T4T Repairs Is a Trans Construction Organization Building Community From the Ground Up

These trans handypeople are going Tool 4 Tool.

A new home repair company, owned by two transgender construction professionals, has opened in Atlanta, per local LGBTQ+ publication Georgia Voice. The two professionals behind the nonprofit, who go by Nicky and Sam, formerly worked as part of the organization Queer Hands, a collective of queer people who provide home services. Per the Voice, Nicky and Sam requested that their last names not be used in the reporting.

While Queer Hands focused on help around the house, including painting, automotive care and cleaning, Nicky and Sam’s new venture, T4T Repairs will focus entirely on construction “to focus on workforce development for trans and gender non-conforming folks while continuing to provide reasonable priced carpentry, repair, design, demo, and general handy they work,” according to their website. Per the Voice, the T4T in the name of the nonprofit, which can often mean “trans 4 trans” in dating parlance, here means “Trans 4 the Trades.”

“I think that there’s a lot of room for a lot of queer people doing a lot of things,” Nicky told the Voice. “We wanted to create T4T to center skill, accountability, community, and respect for both the works and the clients and have a safe and encouraging space for trans people and gender non-conforming people to work and feel more honored than tolerated, let alone hated.”

Courtesy of the subjects

The duo opened T4T Repairs in April, per the business’s Instagram account. Per their inaugural post, not only will they focus on helping clients with repairs, the 501(c)3 nonprofit will also focus on training trans people who want to learn construction skills.

“Building something different is not easy, nor will we be doing it perfectly, but we [want] to invest in our kin, in their futures, and into the next seven generations,” the inaugural post reads. “Being in community is a reciprocal act that takes an exchange of emotional, mental, and physical labor and the work to push back against individualism. This is the kind of work you do at all stages in life; in joy, in grief, in abundance, and in lack.”

The post continued, “Resources are a shared value vs an extractive commodity. This directly opposes white supremacy culture and capitalism. To build something within it structures while using different tools will take a lot of vulnerability, communication, repair, and self reflection. It takes an investment in ourselves and each other.”

Many of the duo’s upcoming plans focus on building the next generation of trans repairpeople. Per the Voice, they plan to launch an apprenticeship program in 2027, in partnership with the Trans Housing Coalition, to teach trade skills to trans and gender nonconforming people who are dealing with homelessness. They will also soon offer workshops on accessible repairs and home weatherization alongside Southerners on New Ground, a social justice organization based in the U.S. South.

Courtesy of the subjects

“As trans people, it’s unfortunately a privilege to survive,” Nicky told the Voice. “It really shouldn’t be that way, it shouldn’t be so crazy, but we really are trying to create groundwork for a future where gender non-conforming people can thrive, where they can be in community.”

According to Sam, one-half of T4T Repairs, the business will not only look to bring a sense of safety to clients’ homes, it will also offer them a sense of safety in the construction business. “Every single place that I have worked has been in general toxic, extremely misogynistic, transphobic,” Sam said. “It’s just a very boxed-in environment in every way. You really can’t be yourself if you are in any way gender non-conforming, a person of color, a woman.”

Though it’s not exactly known how many people in the U.S.-based construction industry identify as LGBTQ+, it is well-established that they face discrimination in the industry’s workforce. A 2021 report from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research found that 19% of LGBTQ+ tradeswomen who responded said they faced discrimination at work. U.K.-based surveys have found rampant LGBTQ+ discrimination in trade industries, as well. A 2024 U.K. based poll of LGBTQ+ trade workers found that one in two experienced workplace discrimination, while a 2018 U.K. survey found that 28% of LGBTQ+ construction workers faced discrimination on the job.

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