Our Mission
To enrich the health of the trans, queer, intersex and gender diverse communities through trauma-informed care, culturally-affirming services and social justice advocacy.
Our Vision
We envision an LGBTQAI2S+ community, free of stigma, where all have access to high quality healthcare, advocacy and programs. We want to see an empowered healthy community including physical, social, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being.
Values
We employ a Philosophy of Care which articulates our guiding principles. We view pervasive social ignorance, prejudice and stigma towards our communities as the primary source of illness and disease for LGBTQAI2S+ individuals. Poor health outcomes in our community are all directly related to the systematic cultural oppression and stigmatization of LGBTQAI2S+ individuals. This oppression and its detrimental effects are compounded for individuals with multiple oppressed identities.
The Institute's programs and policies are informed by the tenets and practical application of the theories of Health at Every Size, Racial Justice, Anti-Oppression Practice, Economic Equality, and Non-Violent Communication. At the core, our values are advocacy, education, and social justice.
We value inclusivity, service to our community regardless of and with attention to the needs of every gender, sexuality, race, class, ability, size, religion or any identity chosen or assigned.
We value empowerment as individuals and as a community.
We value knowledge, both developing and sharing knowledge of gender/cultural-affirming practices with the goal of growing a network of health care providers and other professionals who are competent with LGBTQAI2S+ needs.
As members of a marginalized community, LGBTQAI2S+ persons face unique medical issues and barriers to accessing culturally competent care. High rates of smoking, drug and alcohol addiction and self-medication, depression, anxiety, suicide, poverty, risky sexual behavior, and poor utilization of health care and social services are disproportionately endemic within our community.
As a legacy to the work of Dr. Marie Equi, we aim to support integrated healthcare, social justice, advocacy and programming for any and all members of the community at large regardless of gender identity, sexuality, race, class, ethnicity, ability, size, or age.
About Us
It is estimated that there are at least 9 million Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual and 2 Spirit (LGBTQIA2S+) people worldwide. Because of institutionalized oppression, LGBTQIA2S+ individuals face a multitude of roadblocks when accessing health care and therefore a wide variety of health disparities. There is a great need for culturally competent, welcoming, and affirming health care for the LGBTQIA2S+ Communities.
Currently, The Equi Institute is administering a community health program for the residents of the C(3)PO villages that is funded by the Oregon Health Authority. We have a small team of community health workers and volunteer nurses that provide community education, basic first aid, wraparound and safety-net services for 100+ residents of the villages.
Equi has 5 years of experience facilitating Oregon’s first Trans & Queer integrative Primary Care Program. Our clinic team conducted over 4000 visits with more than 800 trans, gender diverse, intersex and queer patients. The demographics of our patients were similar to those whom we now serve; Over 70% had state medicaid or no insurance. Many experienced houselessness and/or housing insecurity after moving to Oregon to access gender affirming care not available elsewhere. We often attended to food and housing insecurity, assisted patients in navigating complicated barriers to care, and fiercely advocated for them when they were neglected and discriminated against within larger health systems. We often struggled to meet our community’s needs because of larger systemic issues.
Perhaps the most important lesson from our work in primary care was that healing for our community must address the causes of health inequity. In order to create more resilient and sustainable community health, our work must go beyond 20 minutes of service provision in an office. We must reach beyond the walls of our institution and eliminate the social, racial, and economic roots of injustice to create a healthy community.
Our philosophy of care is uniquely poised to meet and be an exemplary model for the 2020-24 state health improvement plan’s outline for community health services. Our program is innovative, dynamic, and has a solid foundation in both our team of providers and our network of support. We are a trusted community resource, having provided services and resources to the houseless community of Portland intensively over the last year.