LIFELINE: Keeping Trans Community Care Alive in WNC

What happens when a community lifeline is forced to fight for its own survival?

For 25 years, Tranzmission has advocated for and supported transgender, nonbinary, intersex, and gender-diverse people across Western North Carolina. Today, as attacks on trans rights and safety escalate across the U.S. South, the need for that work is growing while funding shrinks.

In this episode, we talk with Tranzmission’s executive director, Jékksyn Ícaro, about what community care looks like when resources fall short: support groups operating at reduced capacity, a food pantry working to uphold its “food without barriers” promise, and the constant struggle to fund basic operations.

It’s a conversation about mutual aid, solidarity, and what it costs to keep showing up for community.

About Jékksyn: Jékksyn Ícaro (they/them) is a multi-hyphenate human—but first and foremost, an artist. As an organizer and the executive director of Tranzmission in Asheville, North Carolina, Jékksyn weaves creativity, collective care, and community building in service of trans, queer, BIPOC, and other marginalized communities across Appalachia and the South. Their work is grounded in the belief that survival itself can be an act of resistance, and that liberation must include access to safety, food, housing, joy, and belonging. After 13 years with the Tranzmission family, Jékksyn now helps steward the organization’s 25-year legacy of making the lives of gender-diverse people happier, healthier, and safer through advocacy, education, and support.

‼️IMPORTANT‼️ Right now, Tranzmission urgently needs donations to keep its programs and services running. Every gift helps ensure this vital community care remains accessible. Together, we can keep this trans-led lifeline going: www.tranzmission.org. 🏳️‍⚧️ 💜

We'll see you same time, same place next month. Until then, peace.

Transcript

Intro 0:03

We're profoundly, profoundly interconnected. We don't always live that way, we don't always acknowledge it. But if we're going to heal, we have to live it, experience it, and create institutions that celebrate it. Can we create a we when no one's on the outside of it? Welcome to The UPLift with Tzedek, real talk for real change. Before we jump in, a quick reminder of why we're here and what we hope to achieve. We're here to build authentic community relationships and help fuel social transformation in Asheville, North Carolina. We believe collective liberation is not only possible but probable as we share, listen, and learn together. We're here for the process. However, the views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities they represent.

Welcome & Intro

Michael 0:49

Human rights. Sounds simple, right? Not when deciding who counts as human or worthy continues to be a matter of public debate. The strength of a democracy is measured by how it protects the rights of everyone, not just the powerful and privileged. Across the country, transgender people are facing an unprecedented wave of attacks on their rights, safety, and ability to participate fully in public life. Here in the South, where more than one-third of the nation's transgender adults call home, anti-trans policies have become a testing ground for broader efforts to restrict rights and limit participation in public life. What does that look like on the ground? We asked Jékksyn Ícaro. As the executive director of Tranzmission, Jékksyn is leading an organization and meeting growing community needs with shrinking resources. Together, we explore what life looks like for transgender people in this moment, how Tranzmission is navigating today's challenges, and why mutual aid continues to be a lifeline for LGBTQ communities. I'm Michael Hoeben. Welcome to The UPLift.

Michael 1:53

Jékksyn

Meet Jékksyn

Michael 1:54

start us off with a quick intro. Tell us about who you are and why this work matters to you.

Jékksyn 1:59

Yeah, definitely. Okay, my name is Jékksyn and Ícaro. My pronouns are they, them. I am the current executive director at Tranzmission. Tranzmission is one of the oldest trans-led, trans-centered organizations in Western North Carolina to cater to all those who fall under the trans umbrella. Our mission is to make the lives of transgender, non-binary, intersex, and gender-diverse folks happier, healthier, and safer through advocacy, education, and support. And we've been doing that since uh 2021. Uh so we got 25 years under our belt doing that. Um, above all, I would say that I'm an artist. That is like the first thing that I think of when I need to describe myself in BIOS, um, is making sure that that is uh up front and center because that is very core to who I am. And I feel like it explains a lot of how I address my organizing work.

Leadership Journey

Jékksyn 2:50

All of it is through like a creative artsy lens.

Michael 2:53

So, how's that for you being an ED? Oh, is there's not a lot of artistry

Jékksyn 2:57

I just wanted to make stickers. I keep saying that. Like I just wanted to make stickers and now I'm here. It's crazy.

Michael 3:03

So, how did you get there?

