Margie’s Hope is a non-profit organization in Akron providing assistance to the local transgender community and their families since 2011. Jacob Nash, Founder and Board President, saw a need in the community to help transgender people throughout Northeast Ohio. Named after his mother, Margie’s Hope offers resources, training, and support to anyone in need. The Falls Free Press caught up with Margie’s Hope display during the Falls Family PRIDE event at the First Christian Church on October 14th.
According to Nash, “there is no protection in the state of Ohio for [the] LGBTQ community; they get denied housing just for being themselves.” To combat this problem, Margie’s Hope helps transgender people find housing. The organization also helps those in the LGBTQ community by offering health care and/or mental health resources, as well as legal assistance with issues such as name changes.
Margie’s Kids, a youth group for children ages 6-13 years old and teens 14-17 years old, is one of the three social/support groups sponsored by Margie’s Hope. Nash described Margie’s Kids as a typical youth program where children can play games, socialize, etc., but the group’s mission is to give transgender, gender non-conforming, non-binary, and questioning children and teens a place where they can be themselves and support each other.
Another Margie’s Hope program, TransAlive, is a group offered to anyone in the community who wants to come expand their knowledge and learn how to support each other. Support options and other education opportunities are offered to friends, family, and partners of those in the community, as well as anyone who has questions about the LGBTQ community.
Margie’s Pride is one other program, which provides parents of LGBTQ children with a support group. “Parents who have transgender youths or adults can come together and share their experiences—talk about things that are going on with them or their kids,” Nash says. He adds that it provides “an opportunity just to connect with other parents that have either gone through what they have gone through or to share experiences so they can work together and help each out during this time. . . because we know that when trans individuals transition, so do their families.”
Nash also spoke about the organization’s future plans, including opening a transitional housing facility for the many transgender individuals who are homeless and often do not have employment.
Margie’s Hope is located at 1889 9th Street SW, Akron. To find out more information visit their website at: http://margieshope.org/..
