Paula Lindo – Our histories, stories, present, future.

Safe spaces are important for everyone. They are places they can go to and be ourselves, without fear of shaming or reprisal. For many Trinbagonians, this can be a bar, or a church, or a community centre, etc. For some members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) community in T&T, such a safe space has been CAISO House, located in Belmont, Port of Spain and run by NGO CAISO (T&T’s Coalition Advocating for Inclusion of Sexual Orientation).

CAISO member Krystal Ghisyawan says the building represents a hub for the community, as various LGBTI organizations use it for different purposes. These include both group and individual counselling sessions, for the psychological care that’s lacking in the public health system, as well as group meetings, which help to build the community, and fundraising.
“Without the space, we wouldn’t be able to bring people together in the same way, so we see it as an important fixture for getting people together and having a safe space. The building is important essentially because it allows people who don’t have community to be able to find community. The biggest issue a lot of LGBTI people face is a lack of support and what the space facilitates is creating a community where that support can be found. That’s essential for many adults and just for feeling good about yourself and feeling good as a group.”

Ghisyawan said the group is also working on creating safe spaces elsewhere, including South Trinidad.
However, the Belmont space comes at a cost of TT$7,000 a month, and the NGO has fallen behind on its rent. Ghisyawan said CAISO normally receives international funding for the rent so that services can be run out of the space, but this and other funding channels have dried up for the time being. She said groups such as Friends for Life, I Am One T&T, Women’s Caucus of T&T and others have joined with CAISO to work together to keep the space and use it as a hub for the community.
Various fundraising events have been held and continue to be held towards this effort, which aims to raise US$10,000 to cover arrears and future payments. “We’re looking into different things like throwing a fete, parties, movie and games night, things which are a little more consistent but also smaller, so different size events, again towards community building, different activities that might appeal to different crowds. We want to make the NGO itself sustainable by creating these things that we could repeat, along with the help of the other organizations.”
In addition to fundraising locally, the group has been crowdfunding through an online fundraising platform. As of January 20, the campaign had raised US$4,115 of its US$10,000 goal. It runs until the end of February.
Interested persons can go to http://www.youcaring.com and search for “Save CAISO’s House.” T&T residents can also donate locally by making a branch deposit or online transfer to either of CAISO’s TT dollar accounts: Republic Bank: 180800595001 (should accept online transfers and deposits at any branch) or Unit Trust: 5603696-2 (online transfers may require first requesting to link accounts for transfers). For further information, email caisott@gmail.com or visit their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/caiso.