Asian & Pacific Islander Transgender Empowerment (ATE)
The Transgender Program
Ate(ah-tey),
is a Tagalog word that references an“older sister”
or “a close female friend,” and commonly used
to refer to someone who is knowledgeable, experienced and
matured. Not restricted to Tagalog, this reference is found
in many Asian & Pacific Islander communities, like phee-sao
in Thai, achi in Fookien or Indonesian, didi in Hindi or Nepali,
hermana grande o mayor in Spanish, jie jie in Mandarin, onesan
in Japanese, che’lu in Chamorro or mua in Hawaiian.
ATE is A&PI Wellness Center’s trangender program,
and its goals are to foster the development of a vibrant,
empowered and supportive Asian & Pacific Islander transgender
community to reduce HIV infection in San Francisco. ATE’s
strategies are:
- to foster empowerment
- to develop and share leadership
- to affirm transgender identities with an underlying
focus on supporting individual change
within the context of community.
- to be above all, client-centered
Be a peer leader.
View The Banyan Tree Project’s public service announcement focusing on A&PI transgender women, featuring Tita Aida, Erica Raney, and Asia Vitale, on the BTP web page, Facebook, and MySpace, via YouTube.
Upcoming ATE Events
April 1 – ATE Support Group
April 4 – CATWALK ’09
April 15 – ATE Support Group
April 25 – ATE Social
April 30 – ATE Employment Workshop/Open House
May 2 – ATE Social
May 6 – ATE Support Group
May 7 – Employment Workshop: “Organizing your Life!”
May 14 – Employment Workshop: “Money Management”
May 20 – ATE Support Group
May 21 – ATE Employment Workshop: “Resume Writing”
May 23 – ATE Social
May 28 – ATE Employment Workshop: “Know the Law!”
June 3 – ATE Support Group
June 4 – ATE Employment Workshop: “Building your Own Network within your Community”
June 6 – ATE Social
June 17 – ATE Support Group
June 26 – TRANS MARCH
June 28 – SF LGBT Pride
WE OFFER:
Individual Risk Reduction Counseling
We provide structured one to one interventions for A&PI
transgenders in high risk situations. A&PI TG’s
can engage in client centered HIV prevention activities that
support their adoption and maintenance of HIV risk reduction
behaviors. Abiding by our agency’s Ohana model, our
services acknowledge the cultural, linguistic and familiar
constraints of our clients through providing advocacy, escort,
and interpretation to support referral and linkages.
Referrals & Linkages
As a comprehensive HIV service provider, we are committed
to linking clients with our CTL (Counseling Testing and Linkages),
Health Education (for prevention), and HIV Care Services (for
HIV positive clients), as well as to other service providers
in the community.
Free Rapid Oral Confidential or Anonymous
HIV Testing
We provide free Rapid Oral Confidential or Anonymous HIV Anti-body
Testing. Our
testing schedule is as follows:
Wednesdays: 4-7 p.m. (by appointment only)
Fridays: 2-6 p.m. (by appointment only.)
First Saturday of the Month: 11
am- 3 pm (by appointment only)
Please call 415.292.3400 to make your appointment today.
OTHER SERVICES WE PROVIDE:
ATE Support Group
1st & 3rd Wednesdays of the month, 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
As transgenders, we deal with many particular issues and
obstacles in our daily lives. We often find ourselves lost
for answers with an issue or two and seem to be stuck with
unsorted feelings. ATE Support Group is a transgender social/support
group. It provides a safe and nurturing space for making
new friends, companionship & uninhibited discussions.
Partake in discussions and talks about topics that interest
you as an individual and issues affecting our community.
Learn from each others’
experiences and acquire more knowledge about how our community
is moving forward with different aspects of life, like legal
issues, transition issues, referrals to TG resources, relationships
and healthy living.
ATE Social
First Saturday of the Month, 11:00am – 3:00 pm
We launched a Drop-In group
once a month, to provide another venue for A&PI transgender individuals to
relax and unwind and socialize! Aside from a relaxed space, we also provide
different group activities that everyone can participate in!
We will also provide Rapid Oral HIV Testing to attendees! For
more information, contact Tita Aida at 415.292.3420 x348
or titaaida@apiwellness.org
ATE Employment Workshops
Asian & Pacific Islander Transgender Empowerment Program is proud to offer a combination of Employment Skills Building and Individual Career Counseling Workshops for low and moderate income transgender people in the Tenderloin area and greater Bay Area, within a comprehensive health and social service delivery approach. See schedule.
Peer Leader Group/R.I.C.E.(Responsibility,
Involvement, Community, Empowerment) Program
So you think you’d like to do work with your community
to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS in the TG community? This
is the perfect opportunity. Participants will go through
trainings and are assigned to do outreach to specific venues,
give useful referrals, and give support to community events
and peers. Step up and be a leader in your community. To
inquire, e-mail tginfo@apiwellness.org
Needle Exchange
Tuesdays, 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Venue: A&PI Wellness Center
This service provides A&PI transgenders in high risk situations,
especially MTFs, with culturally and linguistically competent
needle exchange services. We provide clean needles to injection
hormone users in San Francisco. The program incorporates needle
exchange as a tool to assess community needs and discover
and share role model success stories, as well as reinforce
consistent clean needle use for hormone injection users. For
more information, e-mail tginfo@apiwellness.org
Community Outreach
TG health workers, peer leaders and volunteers go to venues where A&PI TGs congregate, such as DIVAS Club and other events and gatherings, where we distribute condoms, lube and other safer sex materials. We do community outreach at DIVAS Club every 2nd and 4th Saturday and 1st and 3rd Friday, as well as street outreach to sex workers in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco.
Special Events
Keeping in tune with the trends and development of the TG
community, we also host and organize culturally specific special
events that mobilize and keep members of the A&PI TG community
together. Such events are Miss Universe Party, Winter Ball,
and one-day retreats, and others.
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