Jékksyn 3:04

Um, well, I've been with Tranzmission in some capacity for about 12 years, 12, 13 years now. I started going to support programs back in the day, which is where I met like a good majority of my friends that held me down for like the past decade. Tends to be the experience that I know for a lot of folks. There's kind of cohorts that go through Tranzmission support groups of like, okay, I found my buddies and now like I'm good. We've graduated type thing. But I think I'm gonna start going back to support groups just because like I miss community. And since 2020, isolation is like top, like next level. It's crazy. But anyway, back on track. Uh so support groups, so started attending those, and then I started volunteering, and then I got roped into like going to conferences. And um Zeke, who was the executive director at some of the time and is one of the founders, was like, I'm just gonna send you to these conferences. I was like, I don't even know what I'm doing. I've never been to a conference. And Zeke was like, it doesn't matter, just go. So I'm sitting in these like seminars and these classes and these things, not understanding a word, like the vocabulary they were using, everything. I was like, this is wild and not my bag. Um, I don't know why I'm here, but it's kind of cool. Being around the people is great. It's been an interesting road because in 2020, 2020, right?

Michael 4:19

Yeah, totally.

Jékksyn 4:20

I stopped being a CNA because of the bureaucracy of it all. I couldn't deal with it. Uh, there's a little situation with a little old lady who needed a mattress, and insurance wouldn't give her this specific air mattress that was literally sitting and like collecting dust in a closet. And I was like, I can't actually do this. This doesn't make sense, and it's destroying who I am as a person. So I walked out of being a CNA. And Tuesday Feral, who was the support program's director at the time, was like, well, here's a job at Tranzmission.

Michael 4:48

Congratulations.

Jékksyn 4:48

And I was like, whoa, I don't what? I don't, they're like, just draw stuff. So I did. Um, I like rebranded everything. Uh, we got a new logo, new everything. Um, I make all of our merch, which is like the part of the job that I like the most. Um, I enjoy designing our flyers and like making logos and things like that. Slowly but surely, I moved up from being the arts and cultural director to somehow now I'm the executive director. Uh, don't ask me how I got here. I don't know.

Michael 5:14

Well, I'm glad you're here.

Funding Shifts & Impacts

Michael 5:16

You mentioned support groups. Is that something that Tranzmission still offers now?

Jékksyn 5:20

Yes, yes. Um, we are at a reduced capacity right now. Um, Tranzmission's in a bit of a pickle uh that we're trying to get out of, but we do still offer support groups. We have one general support group a month right now. I want to say it's virtual. Yeah, our support programs director, Jasper, currently is helping me with fundraising, trying to get us uh money in so we can continue to operate.

Michael 5:44

You're going there. Okay.

Jékksyn 5:48

It's the reality of the situation. I want to be transparent about it. I don't want to hide it. I don't want it to be this secret that I feel like none of us can talk about because it's consumed my entire life. It's the majority of what I talk about, and actually, it's entirely what I talk about in my therapy sessions right now. Um like how I keep this legacy going, how I continue to support an entire community that desperately needs it. Because if Tranzmission disappears, then there's a lot of support. There's a there's a vast hole that is left.

Michael 6:19

Yeah. Immediately.

Jékksyn 6:20

Yeah. And our reduced programming is already affecting people. We have reduced our pantry hours uh to like one day a week. We have open pantry hours, I think for two hours on Saturday. But people need food more than that.

Michael 6:35

So right now, the primary focus of your work is on the food pantry and then kind of shoring up sustainability for Tranzmission right now.

Jékksyn 6:43

Correct. We have um the two programs that we kept going are support programs and the pantry, because they seem to be the most dire needs. We still are running the JCC's. I'm sorry, we're still running with the JCC. Um, we have Trans Swim in collaboration with them. Yeah, yeah. It's a great time. People love it. It's one of our favorite events. And like I was, I was ready to cut it because like it's ours, you know. And Jasper was like, actually, can we not? Because Trans Swim gives me life and I enjoy going. And I was like, yes, please. Like whatever brings you life and brings you relaxation, yeah. So we have that one social event that goes monthly now. Um, but everything else has been kind of cut back until we can find some more funding and get that in our pocket.

Michael 7:25

Is this more funding need tied to changes that we're seeing like socio-politically?

