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Article from The Bottom Line
This Golden Rainbow Has a Silver Lining
By Harvey Stern, Director
As a small, relatively new non-profit in the
prolific philanthropic landscape of the Coachella Valley, the Golden Rainbow Senior Center (GRSC) faced some daunting initial
challenges in meeting its mission and vision. To best serve our target community of area LGBT elders, it became quickly apparent
that collaboration - rather than competition - with existing service agencies was the right way to success.
During an AIDS Assistance Program (AAP) fundraiser,
Director Walter Reed and I began a conversation that led to a more formal subsequent meeting to explore collaborations that
would benefit our clients. One issue Walter faced was that many of his clients were on disability, with too many hours of
free time and too few program options at AAP. This was an instant match with a Rainbow Center program roster that included
chat groups, computer classes, a wellness program, tai chi, meditation, cooking classes, breakfast and lunch seminars, and
various social activities. Our newest program, which is a direct collaboration between AAP and GRSC, is beginning Spanish
taught by popular local instructor Vinny Stoppia.
(complete article continues below)
Harvey Stern, Director, GRSC with Walter Reed, Director, AAP
AAP and GRSC have gone on to create a formal
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in which we commit to collaborate on as many levels as possible. Another important MOU has
been put in place with the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP). The Golden Rainbow Center is pleased to have been
selected by this national organization to facilitate its first internet-based community site for the age 50+LGB T community
and allies.
Click here to see our page on AARP.org
Yet another Memorandum of Understanding is
being developed with The Well in the Desert, which does an exemplary job feeding the homeless and poor. Since four out of
ten gay elders nationally live alone and in poverty, it seemed a logical move for us to cross-refer clients, thus ensuring
we are sharing, not duplicating, services.
Well in the Desert
There are two additional very significant
MOUs. The first is with the Riverside County Office on Aging and the second is with an investment company called G-23. Both
of these collaborations aim to create a community of affordable- to moderate-income housing for Coachella Valley LGBT elders.
It is a thrilling experience to be meeting with these groups, and with the City of Palm Springs, on a project that reflects
the core vision of the Golden Rainbow Center.
Our recently launched women’s outreach
program is getting good reviews. GRSC Program Coordinator Jeanne Ablon is facilitating a new bridge group. The women come
not only to learn or improve their game, but also to find a safe comfortable spot to meet and network. The local chapter of
the national organization, Old Lesbians Organizing for Change, has also been incorporated as a new program within the Golden
Rainbow Center.
I‘m often asked why we need an exclusively-LGBT
senior center and what’s the pressing need for LGBT-specific affordable housing. My reply is always the same: At present,
this is what our elders desire and require. I look forward to a future where designated safe space for LGBT persons may be
quaint and unnecessary; that day is not at hand.
Most of our elders grew up in a time when
being gay was much less accepted than it is today. University of Minnesota researcher, Dr. Jean Quam details this in an article
titled, Gay and Lesbian Aging. "Older lesbians and gay males appear to feel that the safety associated with gay and lesbian
organizations may not exist in other senior organizations,” she writes. “It is also likely that they see a far
greater possibility for finding friends and finding new opportunities for relationships in the gay and lesbian organization.”
Just as older gay males and lesbians want social interaction with other gay males and lesbians, they also want housing options
with members of their community. In a study of lesbians aged 60-85, almost two-thirds expressed the desire to live in gay-and-lesbian-only
housing. The same study indicates almost 88% of homosexuals want housing that is at least somewhat sensitive to gay and lesbian
issues.
According to University of Maine Professor
Sandra Butler, a “LGBT elder individuals are a minority group that is largely invisible to society as a whole. This
invisibility is also noted to occur often in healthcare providers and social workers as well". A 2003 study described the
type of negative reaction frequently faced by elder gay men and lesbian from health and social service providers: "embarrassment,
anxiety, inappropriate reactions, and excessive curiosity, pity condescension, ostracism, refusal of treatment, detachment,
or breach of confidentiality.” More than their younger peers, LGBT elders have had years of practice at concealment,
seeking to pass as heterosexual in order to avoid harassment.
In a paper titled, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual
and Transgender Elders, Dr. Butler notes how small is the number of organizations whose mission is specific to the needs of
LGBT elders; they exist in large cities, with relatively visible gay communities. Most mainstream organizations are not competent
in addressing the needs of the LGBT elders. Numerous myths serve to maintain the status quo and to keep these agencies from
doing outreach or providing sensitive services. Three such myths are: "There aren't any LGBT elders in need around here; “We
are open to anyone," and “No one has ever asked, so there is obviously no unmet need."
The Golden Rainbow Center exists to serve
the needs of LGBT elders, virtually all of whom have lived their lives in a sexist, homophobic, transphobic, and ageist culture.
These are the men and women who fought at
Stonewall, confronted the AIDS epidemic, launched our first national organizations and publications, and won for us the rights
and level of acceptance we have today. It is our privilege to be able to honor the debt we owe to their generation, while
simultaneously advancing the best ideals of our own. The Golden Rainbow Center is heartened and grateful for the increasing
support and visibility received from a large national organization like AARP and from California county government. However
we still need the support of the local individuals and businesses within the community we serve.
See the article in the Bottom Line website (not as easy to read)
TALK Magazine was at our One Nightstands Fundraiser too!
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