HAWAII'S EMPOWERED ALLIANCE
REACHING TRANSGENDER SERVICES

There are currently no trans-led organizations in the county of Maui, except for the Maui AIDS Foundation support group HEARTS, run by Tiare Sua, a Transgender person and experienced advocate for assisting trans-individuals to gain a wide range of services from hormone replacement therapy to legal name changes. The purpose of the HEARTS program is to provide opportunities for multiple organizations to build their knowledge base and tools for how to provide services that meet the needs of Transgender individuals.
 
Many Transgender people in the community on the three different islands, and from different ethnic backgrounds hear about and come to Ms. Sua for her expertise on how to get name changes, how to request what they need from the medical facilities, from insurance, from legal aid and employers and other barriers that face them. She has educated multiple organizations, such as medical offices, insurance agencies, schools, and police on how to provide fair and sensitive Transgender services, including helping to set up medical clinics for Transgender people. But there is need for broad change and the work of educating organizations on
Transgender needs have only begun.
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​Some of the many goals of the HEART program include; Partnering with medical facilities on how to address the specific needs of Transgender people in care including HIV/AIDS and infectious diseases, for schools on how to work with and serve Transgender students’ mental health and social needs, for law enforcement on how to recognize Transgender needs in encounters with police, for substance use treatment and mental health programs on how to work with more complicated issues of Transgender people that might fuel substance use, homelessness , and suicidality.  
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To learn more please contact Tiare Sua at:
Office: 808-242-4900
Work cell: 808.268.0814
tiare@mauiaids.org