Speaker 2 7:31

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. This past year is year and a half actually has been rough. It's been kind of this knee-jerk react, like um, no, whiplash. This whiplash reaction of we had Hurricane Helene, right? And then we had all of this funding come in from Hurricane Helene. It was like unrestricted and like a majority of it we gave back to the community in microgrants, but it allowed us to expand a lot of in a lot of different ways capacity-wise. We started a new program, the Legacy Star House. We ran that pilot for about six months, and then come March 2026, we stopped it so I could reassess and collect the data and analyze that and figure out how we could do it better. But as for us and money, the majority of our income has come from grants. Jen, our previous executive director, my my previous co-executive director, amazing woman. Um, she busted to support us for about six years. Um, and she was like our grant writer. She was Big Mom again, bringing in the money. And this last year, she just couldn't. The grants that we were getting were turning us away, or we were getting half of what we usually got. So trying to figure out funding, um, it's been interesting. Because like you have everything that happened with like the DEI initiative, right? Um, or like the lack of DEI initiative, I should say. So that left a lot of folks who depend on like government funding, basically SOL. So that meant that they flood flooded the the systems and the places that we usually get our money from. So it makes everything a little less. But yeah, so we're fundraising specifically, like from our community has been something we've not been the greatest at historically. Our community's poor. Like, we don't want to take the last few dollars somebody has. Like we give out money, like we give out supplies and things people need. So it sucks to kind of be on the other side of this of like, actually, hey guys, we need you to to throw in some coins this way so we can keep this uh this support system, this vessel of care going.

Michael 9:30

So you're just tapping every resource you possibly can.

Jékksyn 9:32

Yeah, yeah. We're literally trying to find everything. Sometime in September, hopefully, we're gonna have a. I don't know if you remember the "Smash the Cistem" fundraiser that we used to do.

Michael 9:41

I do.

Jékksyn 9:41

Yeah.

Michael 9:42

The car.

Jékksyn 9:42

Yes. Um, well, those drained uh drained us significantly when we tried to throw them and we didn't make anything from them, which sucks. They were a great event for the community, but they weren't bringing in money. So we pivoted from that. There's going to be a "Smash the Cistem" mini kind of thing at the break room. Um, hopefully that will be going up on September, and I'll be able to tell you more dates about that. But it'll be easier on us physically, and somebody else is gonna be like toting the heavy work. Like, I'll just be there, like, hey, congratulations. Here's some information about ours and go break some stuff because we're all angry. Like, yeah.

Michael 10:21

So I hear the word care a lot as you're speaking. And you're even talking, I mean, it breaks my heart. We're talking about fundraising from the very community that needs the services. So this community care piece is really the heart of what Tranzmission does. Am I right?

Jékksyn 10:35

Yeah.

Michael 10:35

So, what does it take to help a community not only survive but thrive in this current condition? What do our trans and gender non-conforming communities need most right now?

Jékksyn 10:46

Yeah. Um, survival means meeting the needs in front of us. Um, thriving also requires trust, belonging, joy, power, and stability. Our community right now needs a lot. Trans people are going through it here. Our support programs, it really sucks that we had to reduce them because it's just an influx of people, specifically around housing. The housing instability in the trans community is astronomical right now, especially in Asheville, North Carolina, with everything that happened with the hurricane. There are still people who don't have houses and places to stay. There are still trans folks who are hopping from couch to couch or living in their cars because their homes were taken from them by a catastrophic event that none of us could have prepared for as things stand right now.

Michael 11:30

Do you feel like Asheville has done an adequate job of holding a trans community and all of this?

Jékksyn 11:37

Um I don't know. Asheville and I have some beef right now.

Michael 11:42

Yeah.

Jékksyn 11:43

With the way things are going, specifically with the housing market and the kind of takeover that's happening. Like we all know gentrification happens and it's been happening here forever. Um, but queer people, trans people are being pushed out of Asheville into more unsafe areas um and the surrounding areas because of cheaper rent. And now, even those places, the rent is skyrocketing. Yeah, I pay like $2,100 for a one-bedroom apartment. Yeah. So things are a little ridiculous. What do we need? What do we need? When you write a grant, right? They want to, they want to know what you're gonna spend this money on. And it's unfortunate that people's lives just don't fit neatly into those categories. Food, housing, healthcare, transportation, safety, and community, these things overlap and affect one another. They're not independent. Everything is interlinked. So when we're writing grants or seeking for things and have to do grant reports at the end of the year, they want to know how we spent this money and if it aligns with what they want us to spend this money on. So trying to figure out how to make that work while also being realistic and meeting the needs of our community. That's a little tricky.

