Casa Chama

Casa Chama is a Brazilian civil society organization focused on supporting transgender and transvestite people, with its work centered in São Paulo. Founded in 2018 by Matuzza Sankofa and Digg Franco, the organization emerged to address the overlapping legal, healthcare, housing, employment, educational, cultural, and personal-safety needs faced by trans communities. Its role combines direct assistance with public advocacy: Casa Chama helps individuals navigate services and rights while also denouncing human-rights violations and challenging the structural exclusion experienced by trans people in Brazil. The organization’s assistance model has included housing support, referrals and access to healthcare, legal guidance, employment-related support, educational initiatives, cultural programming, and safety assistance. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Casa Chama delivered more than 2,000 assistance services, helping trans people maintain access to essential support and exercise their rights during a period of heightened social and economic vulnerability. In 2020, it provided housing aid to approximately 70 people and supported ongoing medical care for about 250 others through a partnership with UBS–Centro de Saúde Escola Barra Funda, a teaching health center in São Paulo. Casa Chama’s work has been particularly directed toward people facing severe social vulnerability. In 2021, the organization assisted approximately 350 people; available descriptions indicate that around 90 percent were from São Paulo and approximately 85 percent were living in conditions of severe social vulnerability. Its direct and remote initiatives were estimated to have reached about 183,000 people by that time, a figure that reflects both service delivery and broader outreach rather than only the number of individual beneficiaries receiving intensive case support. Financial sustainability has been a recurring challenge. In 2021, Casa Chama was reported to be at risk of closing because of insufficient financial support. In response to the organization’s longer-term funding needs, Leonardo Letelier, founder and chief executive of Sitawi Finanças do Bem, created the Trans–Casa Chama Fund in 2023. Described as Brazil’s first endowment fund focused on LGBTQIA+ issues, the fund was intended to strengthen Casa Chama’s financial resilience and help preserve its ability to provide services over time. Casa Chama is best understood as a mission-driven support and advocacy organization rather than a conventional consumer brand. Its public identity is associated with community protection, dignity, access to rights, and institutional support for trans people. Publicly available reference material does not establish a commercial product portfolio, a conventional corporate ownership structure, or an international operating network. Its principal offerings are programs and assistance services delivered to the trans community, especially in São Paulo.

Casa Chama was established in 2018 in São Paulo by Matuzza Sankofa and Digg Franco. Its founding purpose was to provide practical assistance to transgender and transvestite people while advocating for their rights in Brazil. The organization developed a broad support model covering legal needs, healthcare, housing, employment, education, culture, and personal safety. This scope reflects the interconnected barriers confronting many trans people, for whom discrimination can affect access to medical treatment, secure housing, formal employment, education, and protection from violence. Casa Chama’s work became especially significant during the COVID-19 pandemic. The organization provided more than 2,000 assistance services, helping trans people access support and exercise their rights during a period marked by public-health disruption and intensified economic insecurity. In 2020, its activities included housing aid for about 70 people and assistance enabling approximately 250 others to receive continuing medical care through a partnership with UBS–Centro de Saúde Escola Barra Funda in São Paulo. These activities illustrate the organization’s role as both a community-facing service provider and a bridge to public or institutional healthcare resources. By 2021, Casa Chama was assisting approximately 350 people. Available descriptions state that roughly 90 percent of those beneficiaries were from São Paulo and about 85 percent were living in situations of severe social vulnerability. The organization’s direct and remote initiatives were estimated to have reached approximately 183,000 people by that point. That broader figure includes outreach and remote engagement, while the smaller beneficiary count describes people receiving more direct assistance. Despite the scale and importance of its work, Casa Chama experienced financial instability. In 2021, insufficient financial support placed the organization at risk of closure. The funding crisis exposed the difficulty of sustaining specialized civil-society services for marginalized communities through short-term or irregular support. A major institutional response came in 2023, when Leonardo Letelier, founder and chief executive of Sitawi Finanças do Bem, established the Trans–Casa Chama Fund. The endowment was designed to support the organization’s long-term financial sustainability. It was described as Brazil’s first endowment fund dedicated to LGBTQIA+ issues, giving Casa Chama a potentially more durable funding mechanism while also marking a broader development in Brazilian philanthropic finance for LGBTQIA+ causes. Casa Chama continues to be identified with advocacy for trans rights and with assistance addressing the practical consequences of discrimination and exclusion. Public reference material does not provide a complete account of its current staffing, annual budget, legal structure, or service locations beyond its São Paulo base. Its history is therefore best documented through its founding mission, community programs, pandemic-era response, funding challenges, and the creation of the Trans–Casa Chama Fund.

• 2023

  Trans–Casa Chama Fund is created

  [1]Casa Chamaen.wikipedia.org

  An endowment fund was established by Leonardo Letelier of Sitawi Finanças do Bem to improve Casa Chama’s long-term financial sustainability.

• 2021

  Funding crisis threatens continuity

  [1]Casa Chamaen.wikipedia.org

  The organization faced a risk of closure because of inadequate financial support. It was reported to have assisted around 350 people that year, most of whom were experiencing severe social vulnerability.

• 2020

  Housing and healthcare support expands

  [1]Casa Chamaen.wikipedia.org

  Casa Chama provided housing aid to about 70 people and helped approximately 250 others maintain access to medical care through a partnership with UBS–Centro de Saúde Escola Barra Funda.

• 2018

  Casa Chama is founded

  [1]Casa Chamaen.wikipedia.org

  Matuzza Sankofa and Digg Franco co-founded Casa Chama in São Paulo to assist transgender and transvestite people and advocate for trans rights in Brazil.

A community-centered Brazilian civil society organization combining direct services, rights advocacy, and resource mobilization for transgender and transvestite people, particularly those facing severe social vulnerability.

• Community support service · 2018

  Legal and rights assistance

  Casa Chama supports trans people in understanding and exercising their rights, including assistance connected with legal needs and advocacy against human-rights violations affecting the trans community.

• Healthcare support service · 2018

  Healthcare access support

  The organization helps community members access and continue medical care. In 2020, it supported approximately 250 people through a partnership with UBS–Centro de Saúde Escola Barra Funda in São Paulo.

• Social support service · 2018

  Housing assistance

  Casa Chama provides housing-related assistance to trans people facing insecurity. Its 2020 work included housing aid for approximately 70 people.

• Endowment and fundraising initiative · 2023

  Trans–Casa Chama Fund

  Created in 2023, the Trans–Casa Chama Fund is an endowment initiative intended to provide a more durable financial foundation for Casa Chama. It was described as Brazil’s first endowment fund focused on LGBTQIA+ issues.

• 2023

  Establishment of a long-term endowment mechanismStrategy

  Background

  Casa Chama had faced serious funding pressure, including a reported risk of closure in 2021. A more durable funding structure was needed to protect the continuity of its services.

  Action taken

  Leonardo Letelier and Sitawi Finanças do Bem established the Trans–Casa Chama Fund, an endowment intended to support the organization’s long-term financial sustainability.

  Aftermath

  The fund created a dedicated philanthropic mechanism for Casa Chama and was described as Brazil’s first endowment fund focused on LGBTQIA+ issues. Public reference material does not provide subsequent financial results.

  Source

1. 1Casa Chamaen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Casa Chama official websitecasachama.org