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Providing resources about the process, connecting youth with organisations that can help and assisting with the cost of making these important changes, Naming New Zealand came to life like all good ideas do, over a cup of coffee.
Jevon Wright has been a volunteer facilitator for trans youth support group Tranzform, for the past two years, saying it was over a cup of coffee with two of the amazing lawyers at Community Law Wellington that Naming New Zealand was born.
Jevon says the lawyers were keen to help trans youth in a high-impact and focused way; “We thought that providing direct help, and creating online resources for youth to update their identity documents, could be a small and easily accessible chunk of work that we could work on together as a team.
“We've had access to excellent people and resources that has made this a reality.”
Trans youth navigating the process of document changes have been incredibly supportive and thankful that there is help available says Jevon, “It's been really heartwarming to see the reactions of youth, when they find out that money might no longer be the barrier to them living their lives. We're hoping that they can instead focus on who they are and who they want to be.”
Jevon says it’s not just the youth who are supportive of the initiative but there are allies around every corner. “We've been really touched and inspired by the support from the non-trans community, as well, who helped us make our launch event and clothing sales both huge successes. Thanks to their support and donations we've secured enough funding to support youth through our grant rounds this year.”
Naming New Zealand may be a little team but they have a big heart, with the immediate goal of securing enough regular funding to support trans, gender diverse and intersex youth into the future, they’ve set up a Givealittle page to look to the public for support.
Currently focused on the wider Wellington region, they run regular fundraising events and are looking for sponsorship and partnership opportunities to help them expand to the rest of the country.
“This totally depends on how much support we can get from other communities,” says Jevon. “Ideally we'd help form a small fundraising team in each town to raise funds for the youth in that region, and form relationships with their community law centres to help the youth through the process of updating their documents. For now we're focusing on Wellington while we learn.
“We also want to encourage self-sufficiency and accessibility for as many people as we can - you shouldn't need to receive a grant, or live in a major city, to update your identity documents. Therefore we’re developing DIY resources and guides on our website.”
Entirely financially supported by the wider community and families of youth Jevon says they feel “incredibly well-supported and thankful for everyone's support in our goals!”
Without the support of those around them, the charity may have never have come to life Jevon says.
Youth who are looking for support can apply for the next round of funding grants by visiting the Naming New Zealand website, applications close 30 November.
You can check out the Givealittle page at https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/namingnewzealand2/
