Apply

Welcome to the Jim Collins Foundation application process. Transition is not one-size fits all. Not every transgender person has a medical need for medically necessary procedures. Clinically appropriate treatments must be determined on an individualized basis with one’s physician. If you and your doctor decide that surgery is part of your transition and you need financial support either because you do not have insurance or because your insurance excludes these medically necessary procedures, please submit your application for consideration for a Jim Collins Foundation grant. (1) Please note that we are an organization run by transgender people and our allies who understand the importance of accessing medically necessary transition-related care. We are working to assist as many people as possible, but, unfortunately, we will not be able to meet everyone’s needs. We recognize that many people have worked extremely hard and have made great sacrifices to cover the costs of their surgeries. We believe that each Jim Collins Foundation grant will be more meaningful if the applicant can demonstrate how they have worked to cover some part of the cost on their own.

The Application Process

Jim Collins Foundation accepts written applications via email at info@jimcollinsfoundation.org, or send mail to P.O. Box 1002, North Branford, CT 06471. Grants are awarded on a rolling basis as our fundraising efforts allow. We will contact you once we have received your application. Any written materials you submit will be held confidential. We may contact you for further information, as needed.

If you meet our minimum criteria, we will then bring your written application before our Selection Committee. If your application is initially approved by the Selection Committee, it will be passed to the final phase of committee review and you will need to make yourself available for an in-person or phone interview with our Selection Committee.

The Criteria for Selection

The Jim Collins Foundation is committed to empowering transgender and gender non-conforming people to speak for themselves, and to live beyond the pathology or diagnosis of Gender Identity Disorder (GID). However, today’s current healthcare and legal systems still require diagnosis of GID to allow many steps of transition, including surgeries. Many legal, educational, and healthcare activists (including members of the Jim Collins Foundation Board of Directors and Advisory Board) are working to bring our social systems up to speed with the needs of our community’s diverse members.

Until these social systems change, the Jim Collins Foundation is required to support recipients in taking steps that will ensure their success in transitioning – emotionally, legally, and socially. This is reflected in the criteria for selection, outlined below.

Criteria for selection include:
Applicant must understand the steps that are currently required to undergo the medical process of transition, and must have completed (or have outlined plans to complete) the following steps:

• • Secure a letter of support from a licensed medical or mental health professional, such as a psychologist, psychiatrist, social worker, or therapist.
  • Select a surgeon who is knowledgeable in transition-related surgeries.
  • Identify who will care for and provide support post-surgery.
  • If applicant has not completed all of these steps, but is planning to do so, please include your plans in your application.
  • Note: If you are selected for funding, the payment will be made directly to the doctor or hospital facility.  You must comply with any and all requirements according to the Standards of Care of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health’s (WPATH), formerly known as the (Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association,  HBIGDA), as determined by your selected surgeon.
• Applicant must demonstrate a genuine need for financial assistance.
• Applicant must detail the efforts they have made to fundraise and the amount of cost that they will be able to cover on their own, if any.
• If applicant has health insurance, applicant must submit a copy of the health insurance plan for our consultants to determine whether or not coverage exists.
• Applicant must be willing to allow his or her personal story of transition to be told publicly on Jim Collins Foundation print and web resources, and possibly at Jim Collins Foundation events, so that we may continue to inspire and educate people about the impact that surgeries can have  on transgender people who require surgery as part of their transition.

The Jim Collins Foundation makes selections for grants based on a combination of demonstrated need and level of preparedness.  We also give special consideration to applicants who do or will contribute  significantly to the Transgender Community, as well as those who have a willingness to promote  further education by allowing their stories to be told.