We uplift our community through our Gender Affirming Clothing Takeaway as a part of the East Central Indiana (ECI) Trans Alliance and have informally connected individuals for short-term housing. Various individuals and organizations fundraise throughout the year and we do our best as a business to partner, contribute, or signal boost these requests. To date, we have held events to contribute percentage of proceeds to Planned Parenthood, gender confirmation surgeries (GCS) for individuals in the community, and student conference fees coverage.

5. Pay employees above minimum wage

We pay employees above minimum wage while also giving them the full amount of tips earned. We communicate regularly and often and allow for employees to take mental health days without punishment. In turn, our employees give us their very best and they are some of our biggest supporters in terms of word of mouth promotion.

6. Allow Employees ownership of skill sets to utilize and showcase in the shop

We have artists who illustrate and take photographs. We have LGBTQ+ advocates who moderate panel discussions. We have social media influencers who weave our story in with their own. We have education majors who develop events that have a “curriculum” and writers and editors bring some of their projects to display on our bookshelves. We craft job experiences for them that allow for their resume to be filled with meaningful opportunities to grow in the field they are aiming to join upon graduation. Most recently, our employee Sydney Teare created the featured illustration for Cheri’s podcast creation, 1985 The Podcast.

7. Education – queer library

An important part of creating a safe space is including resources to allow for a person to grow and learn. We have an extensive, evolving, and growing library of queer and gender literature that allows for an exploration for anyone who has questions or interest in these subjects. For folx who are discovering more about what pronouns fit them to parents who are learning how to engage a child who has come out and to those who are already out but want to connect to more of our history or past research, we have a range of books that can address those topics.

8. Education – chocolate tastings for entire community