In October, Parivar Bay Area — an organization dedicated to supporting trans immigrants — opened its doors during Diwali.

The brightly decorated office in downtown San Francisco was packed with friends, supporters and several elected officials, including Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, director of the city’s Office of Transgender Initiatives Honey Mahogany and representatives from Supervisor Bilal Mahmood and Mayor Daniel Lurie’s offices. 

Nine months later, Parivar is struggling to keep its doors open. 

A majority of the organization’s funding comes from the city, co-founder Anjali Rimi explained.

San Francisco’s Human Rights Commission awarded Parivar in 2023 as part of its “LGBTQI+ and Various Communities Grants.” Parivar also received funds through a city grant and a two-year state grant administered to The LGBT Asylum Project through the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development, according to spokesperson Anne Stanley. 

However, the group did not receive financial support from the city last year or this year, and now, funding has been “exhausted fully,” Rimi said.

“I have poured my blood, sweat, tears, and taken on so much hate and so much love at the same time,” she said. “I’m hurting. I’m grieving.” 

Decorations from Parivar Bay Area’s inaugural Diwali celebration in October hang in the organization’s office in San Francisco on July 21, 2026.

The organization has been in operation since 2018, and describes itself as a trans-led organization centering Indian, South Asian and Global South transgender, gender-diverse and intersex immigrants and asylees. Among its services are immigration and resettlement support, legal clinics partnered with Okan Law and a leadership development program that has over 200 graduates. 

But all of those programs have “been at a standstill” since April, according to Rimi. 

“The hardest part is not that Parivar Bay Area wasn’t funded,” she said. “It’s knowing what the decision means for people who depend on us.”

“With a rent increase from our space, we are looking like we need to move out if the place gets sold or we are told to move out,” Rimi said.

Parivar Bay Area, she said, had been advocating early in the year for city support. Though Rimi acknowledged that the state of public funding “is very tight these days” — especially for LGBTQ+ organizations, which saw some funding restored during the budget process — she said that Parivar Bay Area did not get a sufficient chance to make its case to leaders.

“I felt shocked,” Jha said.

A spokesperson from the city’s HRC, Devi Zinzuvadia, confirmed that a representative from Parivar took part in meetings. 

Zinzuvadia said this period saw “critical funding gains and other positive outcomes for many trans-led and trans-serving organizations across San Francisco.” 

“OTI continues to work with all partners — including Parivar, the Mayor’s Office, the Board of Supervisors, and City departments — to best serve and advocate for the needs of trans residents,” Zinzuvadia said.

Parivar Bay Area’s office in San Francisco on July 21, 2026.

Stanley echoed this statement, saying that “MOHCD remains committed to supporting transgender and immigrant communities and will continue working with partner organizations to ensure essential services remain available.”

Rimi said right now, Parivar is seeking $1.1 million — or at least $675,000 — and is reaching out to public officials like Lurie, philanthropists, corporate partners, and other nonprofits for support. The group is also seeking help from the community, and will be fundraising at events like Bhangra & Beats Night Market, selling jewelry, saris and other accessories. 

“We remain hopeful that Mayor Lurie will do right by us as well as he has done right by many, many organizations,” Rimi said. She added that officials like Mandelman, who also serves as the Board’s President, have been supportive during this time.

“Parivar Bay Area fills a role no other organization does — it’s the only trans-led group focused on South Asian and Global South trans immigrants,” Mandelman said in a statement to KQED. “Building that kind of trust and infrastructure took years, and it’s important to do what we can to keep it in place.”

Jha said the experience of an asylum seeker can be isolating and “extremely soul-crushing.”

“This land — which is supposedly a land of opportunity and liberation, but really everybody is rowing their own canoe in waters that are murky and dangerous,” they said. “You are crushed in this absolutely confusing and terrifying maze of legality which can completely upend your life in a second, as you can see with this administration.”

“On top of that is the fact that you don’t see anyone like you,” they said. “There’s no one around you. Who do you talk to about the stories you’ve left behind?” 

Parivar’s work, and Rimi herself, have been recognized and awarded many times by the city — including during the opening Diwali ceremony in October. 

And while “that visibility is meaningful,” said Rimi, “that’s not matched for the investment that happens for these particular intersectional folks who need support.”

“We’re not asking to be remembered after we are gone,” she said. “We’re asking for the chance to keep serving those vulnerable folks while we’re still here.”