Michael 12:54

Yeah, because proving "impact," right? And yeah, quotes when you're talking about, yeah, well, these 10 people were able to make it, you know, through the next level. Literally this doesn't feel huge, but it actually is huge.

Jékksyn 13:05

Yeah, it's kind of crazy.

Michael 13:07

So

Human Rights & Challenges: Food Pantry Case Study

Michael 13:08

meeting the needs of trans populations meets all the needs of human beings, right?

Jékksyn 13:13

Literally, it's it's not like they're separate. We've been having this conversation with the food pantry specifically, because where we are is prime location for like our houseless population downtown. Over the last year, we've gotten a an influx of like houseless assumed cis folks. Because most of them, like we've had conversations and they don't even know what Tranzmission is or who we are or why they're they're just like good food. We have one of the best food pantries that

Michael 13:38

it's pretty phenomenal.

Jékksyn 13:39

It's it's it's fantastic. Um, it is like you get fresh produce, there's uh diet-specific foods that you can get that you often can't reach or get at another food pantry. Uh, you get to shop like you're you're shopping at a store, and the whole setup feels yeah, too. When we had this, there were a couple of altercations, a couple of instances we had in the office that made like our staff uncomfortable. Um and so we started reflecting on like what does it mean to hold our mission of centering trans folks, but while also holding the humanity of everybody deserves food without a barrier. And that's like the the tagline of the Talya Mazuz's food pantry is "food without barriers." Because it came about of discrimination from other food pantries not allowing like trans and queer folks to just come get food or it being very unhospitable for us to go there. I've I've had to do that in my life, and I'd just, I'd rather not. I'll go hungry, thanks. So when people found out about our food pantry, it was kind of like the floodgates. Let's slow trickle and then quash. So we had to figure out how to balance that. As things sit right now, we're still talking about how we do this. Um, and if anybody has any suggestions, I would like them because Jesus Christ, this has been hard. Trying to figure out how we center trans folks and how we make our office a safe place for trans folks, but also like not having that barrier. So right now we have our pantry. Uh, okay, let's talk about like three months ago instead of right now. Uh three months ago, we had our pantry and what we call membership hours. Membership hours were like for folks who identified as trans, non-binary, intersex, or gender diverse, or we're exploring that identity. And they would happen on Wednesdays and Saturday mornings. And then Saturday afternoons, we would have the open pantry that was open to literally everybody. Anyone and everyone could come. It is still trans-centered, and like you have to be like super chill with trans folks and like us, um, or you can't have bread food. Just kidding. Oh,

Michael 15:30

yeah, it's a trans center, trans-led space, also.

Jékksyn 15:33

Yes, yes, absolutely. Everybody who works here, um, all of our board members, uh, all of our volunteers are all trans.

Michael 15:39

So, what has that been like? Because I I get the challenge and the tension around seemingly taking resources maybe away from our service population, but then also these are human beings that are hungry. Right. That's a tough one. But at the end of the day, you're giving food to people who need food. That's how you guys have rolled. I love that. But then when we talk about the safety challenges, especially now, yeah, at a time when there's just so much anti-trans rhetoric and you know, just straight-on targeted attacks against trans people in an open, it's like an open circus kind of a way.

Jékksyn 16:16

Yep.

Michael 16:16

So, how how are you creating that sense of safety and belonging and holding these the dichotomy of it all, the juxtaposition? Yeah, it's like we're doing a thing that all humans need, but all the humans can't necessarily be in the same space.

Jékksyn 16:32

Yeah, yeah. Um, I think at the end of the day, we haven't really had many incidents within our pantry because again, everybody's there for the same reason. We're all hungry. We all need food, we're all human. Um, and at the end of the day, that's the bottom line. Every single human needs food, needs clean water, needs housing. These are the things that we're trying to provide. We need support, we need community. I think when we talk about the needs of the trans community, it's just not as nuanced as people think. Like, we're just people. We just need basic rights and safety and community and joy and connection.

Beyond Pronouns

Michael 17:07

Do you want to know what drives me crazy? What? Because when trans issues or trans rights issues are simplified down to like using our preferred pronouns. You can call me whatever you want, but can I have like legal equality?

Jékksyn 17:21

Can I can you treat me like a person?

