A National Resource Center on LGBT Aging

by Michael Jones · 2010-02-10 10:01:00 UTC
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ElderlyLast year, the group Services and Advocacy for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Elders (better known as SAGE), made history by partnering with the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) in the latter's first ever conference focused solely on LGBT aging.

Now, SAGE is making history again, this time by receiving a grant from the U.S. government's Health and Human Services Department and the Administration on Aging. But this isn't just any grant; the award is $900,000 over three years, and will lead to the first ever national center dedicated to focusing on LGBT aging issues.

It will be known as the National Technical Assistance Resource Center for LGBT Elders, and it will assist communities across the country in their efforts to provide services and supports for older LGBT people. Talk about ground-breaking. And talk about reaching a constituency within the LGBT population that is often underserved.

SAGE's Executive Director, Michael Adams, said that the group can't wait to get their work started.

"The creation of a National Technical Assistance Resource Center for LGBT Elders is a monumental step forward for the LGBT community," Adams said. "We are confident that working with AoA and our partners — who represent an extraordinary collaboration between the aging services network and the LGBT community — we will make a difference in the lives of every LGBT older person in every community in this country."

For her part, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, added that after way too many years, the federal government was finally waking up to the fact that LGBT older adults represent a constituency that should be resourced.

Photo credit: the bbp

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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