but for everyone that has a stake in the lives of trans veterans. These programs, plus the many others we are planning, will be game changers for our community.

We can’t do it alone. We are working on restructuring our volunteer system, but financial assistance is going to be crucial. We are setting a $5,000 goal and we need your help to reach that goal. If you are in the position to donate, we plan on using your gifts to fund these programs that will fulfill our goal to provide advocacy, foster a sense of community, and create spaces for healing.