Michael 17:23

Yeah.

Jékksyn 17:24

Like literally that. I just need to pee.

Michael 17:26

Yeah. Like exactly.

Jékksyn 17:28

Can you just give me a room to pee? And I don't care who else is in there, actually. It's crazy that that's where we are politically, and these are the issues that we're fighting about when we have climate change and disasters that are happening left and right. Like, we're not the only uh hurricane that happened that year. That wasn't the only natural disaster. There's places left and right that are decimated because of the climate. But no, sure, uh, Bob, where I pee, that that matters.

Michael 17:53

So, okay, all of that in context. What's one thing about our community that you feel people most often misunderstand? And what do you wish they understood instead?

Jékksyn 18:03

Trans and gender diverse people are not a monolith. Our lives are not only stories of tragedy. We have joy and tension and conflict and messiness and beauty. We're just a little, a little more creative with how we we express ourselves. Um, we've taken the uh uh customize your avatar, um, you know, to levels that other people just like didn't know that they had, that they could. And like, you're welcome. Now you know you can do it. Like you can change your name too.

Michael 18:35

Or not.

Jékksyn 18:36

Or not. Like it's completely fine. I think the intersections get so messy. Like I'm Black and Puerto Rican and Dominican and disabled and neurodivergent and multi-hyphenated human. Um, that's actually how I've started like using in my bios now. I'm I'm a multi-hyphenated human. There's I'm I'm a person. There's complexity. Like, we're just people. And I think it gets really annoying when we get reduced to a political topic. Yeah. Don't scapegoat us. There's a lot of communities that are being scapegoated right now. Our immigrant population is one of them specifically that has my heart right now. And like there's immigrant trans folks. Like, imagine that compounded. To be a person living in the United States who is so discriminated against on many different levels, and like you're just trying to like survive and live your life. And I don't know, I don't make little cartoons or bake pies.

Michael 19:34

Yeah, feed your kids.

Jékksyn 19:35

Feed your kids, man.

Michael 19:38

So we're just people. Just people. And I heard about Helene. And for me, part of what really stands out, and it's in any kind of a huge crisis situation, is how people do come together and we almost start to see each other as just people. Literally that. And we just start taking care of things. And so mutual aid is crucial to that recovery, but also I would say core again to Tranzmission's work.

Jékksyn 20:00

Yes.

Michael 20:00

What

Mutual Aid & Chosen Family

Michael 20:01

does mutual aid mean to you? And what power does it hold, especially for trans and gender non-conforming communities?

Jékksyn 20:07

Yeah. Okay. So the ideation that mutual aid is solidarity rather than charity, sharing resources and responsibility because our survival is connected, all of us. I think around 2020, when I was like doing speeches and doing all the things, like the phrase that kept coming back to me is like, community is what will save us. Um, and time and time again, that is like the core of my reality and my existence. And the only reason that I'm still here is because community, time and time again, has like stepped out and intervened and saved me in some way or another. So, like mutual aid, it's a responsibility.

Michael 20:41

Tell me more about that. I love that.

Jékksyn 20:44

I think if you want to get biblical or whatever, I wasn't raised in any particular religion, but I was raised in the south. So, you know.

Michael 20:52

It flows in.

Jékksyn 20:53

Yeah, I'm your I'm my brother's keeper, I'm my sibling's keeper. I'm not gonna let somebody sit on like there and starve if I have a whole room full of food. That's inhumane and not who I am as a person. And I don't think it's who anybody really is as a person. And if you are like, no, I'm gonna hoard this, there's a reason behind that. And like that needs to be examined. I think mutual aid is a beautiful thing and is an art and a craft of like, okay, I can do this thing. You can do that thing. How can we do this thing over here that needs to be done? For me, it was art. I can do art, I can make portraits and sell them and like um customs and stickers and logos. So, like, that's how I got into all of this of like people being like, okay, can you design this though? So it's just figuring out how your soul shows up in the world and can help. For the trans community, mutual aid continues long traditions of chosen family and direct care when institutions are unsafe, inaccessible, and too slow.

Michael 21:49

Something that makes me really proud of our community is to see really how it's like, okay, we're gonna put our resources together. This person needs tires for their car.

Jékksyn 21:56

Literally.

Michael 21:57

And that's just met.

Jékksyn 21:58

Yep.

Michael 21:58

And then the next need that pops. Pops up, okay. I've got a place for you to stay. Like that is really truly beautiful.

