March 31 marks Transgender Day of Visibility, a day that highlights the lives and contributions of transgender people. For Lyons, visibility is not abstract. It is measured in care, in presence and in whether someone has support when they need it most.<\/p>\n
Lyons, who was born and raised in Brooklyn and now lives in the Bronx, has been part of the transgender community and its support networks since she was a teenager.\n<\/p>\n
She transitioned at 16, when support systems for transgender people were limited. By her early 20s, she was already leading support groups and doing public health work for other transgender people.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know what it\u2019s like to struggle with internalized transphobia,\u201d she said. \u201cWe think nobody will care for us.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
That understanding has followed her throughout her life and into her current role.\n<\/p>\n
In 2020, Lyons underwent gender-affirming surgery, an experience she describes as the most life-changing moment of her life. But at the time, she had limited support.
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775033742_144_image-1.jpeg\")
Asha Lyons (right) embraces a former client during a meetup with patients she supported through VNS Health\u2019s Gender Affirmation Program. Photo courtesy of VNS Health.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t have anyone who showed me the way,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m happy to be that for others.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, through VNS Health, a nonprofit provider of home and community-based care with more than 130 years of history, Lyons supports patients across New York City and as far as Albany.\n<\/p>\n
Each year, she works with roughly 130 to 200 patients. Over the past four years, that number has reached nearly 1,000.\n<\/p>\n
The Gender Affirmation Program, now in its 10th year, has served more than 5,000 New Yorkers recovering at home after surgery. It is one of the few programs in the country focused on home-based care for transgender and nonbinary patients after surgery.<\/p>\n
For Lyons, much of the work focuses on needs outside of medical care.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cSome people are recovering without any help,\u201d she said. \u201cHow am I going to eat? If my pills fall on the floor, how am I going to reach it?\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Her patients often face food insecurity, unsafe housing conditions and transportation barriers. Some travel alone to follow-up appointments while still healing. Others have no consistent caregiver.<\/p>\n
Lyons helps fill those gaps by directly connecting patients to essentials like food, transportation and household supplies.\n<\/p>\n
Her approach blends lived experience with professional care in a way that resonates deeply with patients.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThey don\u2019t have anyone else who\u2019s been through this,\u201d Lyons said. \u201cBeing able to share both the personal and the professional changes everything.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Many of her patients see her as more than a social worker.
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775033743_965_image-2.jpeg\")
Asha Lyons (right), who serves as vice president of the Bronx Borough President\u2019s LGBTQ+ Task Force, with Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson (left). Photo courtesy of VNS Health.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI sometimes joke that I\u2019m the mother of gender-affirming care in New York City,\u201d Lyons said.<\/p>\n
Her colleagues say that connection is what makes her work stand out.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a clinician, one of the things that makes Asha so exceptional at this work is her ability to draw from a deep well of empathy,\u201d said Dr. Shannon Whittington, clinical director of the Gender Affirmation Program.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor many of those we serve, it may be the first time they\u2019ve felt respected or understood by the health care system.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Lyons was recently named VNS Health\u2019s 2026 Social Services Professional of the Year, an honor she did not expect.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just doing what is a calling,\u201d she said.\n<\/p>\n
Outside of her clinical work, Lyons serves as vice president of the Bronx Borough President\u2019s LGBTQ+ Task Force, where she helps advocate for expanded access to affirming care across the city. She is also pursuing a doctorate in social work at Tulane University, where her research focuses on gender-affirming care.<\/p>\n
Still, she says the work remains urgent.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t want to go back to what life used to look like for trans people,\u201d Lyons said.\n<\/p>\n
On Transgender Day of Visibility, Lyons hopes people look beyond visibility itself and consider what it means to truly support transgender lives.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are people who care about you,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople who are looking out for you, even when you don\u2019t see it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Kylie Clifton is a contributing writer at the Bronx Times and a data journalism student at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She can be reached at\u00a0kylie.clifton23@gmail.com<\/a>\u00a0or (269) 615-0800.\u00a0For more coverage, subscribe to our\u00a0newsletter<\/a>\u00a0and follow us on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>,\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Instagram<\/a>!<\/p>\n