Reality TV star and trailblazing LGBTQ advocate Ts Madison is serving up more than sass — she’s serving life-changing opportunities for Black trans women who’ve been behind bars. In a bold move to disrupt the cycle of incarceration, Madison has opened the “TS Madison Starter House” in Atlanta — a safe space for formerly incarcerated Black trans women to reclaim their futures.
Unveiled on Transgender Day of Visibility, the house welcomes five residents into a 90-day reentry program that blends practical help with radical care: job training, GED prep, life-skills coaching, gender-affirming healthcare, nutrition education, and individualized therapy. It’s a full-course meal of healing, with no crumbs left behind.
“This is about providing not only shelter but access to opportunities they’ve been denied,” Madison said. And when Ts speaks, the girls listen — because she’s been there too. Madison has never shied away from talking about her past struggles with homelessness and survival sex work, making this project both personal and political. “I wanted to teach them how to be successful without relying on their bodies but on their other gifts,” she added.
Black Trans Women Deserve More Than Just Survival
Let’s get one thing straight — or rather, queer it up: Black trans women are some of the most marginalized people in America. They’re eight times more likely to experience homelessness than their cisgender straight peers. And when that’s the case, survival sex work becomes less a choice and more a necessity. The system doesn’t just fail them — it actively targets them.
Enter the Starter House: an unapologetically queer, Black, and empowering solution that skips the government red tape. Madison made it crystal clear: “This is funded by the people, for the people. Even with the government cutting funding, we don’t need them. We have each other. It’s kind of like an underground railroad.”
Madison isn’t doing this alone. Dominique Morgan, executive director of Black and Pink and a formerly incarcerated trans woman herself, teamed up with Madison to make the dream real. “This project isn’t just about housing — it’s about creating a space where Black trans women can thrive, not just survive,” Morgan said. And the programming? “Extremely robust,” she noted, with a customized approach for each resident. “We don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all model.”
Reimagining Reality — Minus the Trauma
Of course, this wouldn’t be a Ts Madison production without some cameras. But don’t expect the Starter House to be a mess of reality TV drama. Madison insists the docuseries in production will center “transformation, not trauma.” She said, “We’re not doing it like a ‘Baddies.’ These are the girls overcoming. These are the triumphs.”
The house also partners with NAESM, Inc., which provides critical HIV/AIDS healthcare to Atlanta’s queer community. Monroe Alise, an activist and actor working with the org, said it best: “Through this, we’re ensuring Black trans women have the tools to move beyond survival and into stability.”
A Model for the Future
Madison’s reentry home is more than a local effort — it’s a template for what radical, community-rooted care can look like in a country that routinely fails trans people. By stepping up when the government steps out, Madison and her collaborators are offering not just beds and meals, but dignity, autonomy, and a future worth dreaming of.
The LGBTQ community, especially the most vulnerable within it, needs more of this. Not performative allyship, not empty promises, but actual infrastructure that says: we see you, we support you, and we’ll walk with you every step of the way.
Ts Madison’s Starter House isn’t just housing — it’s hope, it’s healing, and honey, it’s about damn time.