Holding Each Other Close: Resourcing Trans Spiritual Care
Text Reads: "Holding Each Other Close: Trans Spiritual Mentorship Project" Graphic Design, Candi Martinez.
"We need joy as we need air. We need love as we need water. We need each other as we need the earth we share.” Maya Angelou
Every week, it feels like the blows land harder. Another law. Another ban. Another headline designed to make the air tighter in our lungs, to make the ground less steady under our feet.
And still, our people rise. They stitch the fabric of a future that will hold us all.
But no one can do this alone.
That’s why BPF is raising funds for Holding Each Other Close — a six-month circle of spiritual friendship and mentorship, kalyana mitta led by and for trans, Two-Spirit, non-binary, and gender expansive Buddhist teachers, healers, and mentors.
This summer, your donation will help us offer this space of spiritual care and kinship — so that trans, Two-Spirit, non-binary, and gender expansive movement leaders on the frontlines can be nourished, steadied, and reminded they don’t have to carry it all alone.
They’ll receive care packages. They’ll have one-on-one time with spiritual mentors. They’ll practice in community. And they’ll be resourced with wellness stipends to rest, to heal, and to return to their people whole.
At the heart of this circle are the guiding teachers, who embody the collective wisdom to steady and inspire us...
☾ La Sarmiento
For 16 years La Sarmiento has served as the guiding teacher for the Insight Meditation Community of Washington’s People of Color and LGBTQ Sanghas, and for 8 years guided the Garrison LGBTQIA+ retreats. La’s relationship with Vipassana has been going strong for over 23 years. Known for writing dharma spoof songs to help us take life less seriously, La also takes refuge in building Lego when the going gets tough.
☾ Kai Cheng Thom
Kai Cheng Thom is an award-winning author, performer, and practitioner in the fields of trauma healing, professional coaching, somatics, dialogue facilitation, and conflict transformation. She is a widely published author in multiple genres — her nonfiction essay collection I HOPE WE CHOOSE LOVE: A Trans Girl's Notes From the End of the World received the Stonewall Honor Award, and her poetry collection Falling Back In Love With Being Human: Letters to Lost Souls was an instant Canadian bestseller.
☾ Jacoby Ballard BPF’s own Board President, Jacoby Ballard is a social justice educator and yoga teacher devoted to building resilience in queer and trans communities. For nearly two decades, he has taught Queer and Trans Yoga — a space for unfurling, healing, and cultivating strength — while leading workshops, retreats, and teacher trainings nationwide.He is the author of A Queer Dharma: Yoga and Meditations for Liberation (2021), and continues to braid together practice, justice, and collective care in every space he teaches.
Together, our teachers bring decades of experience in Buddhist practice, trauma-informed care, and trans movement leadership to guide this circle. They will hold the container with tenderness, steady presence, and the joy that keeps our movements alive.
Here’s what you’ll be funding:
⋆˙Honoraria for trans, gender expansive, and two spirit mentors providing 1:1 direct support to leaders
⋆˙Honoraria for guiding teachers Kai Cheng Thom, La Sarmiento and Jacoby Ballard
⋆˙Care packages, ceremony offerings, and the gentle logistics of care
⋆˙Three live gatherings for reflection, integration, and celebration
⋆˙Wellness Stipends- So leaders receiving 1:1 sessions can also access therapy, bodywork, rest, and other vital forms of healing during their six-month journey.
⋆˙⟡Admin + Operational Support: The sacred behind-the-scenes labor that often goes unseen—emails, scheduling, outreach, and coordination
If you believe in the power of the Dharma to support clarity, creativity, joy, and courage in the current political moment — Give today.
And if you have more to give, let your love ripple outward:
⋆˚ Make an extra gift this year, above and beyond your usual support, to meet this urgent need.
⋆˚ Invite a friend, dharma sibling, or beloved to give alongside you.
⋆˚ Share this call in your sangha, on your socials, in your group chats.
Because when we resource our people, we carry each other across the hard edges of this world. And in the face of forces that seek to break us apart — we choose to hold each other close.
Daní with Kate