Jékksyn 22:04

Yeah.

Michael 22:04

And I've seen situations where people are like really putting in money, like real resources.

Jékksyn 22:09

Yeah, that coin.

Michael 22:10

Yeah.

Jékksyn 22:11

Um, which is important and desperately needed right now by everybody. Everybody I know is poor and struggling and having mental crises and financial crises, and life happens, and life happens to all of us.

Michael 22:22

It does. And that's really kind. And you're seeing a whole human story there. And what is unique for trans people and you know, LGBTQ people across the board, I think, is that there's a risk of even being uh ostracized from your own your own family.

Jékksyn 22:39

Yeah. Yeah.

Michael 22:40

You know, so it's like really who do you turn to?

Jékksyn 22:43

Chosen family is this magical thing that happens that I don't see outside of like the queer community so much. It just doesn't really happen unless you're in an institution like a church where you have community around you all the time, or there's an institution that you're going to, like school or work, and like that tends to be the social circles that people then run in. But with queer and trans communities, there's this solidarity and like we are sharing this one particular thing. And there's a creativity that is forced upon you. Every single trans person I know has a way of thinking out of the box because we have to. So that makes the mutual aid effort kind of easier in a way, because like there's not these um boilerplate things, there's a whole world outside this box that we can figure out, and we just gotta figure it out together.

Michael 23:28

And like with any group, yeah, things can get well, human, so things can get messy.

Jékksyn 23:32

Oh, yeah.

Michael 23:33

But I also just love like because we're so small in terms of like a percentage of the population, I feel like we've really learned. Yeah, I can't tell you how many people I've dated, and also their exes are part of our dinners. And it's like we're going on vacation with your three exes.

Jékksyn 23:51

Yep.

Michael 23:51

It's just we have to kind of like keep dealing with each other.

Jékksyn 23:54

Yeah, this is gonna date me way back. Well, like the L word chart.

Michael 23:58

Yeah, yes.

Jékksyn 23:59

Um, but yeah, the connections that people have, and they'll be like, Oh, I can't help you in this, but I got like two exes a go. Yeah, let me hit them up real quick. They're a DJ. Yeah, I just I love that. Yeah.

Finding Hope

Michael 24:11

Okay. So despite everything that you're navigating right now, where are you finding hope?

Jékksyn 24:16

Where am I finding hope? Um, I have to say that like within this uh crises that Tranzmission is going through, every single avenue and person and organization that we've reached out to to tell what's happening, they've been like, how can we help? Immediately. Immediately, how can we help? Yeah, it's just been a lot of mutual aid. Yeah. Truly. Yeah. Um, and I love that the organizations that we uh align ourselves with are less philanthropic and more humane. There's there's a humanity and person-ness to the orgs that we work with that is super refreshing. And honestly, I was scared about it. I was like, oh gosh, now I'm the executive director of this organization and that's a 501c3 and philanthropist. Um, so it's like freaking out about all of these like dividends and bottom lines and all of this stuff. But like at the end of the day, people again are asking me, like, how am I doing? Are you okay? When's the last time you turned your brain off and rested? Um, and the people that have been supporting us and helping me through things and holding my hand, um, because I don't have any kind of like formal education, I don't have a college degree. Um, this is not where I was supposed to, this is a side quest from hell. Um, but it just people be people in, man. And it's been really nice. Um outside of that, art. I've been making art again. Is it a little bit out of necessity because I'm scared I'm gonna lose my job and need to make money? Yes. But even when it is that, I'm still making things with my hands, and that is the most important thing for my nervous system, and it's the most regulating thing that I've been able to find. Some people can sit there and meditate. Um, I can't do that. I need to like do things with my hands so my brain will stop working. Um, so that's been really nice. Uh, waterfalls, been going on some hikes, um just taking naps with my cat. And my girlfriend has just been like never in my six years of being on paid staff with Tranzmission have I been able to turn my brain off like I am right now on the weekends.

Michael 26:27

You got a girl and a cat.

Jékksyn 26:28

Yeah.

Michael 26:29

So are you proud of yourself for how you've stepped on?

Jékksyn 26:32

Yeah, actually, like zero hesitation in that, which my therapist is going to be really proud about. Still working on that part, but like whatever. Um, I am. I am proud of myself. This is a situation that I never thought I would be in and never thought I could do. I'm dealing with challenges and things that I do not understand uh in the least, but I'm working through it. I don't know who named Intuit QuickBooks, but it is not intuitive. And that's false advertising. Just saying.

