Today we’d like to introduce you to Britney Stinson.
Hi Britney, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Helping and caring for people has been my passion for as long as I can remember. I’ve worked in non-profits all my adult life, specifically in mental health and social services. I’m currently a peer counselor, and in my day job, I work with kids with mental health experiences and substance misuse experiences. I’ve also always been interested in psychology, how the mind works and impacts our behavior, why we respond to experiences the way we do, and why certain treatments work over others. All of that is interesting to me as someone who desires to help people and has been on the receiving end of help. I’ve worked on both sides of the desk. So to speak, as a provider of services and as a recipient.
I happen to be transgender, and throughout my transition, I’ve experienced many amazing things, but I’ve also experienced quite a bit of negative things. I’ve been alone on holidays and lost family & friends, and relationships, and all of this takes a toll on my mental health and life. With Transitional Space, I combine those motivations with my experiences receiving services and transitioning. As peer counselors, we help people live in recovery with peer support. Recovery, as defined by SAMHSA, is “a process of change through which individuals improve their health and wellness, live a self-directed life, and strive to reach their full potential.” We look at an individual’s life in four primary dimensions: health, home, purpose, and community.
Transitional Space is a community that supports LGBT+ individuals; allies are welcome, too, in those four areas of life: health, home, purpose, and community. I started this organization for many reasons, one of which comes from when I was receiving mental health services. Whether for trans-related care or something else, therapy helped equally, or maybe more important was belonging to something and having a group of people I could depend on, give and receive support from. I think about my personal experiences, and therapy doesn’t take those painful experiences away, but having a purpose, belonging, good health, and home and necessities help make those experiences I’ve had all the easier to bear. I always say that living in recovery is, living your best life, whatever that life looks like to you.
I wanted to create a place where everyone felt safe, welcome, and had fun because that’s what I needed. We started as a Discord server in 2018 with just me. And slowly, we’ve worked up to almost 3,000 members, LGBT+ and allies, from around the world. I have seen people go from “I’m afraid to tell anyone about how I feel to now, four years into their transition, they are thriving and living their authentic life. Not long after creating the Discord server, which we now use as a 24/7 drop-in center, I started receiving help requests. Help with mental health, housing, transition, coming out, and other things that we likely all have needed help with at one point or another. When I looked around the LGBT+ community with these needs in mind, I saw quite a few places that help with medications, therapy, and physical health but few that provide a community based on peer support. I began researching and framing a mission; before you knew it, it was 2022, and we’ve become a 501c3 organization.
We currently offer a 24/7 drop-in center where LGBT+ individuals and our allies and loved ones can engage in social support, play games, attend our online events and support groups, and, in short, have people we can interact with and talk to. In addition to the drop-in center, we have support groups, in-person meet up’s, peer counseling, and trans care packages. In the future, we will adjust programming as needed to support our mission of “helping LGBT+ individuals live a fulfilling and meaningful life by assisting, connecting with resources, and creating opportunities in the areas of health, home, purpose, and community.
You wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been smooth?
Overall, it has been easier than I thought it would be. I have worked close to 80 hours a week, more often than not, between Transitional Space and my day job. That makes all those administrative duties, record keeping, marketing, endless learning, and fundraising easier to handle because I am excited to go to work on them. However, it’s my passion, and I am motivated by altruism but more so by personal experience. I know how lonely it is, and I want to help others experiencing something similar.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Transitional Space Inc?
Transitional Space is a registered 501c3 organization whose mission is to help LGBT+ individuals live fulfilling and meaningful life by assisting, connecting with resources, and creating opportunities in the following areas: health, home, purpose, and community. We are a peer-led community, meaning the people who benefit from our programs have the loudest voice in our programs. We are set up so we can alter services based on the needs of the community and individuals. Another unique trait is that most of our support is offered virtually and accessible anytime, anywhere. I always tell people that my support group is in my pocket. I can access our drop-in center through the Discord app from anywhere, and support is available when and where I need it. We are 100% volunteer-run and operated. No one takes a salary, meaning 100% of all donations go towards supporting our mission and community.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
Playing Uno and gardening with my paw-paw. We had a little land, and we’d always be out working on the soil, trying to grow this or that for my maw-maw to cook. After the work was done and we ate supper, we’d usually play Uno and talk about life.
Pricing:
- All of our services are offered at no charge to those in need.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://transitionalspace.us
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/transitionalspace
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/transitionalspace
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/TransitionalSp1
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Transitional_Space
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/transitional-space-orlando
- Other: https://linktr.ee/admin/settings
