The TAKE-Away: December Issue 2025

Welcome to the TAKE-Away, TAKE’s monthly newsletter sharing updates about our life-saving work with those of you who make it possible.

Ahead, check out 4 TAKE-Aways for December 2025:

During our event-packed Trans Awareness Week, TAKE did more than just remember and light a candle for each trans community member lost to violence and suicide this year; we worked to feed and inspire the living.

During our From the Byways to the Highways event, TAKE staff and community members shared heaping plates of food with our unhoused neighbors across Birmingham, and on Transgiving, TAKE opened our doors to offer a many-course traditional Southern Thanksgiving meal to trans folks and our allies who often can’t return home to their families of origin to celebrate the holiday. All of this occurred while many still hadn’t yet received their SNAP benefits because of the longest-ever Government Shutdown, proving that when the old guardrails fail to protect our people, TAKE steps in to make the difference. Special shout-out to this year’s Trans Awareness Week Ambassador, Jasmine Bonet Smith who inspired us all and shared her birthday with us!

To close out Trans Awareness week, and kick off the Renaissance Pageant in Atlanta, TAKE partnered with Renaissance Kares to host the first annual Pride in Healing Conference, a space dedicated to exploring mental health, wellness, and healing for Black queer and trans people across the U.S. Panelists were a true national crew of exceptional leaders, including Janetta Johnson of TGI Justice Project, Barbie Mugler of Trans United in Elevation, Tarena Williams of Southeastern Transgender Resource Center, Brittan Hardgers of Next Generation Men of Transition, Kimya Loder, an academic who has done incredible research and is writing a forthcoming book about Black trans advocacy in the South, and of course, TAKE’s Executive Director, Daroneshia Duncan-Boyd.

TAKE has been busy! We participated in the Our Care, Our Lobby Day event at the PA State Capitol on November 18th, advocating for trans healthcare access in a time when the Federal Government’s attacks are threatening the legal care Pennsylvanians are entitled to under state law and best medical practices.

We were also featured in coverage of the Black Queer Visionaries Summit, of which TAKE was a participating organization, in LGBTQ Nation. Check out the story here.

And on December 1st, TAKE joined advocates from nations around the world to honor World HIV/AIDS Day-especially meaningful to our HELP Program staffers, who are active on the daily to help prevent new HIV infections and to keep those living with HIV healthy by making sure folks get the healthcare they need. Check out TAKE's heartwarming World HIV/AIDS Day message here.

Earlier this month, we kicked off our End-of-Year Housing Justice Campaign by sharing a YES! Magazine feature on rising homelessness among gender-expansive people and the power of trans-led housing solutions nationwide.

Today, we’re continuing that conversation. This article “More Than Shelters Are Needed to Support Queer and Trans Southerners at Risk for Homelessness” from Xtra Magazine directly highlights TAKE’s work alongside other Black trans-led organizations in the South addressing houselessness. The piece situates Gloria’s Safe Haven within a broader movement of Southern Black trans leadership building housing where systems have failed us.

Our beloved Gloria’s Safe Haven is evolving into a much needed permanent, transitional, and supportive housing ecosystem for Black trans people in Alabama. We need our community’s support to bring this vision to life.

Housing is liberation. Please consider making a donation today to support Black trans housing justice in the South. DONATE HERE

“Sending season’s greetings to our trans siblings, with love, grace, and solidarity. This time of year can be especially difficult for many who have experienced rejection or distance from their biological families. Yet, even in that pain, we continue to show the world the beauty and power of chosen family: spaces built on love, affirmation, protection, and real support where we see each other fully.

As we prepare to close out 2025, take a moment to reflect on the lessons, the growth, the resilience, and the victories both big and small that carried you through this year. Honor how far you’ve come, extend yourself grace where things fell short, and reconnect with your purpose. Every experience has been shaping you to open the door to greater abundance, alignment, and possibility in 2026. Lastly, let us remember that the Trans Movement is not just about visibility, it is about building sustainable systems, collective care, and liberation-centered frameworks that will not only protect us, but truly free us all. We deserve safety, joy, rest, and a future rooted in abundance.”

-Daroneshia Duncan-Boyd, TAKE’s Founder and Executive Director

Once again, thank you for tuning into The TAKE-Away: TAKE’s FREE Monthly Newsletter.

TAKE Care of Yourself,

-The TAKE Team

TAKE

7128 Oporto Madrid Blvd

Birmingham, AL 35206