Each year, CUA awards grants as part of its Community Investment Grant Program to recipients who create positive social and economic impact. In 2021, South Shore Sexual (SSSH) Health was one such recipient, and was awarded a $5,000 grant for their TransFORMATION Closet initiative. In recognition of the upcoming Pride Festival, taking place from July 14-24, we caught up with their Executive Director Julie Veinot to discuss the grant and its impact on their services.

The TransFORMATION Closet has grown into a province-wide program and SSSH has since partnered with Sexual Health Nova Scotia and several other community organizations across the province to be able to expand the reach of the initiative.

With the program’s popularity and the importance to the LGBTQ+ community, there are now seven additional locations across the Province. Donations are essential to its success, and their partnership with Sexual Health Nova Scotia has supported their community outreach efforts and coordinating the collection of needed items.

“It can be pricey to overhaul a wardrobe during transitioning,” says Julie Veinot, Executive Director at SSSH. “We have upped our game to include wigs and more feminization items as well as donated post-surgical pillows.”

And that steep price can be a significant barrier in acquiring gender affirming gear. Of those that accessed the TransFORMATION closet in 2024, 51% reported that they were doing so because they didn’t have the money in their budget to purchase it personally, while a further 12% didn’t have a credit card to be able to purchase it online.

Julie has seen the impact these items can have for the individuals and their family members.

“In running this program, I have seen just how much these items make a difference,” says Julie. “[A client’s] parents said that it was the first time they had seen them happy in years."

The TransFORMATION closet has grown in popularity helping close to 100 people each year since they opened in 2021.

There has been a lot of reciprocal support in the community, with professionals, therapists, and schools reaching out for resources or items in the closet, along with partnering organizations who take part in donation collection and assist with item deliveries. 

Julie is incredibly grateful for these contributions, no matter how big or small. “This program took a life of its own,” she says. “It started out small and now it is the most popular program we offer.” 

“The CUA funding was excellent… to make sure [the program] got legs to keep it sustainable,” she explains. The grant “was the funding that kept it going. If we hadn’t had that funding, it’s very possible that the program would have just fizzled out.” 

She says she’s “ecstatic about the response” they’ve had to the program. Julie explains that as more people learned about the service, the center experienced a growth in demand.

The old adage is true, she says: “If you build it, they will come.”

Like a snowball, Julie says that what started small is rolling on its own momentum now.

“As a result of some media attention around the TransFORMATION Closet, around the time of the CUA grant, we got a $1,000 donation from someone who was so moved.”

The response from community members who are not gender diverse has also been positive, Julie says. “One thing we’ve noticed is not only are we giving these items out to folks who are gender diverse, but there’s a huge appetite for professionals and the community to learn about these items. So, we’ve incorporated gender affirming items into our education.”

The community’s receptiveness to learning about these items, she explains, “helps normalize their usage and reduce the stigma against gender diverse folk.”

Julie says the main goal of the service is “to try to reduce as many barriers as possible.” She explains that while the pandemic negatively impacted SSSH initially, “it also taught us to be flexible. The goal is to get this stuff to people, so if there are ways we have to be creative to make that happen, the goal is not to say no."

Learn more about South Shore Sexual Health’s services.
Learn more about CUA’s Past Community Investment Grant Recipients.