Uncovering the discontinued coworking group.

Jim Toy Center: 560 S Main St, Ann Arbor, MI 48104
Clean Water Action: 564 S Main St #200, Ann Arbor, MI 48104

Monday, December 1st 2025, the beloved ypsi.gay calendar lists a "Trans Coworking" group at 1:00 PM, as well as future meetings each Monday in the Jim Toy Center.

Adamant to go, I don't know what to expect. It would be my first time attending the trans coworking group in Ann Arbor.

Coworking: being, relating to, or working in a building where multiple tenants (such as entrepreneurs, start-ups, or nonprofits) rent working space (such as desks or offices) and have the use of communal facilities (Merriam-Webster, n.d).

I could not have predicted the events that transpired.

Arriving at the Jim Toy on Monday, I worry I'm at the wrong place, wrong time. I pull in and throw the vehicle in park exactly at 1:00 PM. Counting the cars is mildly soothing, but the reassurance I'm searching for is lacking. These parking spots are shared between a few organizations, including Clean Water Action (CWA), and rented out to individuals.

Alone, there is essentially no other option than to try the Jim Toy door. There are three doors to try, and one by one I find them all locked. Feeling the embarrassment of an outsider, I elect not to announce my presence with the doorbell-cameras. After a fair few minutes of rumination, assuredly, I decide, this event... isn't.

I open the car door, sit, buckle. Nothing left to do besides turn back, tail tucked.

Until a new car pulls in, right next to me.

Could this be someone with the keys or the code? Watching from my vehicle, I roll down the window and unbuckle myself, hesitant to make another move, unsure what to make of the new arrival. Another car pulls by, and I am convinced: the attendants are simply late.

Having caught the attention the person in the first car with a wave, I expect her to roll her window down. Instead, she gets out of her car and walks to... the side of the lot opposite of the Jim Toy.

(Spoiler: I never met the person in the second car.)

Expectations were defied, and yet my determination isn't sullied. I'm left holding out hope she is searching for the same group. Luckily, in the end (or else I wouldn't have gotten out of the car), the Clean Water Action office's door was locked.

Realizing she is stranded now, there is an opportunity to find answers. I invite myself to hop out, approach, and query this poor, innocent person about the trans coworking group. She denies involvement, and asks me if I am there to give her a clipboard. Now it's very clear to me that this person isn't here for the same reason I am (womp, womp...).

To our delight though, the nonprofit door opens. Madison Goff from the CWA office joins us in the parking lot to answer both of our questions! (and unlock the door).

They, Madison, are the person I was mistaken for. Madison invites inquiry and clears confusion. No—they know nothing of a trans coworking group, and yes—they have a petition clipboard. They also invite us into the building and, especially feeling freshly dejected, I couldn't refuse the offer.

After trading pleasantries, a clipboard distribution, and admiration of the houseplants and skylight, Madison and I got to chatting. Why would this (inclusive and sociable) CWA employee have knowledge of a whole other nonprofit? In their words:

"We all have to look out for each other regardless of which organizations we belong to, because none of us belong to just one group."

Madison, like me, is nonbinary. Unlike me, they know the president of the Jim Toy Center, Joe Halsch, and they contact him. Their phone exchange strikes me as very quaint, there's obvious rapport. Madison speaks on intersectionality:

"I care about both the environment and LGBTQIA+ issues, and am very happy that this one little corner in Ann Arbor has an organization representing each of those."

Evidently, and according to Joe, the trans coworking group ended a number of months ago.

An open letter:

Dear ypsi.gay calendar contributors,
please rescind recurring events once they stop recurring! We'll remove the obsolete event(s), but would prefer to not have to find out the hard way.

Thank you,
Oleander and the ypsi.gay team