Trans Healthcare Training Fund
Minnesota Makes Historic, First-of-its-Kind Investment in Gender-Affirming Healthcare
PFund Foundation awards $715,000 to expand access for transgender & gender nonconforming Minnesotans
(Minneapolis, MN) - August 18, 2025 - PFund Foundation, the only LGBTQ+ foundation serving the Upper Midwest for the last 38 years, is proud to announce a historic investment in gender-affirming healthcare. Family Tree Clinic, Children’s Minnesota, and a third Twin Cities-based healthcare provider (who has chosen to remain anonymous for safety reasons) will each receive approximately $240,000 to expand access to abundant, affirming healthcare for transgender and gender nonconforming (GNC) communities.
This $715,000 investment is a first of its kind and comes after Minnesota became a “Trans Refuge” state in 2023. Since then, demand for gender-affirming medical care has grown significantly. In partnership with the Minnesota State Legislature, PFund Foundation secured this funding in the 2024 legislative session to give healthcare providers the resources they need to expand services. After a rigorous community review, the grants are being distributed to organizations prepared to meet this urgent demand.
Together, these awards will:
Reduce the waitlists for gender-affirming care by more than 500 patients;
Shorten wait times under than 1-year;
Double the number of healthcare providers trained in affirming Trans and GNC healthcare across the state.
Each grantee is pursuing a unique, transformative approach:
Family Tree Clinic will expand care to rural Trans and GNC communities across Minnesota.
Children’s Minnesota will launch the nation’s first Youth Gender Care Fellowship—a model for the future of medical training.
The third organization will increase access to underserved Trans and GNC BIPOC communities in the Twin Cities metro area.
Fifteen eligible organizations were invited to apply. A six-member community review panel comprised of trans healthcare experts and people with lived experience conducted two rounds of evaluations to select the three grantees. All recipients have established gender-affirming care programs grounded in best practices and informed by community needs. In addition to grant funding, PFund Foundation will provide ongoing cohort networking opportunities for these organizations and their healthcare providers.
“PFund Foundation is making the largest fund distribution in its 38-year history, and I am proud it will support our Trans and Gender Expansive community,” said Aaron Zimmerman, PFund Executive Director. “Here in Minnesota, we are putting real dollars behind the promise of being a welcoming state. We owe special thanks to our legislative allies Representative Leigh Finke and Senator Erin Maye Quade for securing this appropriation alongside legislative leadership and the Queer Caucus.”
A physician in Family Tree Clinic’s Midwest Trans Health Education Network affirmed, “Becoming part of a medical community dedicated to life-saving gender-affirming care has been invigorating to me as a physician...I can now be a resource and advocate for my patients and their families, and offer care in an environment that is familiar and accessible to them.”
To learn more about PFund Foundation and its ongoing impact across the Upper Midwest, please visit www.pfundfoundation.org.
Contact:
Aaron Zimmerman
Executive Director
612-870-1806 | aaron@pfundfoundation.org
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ABOUT PFUND FOUNDATION
PFund Foundation builds equity with LGBTQ+ communities across the Upper Midwest by providing grants and scholarships, developing leaders, and inspiring giving.
In 1987, a collective of Minneapolis-based LGBTQ+ folks was raising money to support urgent needs facing people affected by the HIV/AIDS crisis. No existing foundation would work with them, so they created their own–a foundation by and for the LGBTQ+ community. Over the last thirty-eight years, PFund Foundation has awarded millions in scholarships, grants, and sponsorships to LGBTQ+ students, non-profits, and small businesses across the region.
