TS Madison opens Atlanta safe house for Black trans women rebuilding their lives

Media Personality and LGBTQ+ advocate TS Madison is giving freedom a safety net in transforming a house into a place to rest, reset, and rebuild for Black transgender women starting over.

The TS Madison Starter House in Atlanta is a residential recovery and reentry center for Black trans women who have spent time in jail or have survived sex work.

"I understand that usually when we are in dire straits, we don't make the greatest decisions because our backs are against the wall," Madison told CBS News Atlanta. "Right now, relax, breathe, readjust. You are human. You've made a mistake. Some mistakes you made by choice. Some choices you had to make to survive. Understand that we want you to get back on the right track in your life." 

It's a beautiful, two-story, multi-bedroom, multi-bathroom home that can house multiple women. 

It's also fully funded by Madison herself. 

"I've been taking care of this stuff out of my own pocket because what I've found is change happens when you make it happen," said Madison.

Madison opened the home on March 31, 2025, on Transgender Day of Visibility to fill a gap she says society has ignored.

"If I had someone or some organization or something to do this for me, then I don't think that a lot of things that I experienced in my life would have happened," she said. 

Madison moved to Atlanta from Miami after surviving sex work. 

"I wanted this house to be a battery for those women who are trying to figure it out or who have that question to God: Why? What do you want? Why me? What's next? All of these questions that you have as a human," Madison said. 

The house is not only made to provide a safe haven for residents, but also a stable job.

"We want to get you your own mailbox so you can start receiving mail, so that you can start putting in job applications, or we partner up with people that are hiring," Madison said. "You can relax. You don't have to worry about bills. You don't have to worry about any food. You don't have to worry about if it's cold outside or if it's too hot. You have to worry about rest. Get your rest, take a moment and recalibrate, and we will help you get back."

There's also one important, strict rule: no men allowed.

"If you've been delivered from it and you're free from it, stay away from it," Madison said. "There will be no temptations of it. There are no men allowed to run in and out of this house. Get ready to get your life in order and reestablish your life."

The home's first resident, or stakeholder, 30-year-old Zamyah Esters, knows exactly what that chance means.

"Being so young and trying to navigate being gay and then eventually trans in prison, and then having to come home from prison not knowing what community looks like, didn't know how to access certain things," Esters told CBS News Atlanta, "I was looking for a community, a sisterhood."

Originally from Orlando, Esters said she spent eight years behind bars.

"I've been stabbed five times. I've been to 13 prisons, I got transferred 26 times," she said.

After meeting Esters, Madison said she quickly recognized the determination and promise that made her an ideal beneficiary, someone prepared to rebuild her life.

"You have to be able to abandon the old ways, the old stuff, and I knew she was," Madison said. 

Now she's stepping into stability for the first time in years.

"What I usually do in the morning is: I like to get up, I walk around, basically, I just stretch and do affirmations and just think, you know, thank God that I'm in this place," Esters said. 

Esters told CBS News Atlanta she would like to work in television.

Madison said she is creating a docuseries to document life inside the starter house.

A home that opens doors in many ways.