Massachusetts Home Offers Safe Haven for LGBTQ+ Mental Health

Anemoni provides a peer-led alternative to traditional psychiatric care

Amidst growing national hostility towards the transgender community, a new refuge has emerged in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Anemoni, an LGBTQ+-focused residential home, offers crucial mental health support from trained staff with shared experiences, providing a safe space during times of crisis.

Unique Peer Support Model

Anemoni stands out as the only home in the United States—possibly the world—exclusively operated by and for trans and queer individuals. Less than 40 programs nationwide provide such peer respite centers as alternatives to traditional inpatient psychiatric care, according to the National Empowerment Center.

According to **Juniper Holt**, Anemoni’s assistant director, “It’s [expletive] terrifying in the world right now.”

Navigating a Hostile Climate

Anemoni’s opening in late April arrives during intensified challenges to transgender rights. Government actions, including those by the **Trump** administration, have terminated medical research grants aimed at improving the health of trans and queer populations. Moreover, the nation’s 988 National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline may discontinue support tailored to the LGBTQ+ community, who face higher rates of mental health issues.

Massachusetts, with its progressive policies, has seen its LGBTQ+ adult population rise to 9 percent in 2022, up from 7 percent in 2016, as reported by the Fenway Institute. This increase highlights the state’s role as a haven for those feeling threatened elsewhere, with that migration poised to increase, as indicated by concerns from **Holt**: “We’re probably going to get more people asking to come here. It makes us more necessary.”

A Welcoming Space

The home features soothing pastel walls and sunlight-filled rooms. Three bedrooms are ready, with two more being furnished. For **Reese Boucher**, the first guest, Anemoni offered a space free from the slurs and judgment he experienced previously. **Boucher**, who identifies as pansexual and is on the autism spectrum, found solace after cutting off friends due to their insensitivity.

“It’s a beautiful experience [to meet people] I can trust being myself around,” he said.

State Support and Services

Anemoni, operated by The Wildflower Alliance, is funded by a $903,000 state contract. Services include short stays (up to two weeks) and a mobile peer respite support team. **Sera Davidow**, the Wildflower Alliance’s director, expresses confidence in continued state support despite federal pressures.

According to **Brooke Doyle**, the agency’s commissioner, Anemoni is “a significant addition to DMH services, serving a community that often faces isolation, depression, threats, violence, and related trauma.”

Alternatives to Inpatient Care

**Boucher** contrasts his Anemoni stay with conventional psychiatric facilities, where “your freedom is immediately stripped from you.” Staff, drawing from their own experiences with inpatient care, highlight the potential for ineffective, dehumanizing, and identity-negating treatments, particularly for transgender individuals.

According to **Jordan Fairchild**, director of the Wildflower Alliance’s social justice network, “People get misgendered, dead named [identified by a name used before they transitioned] harassed in inpatient units all the time, including by staff. We have our hormones taken away from us.”

Peer respite fosters connections with others who have lived with mental health challenges. Unlike traditional facilities, Anemoni allows guests to maintain their routines, see familiar therapists, or visit calming places.

A study of a California peer respite home from 2010 to 2015 showed that people in crisis who stayed at a peer respite home were 70 percent less likely to need subsequent inpatient or emergency services, according to **Bevin Croft**, a researcher for the Human Services Research Institute.

As of 2023, approximately 1.6 million adults identify as transgender in the United States, representing 0.6% of the adult population, according to estimates by the Williams Institute.

Looking Ahead

The Massachusetts legislature is considering establishing peer respite facilities in every county, including one solely for the LGBTQ+ community and two for nonwhite people.

For **Grady**, a resident of Northampton, Anemoni provided a sense of community:

“It makes me feel less weak, less alone, less afraid,” she said.