Editor’s Note: This post was written by Louraca, a member of our Safe Bar Collective job training program. We have lightly edited her work for clarity.

I’m a former sex worker who is enrolled in the CASS program because I seek a more stable life. I turned my first trick at the age of 16 while being on my own in the streets. As a young transgender woman there weren’t many options for me. I grew up in Charlotte, NC where being transgender in that time was considered taboo. There wasn’t any support for housing, employment, or even safety for that matter. My best friend went out at night and made dates and often told me about the good money and good times she was experiencing in this field. I thought I could never do that, but then one day I realized that I already was just in a different sense. What was ever the problem with me having consensual sex with someone and getting cash for it. As I tried to find my way, I turned my first date after hanging out with friends just for fun on a strip.

The money came in big handy at that time cause I was truly struggling and no one wanted to give me a chance. As I picked up the pieces to the puzzle I found myself in Atlanta, Georgia, but still housing and employment for me as a black trans women was very difficult. I was homeless, hungry, and my only way was sex work because it was the best means of support for any kind of stability I could hope for. Things still got ruff because I developed an extensive criminal history along the way for prostitution, loitering for the purposes of prostitution, and even a crime against nature because I was told it was unnatural for me to have any relation with a man because I wasn’t born a woman.

I got into drugs to numb the pain of the things I was experiencing and had to go through to get the things I needed. Drugs began to take me down because people began to respect me less and disrespect me more. No one cared. I tried my hand with project empowerment and it didn’t work because there were many hoops to jump through and no real employment that was guaranteed. After being arrested and being charged with attempted robbery because a trick said I tried to rob him after we had sex and he didn’t wanna pay as agreed. I later went to project empowerment and got some job training but was never permanently hired. I had received a housing voucher after being being homeless on the streets for more then 10 years. However I found an apartment and was arrested the day I was to sign my lease. I lost my voucher and all chances of being employed and sentenced to 10 months in the federal correction system because a trick said I robbed him and it was the police and his word against a career criminal prostitute.

When I was released again, I was released to nothing. I was about to try project empowerment again but then a old friend contacted me named Nona and referred me to CASS and it was the best thing that has ever happened to me. I’m not completely stable right now but am better then ever. I’m able to reach back and do everyday things to help those still deep in the struggle. I canvassed around NoMA Gallaudet to get support on the decriminalize sex work bill. I was actually able to get lots of people’s attention and support for what’s going on in our community. It made me feel good, like I was making a difference and giving back.

CASS has gotten me a long way when I had no way allowing me to do what was already deep inside, allowing me to speak up and speak out about the struggle I came from. CASS gave me an opportunity for employment, stability, direction, and education. So that I may be a good productive citizen of society. Without CASS I don’t know where I’d be. CASS has also been a great source of networking when I was in a time of need. CASS was there and should be allowed to be with someone else just like me.