Dustin had been homeless for three years.
He sought shelter in vacant apartment buildings where a friend worked in construction, found shelter on the L, and began staying in a friend’s garage. But after a while, the building was sold to new owners.
“I remember standing in the garage, crying and praying to God. Am I going to move out of a garage into a utility room?” he said.
As he began to collect his belongings and move to his next option — a friend’s basement utility room — he wasn’t sure what would become of himself.
The next morning, Dustin got a call from Life is Work.
Three months later, he moved into an apartment.
Dustin is one of hundreds of clients of Life is Work, a trans-led organization that is dedicated to empowering and educating people with gender diverse backgrounds. The organization helps people from food and clothing assistance, to non-medical case management and housing referrals. Austin Weekly News is using Dustin’s first name only to protect his identity because he fears for his safety.
Life is Work provides stable housing services, workforce development services, HIV and STI testing and prevention, and non-medical case management for people seeking housing, employment, and support for navigating government assistance programs.
Zahara Bassett, founder and executive director of Life is Work, opened the non-profit organization in 2021. Now, the organization has expanded into a new location on Cicero Avenue, bringing support and resources for the LGBTQ+ community on the West Side and further. Life is Work primarily supports the trans-community, but they help anyone who is in need of their services.
The new location at 600 N. Cicero Ave., celebrated its grand opening Dec. 1, in honor of World Aids Day. All of Life is Work’s services and programs are still operating virtually.
For Dustin, the phone call he received changed his life. Last September marked one year since he moved into the housing Life is Work helped him secure. Over that time, he said Life is Work supplied winter clothing, kitchenware, blankets and food packages, as well.
“I got tired of being a burden on people… so I don’t know what I would have done. So personally, it saved my life,” he said.
Dustin, 48, has struggled with depression for a long time, and said he didn’t have any income to afford basic necessities for three years. After securing housing last year, he’s been on the road to “making a full turnaround” he said. He said he still struggles with depression and physical health issues, but now, he said, he has the stability to work on improving himself and find employment.
Bassett said the organization had operated out of small and dilapidated 750-square-foot office spaces for the past four years. Now, they’ve moved into a 2,600-square-foot space in Austin.
“With the size that we have moved into, we’re able to provide quality services and we don’t have water dripping on our heads,” Bassett said. “We were really in a ‘slumlord’ situation for four years.”
Bassett said the move will allow them to scale up their holistic-centered services and provide a better space for their employees and clientele alike.
They plan to hire 10 community outreach workers to start a prevention outreach program, include full security around the new property, expand their clothing and food pantries and create a small library space. Bassett said they are also bringing in a wraparound medical service provider for hormone medication services.
Life is Work was referred by State Rep. La Shawn K. Ford to rent the space on Cicero from the Westside Health Authority.
Maria’h Foster, the program director, said that although Life is Work is an agency that provides services to gender diverse individuals, their services are for anybody who walks through its doors. She said the new space will only expand the broad range of clients and services it provides.
“It’s one thing to be able to deliver services and to impact over 800 persons in such a small space, but now that we are growing we’re able to expand our reach and expand our touch in how we deliver services,” Foster said.
According to the Life is Work 2023 impact report, more than 400 people were serviced last year through their programs including non-medical case management, free I.D. services, food and clothing pantries and housing referrals.
Life is Work leads the acronym “LGBQ+” with a “T” — “TLGBQ+” — to put more emphasis on the trans-health and support services they provide. Bassett said for her, it pays respect to prominent transgender leaders in the LGTBQ+ rights movement, such as Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera.
Charles Carter, a client of Life is Work, has received housing assistance service since January, after switching over to Life is Work from another social services program. After Carter’s rent was increased $300 at his previous apartment, he couldn’t afford to live there anymore. With no other option, he began living out of his car as he pursued housing assistance.
“It was really hard, because I’ve never been homeless before, so it was a real life adjustment,” Carter said.
Carter, 32, had been looking for new housing and living out of his car for two months. Then, Life is Work helped him secure housing. Carter has been living in an apartment since the beginning of October.
“I finally got a place where I can lay down and actually restart my life. It was a breath of fresh air,” Carter said.
“I thought I was at my wit’s end and I hit rock bottom before Life is Work helped me out,” he said. “Don’t give up. Keep trying, because when there’s 1,000 ‘no’s, there’s always that one ‘yes’.”
Bassett said expanding into the new space in Austin means liberation for their mission and impact on the West Side.
“It’s such a desert when it comes to behavioral health … we need more providers when it comes to behavioral health for the West Side, and that’s what Life is Work is trying to bring to the community,” Bassett said.