“This place isn’t available anymore,” is one of the phrases I’m tired of hearing.

I serve as the executive director of the Nationz Foundation, a Richmond area nonprofit that supports LGBTQ individuals through HIV prevention and awareness and community building. One important aspect of our work involves emergency housing assistance for LGBTQ individuals.

I receive calls weekly from people with no place to go. A majority of the calls are from black trans women, a group that is particularly vulnerable because they face multiple kinds of discrimination because of their gender identity and race.

One in five transgender individuals has experienced homelessness at some point in their lives. The problem is even more alarming for trans people of color. Recent data show that 41 percent of black trans people have faced homelessness.

The women we support are facing homelessness for a variety of reasons — from not being able to find employment to unsupportive families who have kicked them out because of their identity. Locating housing for these women is often like finding a needle in a haystack.

The scenario rarely changes: We’re invited to a tour, but when the landlord or management company learns the person is trans, the apartment suddenly is no longer available or the sales associate stops returning our calls.

It’s infuriating to most, but for black trans women, it can be deadly. Black trans women face higher levels of violence than any other minority group in the United States, and not having safe housing makes them especially vulnerable.

Housing is just one of the many struggles of black trans women. Employment and housing go hand in hand.

As a black trans woman, I know this all too well. I transitioned at 17 and was kicked out of my family’s home. I remember pronounced moments of discrimination like the time employees at a popular fast food restaurant ran to lock the front door so a friend and I couldn’t enter. But it was the ongoing refusals by managers to hire a trans woman that left me on people’s couches without a place to live.

Since then, I’ve built a career and a life I’m proud of. My path and experiences inspired me to create the Nationz Foundation so the LGBTQ community, especially people of color, could access services from people who look like them. My goal is to help my community thrive within a system that constantly raises barriers.

We have the opportunity to improve the lives of black trans women in the new year. We must pass comprehensive nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ Virginians in employment, housing and public spaces during the 2020 Virginia General Assembly. These protections are critical because the drumbeat of discrimination never slows down.

Recently, I was at the airport with a female friend who identifies as trans. As she went to use the restroom before her flight, another guest called security. It was distressing and embarrassing for her. Trans people are just like everyone else in restrooms: They want to do their business and leave.

Accessing inclusive health care is another challenge trans individuals face. Quality health care is fundamental to your life experience, but for trans individuals, navigating the medical system is often confusing and upsetting. Could you imagine your family care practitioner telling you they no longer want to see you because of your identity? These things happen in Virginia.

Workplace discrimination and unemployment continue to plague the transgender community, especially black trans individuals who experience unemployment at four times the rate of the general population. Right now, it’s legal to fire someone for being trans.

We all should have the right to earn a living and provide for ourselves without the fear of losing our job because of who we are.

Even with these challenges, my community is powerful and resilient. I hear the stories of strength every week in our support groups like T-Gurlz Rock, a gathering of transgender women sharing their unique experiences. These women courageously navigate and live in a world that actively discriminates against them. We’ve created a sisterhood I’m blessed to be a part of.

I’ll continue to fight for the LGBTQ community every day. During the upcoming General Assembly session, I expect lawmakerstojoinmeinthis fight by passing comprehensive nondiscrimination protections in the workplace, housing and public spaces. Our lives are depending on it.

The writer, a native Richmonder, is executive director of the Nationz Foundation.