Michael 27:01

Okay.

How to Help

Michael 27:02

So we need some cash. Yes, please. How can listeners plug in, learn more about Tranzmission, and support what you're doing?

Jékksyn 27:09

Yeah, absolutely. We have a Give Butter campaign live on our brand new website. I don't know if you've seen it or not. Um, but yeah, it just went live on Monday. We've been working on that for years. So finally getting it up and going is great. It doesn't look like it's from the early 2000s anymore.

Michael 27:27

I'm looking at it right now. It looks good.

Jékksyn 27:29

Um yeah, all of those graphics are mine. Um, so like we've got a give butter campaign up on there. We're trying to raise, I think it's 50. Oh, I can't remember the number that we did. I think it's 60 actually. $60,000 before October. So we have a PayPal, we have a Cash App, we have Give Butter.

Michael 27:49

$60,000 is way doable.

Jékksyn 27:52

Yeah, come on.

Michael 27:53

Okay, so you said well, we need an actual website.

Jékksyn 27:56

Yeah, www.Tranzmission.org. Sorry.

Michael 27:59

Oh, you gotta spell that Tranzmission.

Jékksyn 28:01

That's right. Uh Tranzmission is spelt with a z in the middle. It's T-R-A-N-Z-M-I-S-S-I-O-N. Awesome dot org. Um, yeah.

Michael 28:14

On that site, there's places to donate.

Jékksyn 28:16

Yeah, there's a little donate button, bottom uh right corner of every screen. We're gonna make sure you got it. You don't need to find it, it's right there. Um yeah, uh we also have an Instagram and a Facebook page. Our Instagram, I believe, is Tranzmission underscore.

Michael 28:32

Okay. Anything else you want to add before we ask you one final question?

Jékksyn 28:36

Um, just a lot of gratitude. Um, so much gratitude like to Tzedek. Um, y'all have been really helpful. I got a meeting next week with uh Tera and the team. Um SVA really showed out. There's just been a lot of partners that we had. Uh Dogwood, my girl Rashida at Dogwood really got our back. Um, and our community members above anything else. I know there's so many of us who are out here struggling and like y'all don't know if you're gonna make it day to day. Um, but there have been those people who like don't know where they're staying at night, but they still show up for us. And I know that's hard as somebody who's been there and done that. Community is gonna show up for community, and that is a beautiful thing, and I will forever be grateful for that.

Michael 29:17

I'm so grateful for you for the work that you're doing. I I really am. I mean, Tranzmission is part of why you've been ended up in Asheville 14 years ago.

Jékksyn 29:24

So many people have said that.

Michael 29:25

It's true. Okay,

Wrap UP: An Invitation to Grace

Michael 29:27

the a final question. If you can leave listeners with one invitation, right? Not just something to believe, but maybe something to actually do, what would that be?

Jékksyn 29:35

Uh, for our org or for like

Michael 29:37

However you want to take that.

Jékksyn 29:39

Let's see. For this moment. Give yourself grace. I'm gonna say that first because I think a lot of us are a little too hard on ourselves, especially right now. There's a lot of causes that are pulling you in every different direction. There's a lot of hurt and pain and sadness and scariness out in the world right now. But I would urge you to give yourself grace because you are also a person navigating this world and having to deal with it. And secondly, figure out where you can plug in. That's gonna make, at least in my experience, make you feel better. When you can see immediate action, uh it gives this little serotonin boost or something, does magical chemicals in the brain. So plug in somewhere, you can plug in with Tranzmission at www.Tranzmission.org. If you would like to volunteer, please click on the little volunteer tab. But yeah, I I'm a firm believer of the ripple effect, that like the small thing that I do will affect other people. And these big what is the word that I'm looking for? These big causes that I can see that are kind of distant from me, but are very important. Um, I affect those by doing the little things that I can touch here um locally.

Michael 30:51

Jkkksyn, you have the heart of a leader and that kind of ethic that is transformative for your communities and you serve and the people that you work with.

Jékksyn 31:02

Thank you.

Michael 31:03

So thank you so much. I appreciate you. You heard it right here. Tranzmission, that's with a Z: T- R- A- N- Z- mission.org. We'll see you same time, same place next month. Until then, peace.