The nonprofit organization SAGE (Services and Advocacy for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Elders) has received a federal grant to create the first national resource center on LGBT aging in the U.S.

SAGE will develop the National Technical Assistance Resource Center for LGBT Elders over the course of the next three years, aided by the $900,000 grant from the Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration on Aging (AoA).

Helping LGBT Elders Age with Dignity

The resource center will give LGBT individuals the information, assistance, and resources they need to attain the supports and services necessary to age successfully and with dignity. It will work with mainstream aging organizations as well as LGBT groups in order to achieve this goal.

SAGE, the nation’s leading advocacy group for LGBT elders, also plans to develop a multifaceted Internet clearinghouse to accompany the resource center. The clearinghouse will include social-networking tools, web-based training modules, and an “Ask the Experts” service geared toward LGBT elders.

SAGE won’t be building the resource center alone. The organization has recruited 10 organizations — including PHI — to lend their expertise to the endeavor.

Why the Resource Center Is Needed

The resource center is crucial, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said, because eldercare service providers currently “may be unfamiliar or uncomfortable with the needs of this underserved population.”

There are an estimated 3 million LGBT Americans aged 65 or older, according to Ronni Sanlo, the director of the LGBT Resource Center at the University of California, Los Angeles

Sanlo further notes that LGBT elders are 10 times less likely to have a caregiver than their heterosexual counterparts. They’re also more than twice as likely to live alone, and nearly five times as likely to have no children to care for them in their old age.

Assistant Secretary for Aging Kathy Greenlee explained: “AoA frequently turns to national organizations to support the Aging Network in their efforts to work with specific minority populations that are traditionally underserved…. With the full support of the current Administration, we now recognize that LGBT older adults also represent a community with unique needs that must be addressed.”

Michael Adams, SAGE’s executive director, said that the resource center represents “a monumental step forward for the LGBT community.”

“We are confident that [the resource center] will make a difference in the lives of every LGBT older person in every community in this country,” Adams said.

– by Matthew Ozga