Program Evaluation of Casa de Zulma:  a supportive housing program in Los Angeles for transgender women (TGW) 

Melissa Davey-Rothwell, PhD
Johns Hopkins University

Karin Tobin, PhD
Johns Hopkins University

ABSTRACT:
Transgender women (TGW) experience severe disparities in substance use,1-3 mental health challenges,3-6 trauma,7 suicide ideation,8 mortality,9 and homelessness.10 This is especially true of unsheltered TGW who have difficulty accessing women’s emergency shelters and transitional/bridge housing. TGW are consistently denied entrance due to their sex assigned at birth, rather than their current gender identity.11 While there is evidence that housing interventions improve health outcomes, these studies primarily focus on cis-gender males and females and their association with physical health outcomes (e.g., HIV care). Studies on health and housing that focus on TGW suggest that unstable housing contributes to substance use and sexual risk and that stable housing is associated with being employed. 

Casa Zulma is an interim bridge housing project designed to provide gender affirming housing and social services to TGW experiencing homelessness. It was opened in December 2019 through a partnership with APAIT/SSG, a leader in providing services to sexual and racial minority communities and people experiencing homelessness for more than thirty years, and the Los Angeles Housing Services Authority (LAHSA).  An academic-community partnership conducted a program evaluation of Casa Zulma. The purpose of this study is to report results from in-depth interviews with residents on perceptions and experiences in the program as well as impacts on their well-being and health.

Study participants were current or past residents at Casa Zulma and ranged in age from 23 to 67 years.  The interviews showed that Casa Zulma provided stability, comfort, and a space for identity expression. Other themes that emerged from the interviews were that Casa Zulma provided access to a stable and supportive community, continuation and reliability of hormone therapy/access to other gender affirming health and social services, a space to engage in healthy coping strategies, a level of independence and personal sense of security, and access to other resources such as food and other basic needs.  Attention to implementation factors and barriers to housing programs is essential to replicate and scale this type of program.