Hi Melissa,
I can tell you have a great heart!

Wish I was closer to Illinois to give you a hug in person.
My usual advice is to begin with the search engines to locate personals sites, transgender friendly nightclubs, special interest groups such as Yahoo transgender groups, t-girl home pages, etc. Locate as many resources as possible and then put yourself out there by e-mailing them, joining them, searching the personals, placing your own personal, etc.
It isn't always easy to find that special person. I wish you the best of luck with your search. I believe someone is out there searching for you also and I hope you can find each other.
Hugs 'n Kisses,
Kristy