Opportunity to Support Affordable Housing for our LGBT Older Adults

A important opportunity to support Affordable Housing for our LGBT Older Adults is happening on December 2^nd, 2009.  You have an opportunity to voice your opinion.   This input will be used to constructed a  5-Year Consolidated Plan next spring.   How can you participate?

Give Public Testimony

Where:       Mittleman Jewish Community Center:  6651 SW Capitol Hwy

Date:          Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Time:          1:00-3:00 pm

Trimet:       Bus lines 1,5,44, or 45: www.trimet.org

Lunch will be provided. Translation is available upon request by calling (503) 823-2396 three days in advance of the hearing.

Can Not Attend? Provide written testimony in three ways:

• Ø Send a letter to Pat Mobley (421 SW Sixth Avenue, Suite 500, 97204)
• Ø Send an email to bryanswisshelm@ci.portland.or.us
• Ø Submit comments via the Con Plan website at www.portlandonline.com/phb/conplan.

What Are Our Unique Needs?

1.        Safety – fear of mistreatment by care-givers and other residents

2.        Socialization that is inclusive

3.        Educating staff and other residents regarding LGBT senior’s sensibilities and fears

4.        Reluctance of LGBT seniors to reveal their sexual identity to health providers and care providers

5.        Many GLBT seniors retreat back into the closet due to homophobia by staff and other residents

6.        High incidence of depression because of isolation from other GLBT community members

7.        Negative economic impact of same-sex partners inability to receive Social Security and other retirement survivor benefits

8.        Three million GLBT seniors in USA today which is estimated to double to six million in twenty years.

What to follow the process of the 5-Year Consolidated Plan?   www.portlandonline.com/phb/

Thank you for your support on this import issue for our community!

Show Your Pride

On our fabulous way to a spectacular event!
Pride NW Annual Pride Festival at Tom McCall Waterfront Park.

SHARE & ERA  are hosting an Activities and Resources Tent for older LGBTQI and allied community members.

Days/Dates: Saturday June 13, and Sunday June 14, 2009

Time: Open from noon to 6 p.m. both days

Location: Our Senior Tent location is R 4

You can click on the link below to see a map of Pride festival grounds and locate our Senior tent on the map, we are at the far left, near Pine Street entrance. you can click on the map below and magnify it for easier viewing.

http://pridenw.org/images/2009_master_site_large.gif

Offerings: Meditation, tai chi, yoga, poetry, senior stories to film, writing sessions with Write Around Portland, beading, painting flower pots, Universal Dances of Peace and more.

ALSO, visit with LGBTQI friendly vendors from organizations who provide services to seniors.

Sunday Pride Parade

ERA and SHARE are # 35 in the parade line up, per the information on the clickable link below.

http://www.pridenw.org/parade/lineup.asp

Once you click on this link, you will see that there’s a clickable link from the page, to a Parade line up map.

Here’s a direct link to the map for those who want it.

http://www.pridenw.org/images/ParadeMarshalArea.pdf

Our parade contingent’s line up location is at the corner of NW 10th and NW Davis

Step off time for the parade is 11:15.

Historically, we arrive to gather ourselves, make signs, decorate our selves and vehicles, at 10 a.m. will be there by 10 a.m.

EVERYONE is invited to be part of the SHARE / ERA  parade contingent. Feel free to bring decorations, dress up, bring painters tape or scotch tape, balloons streamers help make our parade contingent colorful and dynamic.

QDoc & SHARE Present

A Place To Live: The Story of Triangle Square

Sun, May 31, 1pm

Producer Cynthia Childs in attendance

A PLACE TO LIVE movingly chronicles the creation of Triangle Square, an innovative affordable housing project specifically addressing the needs of LGBT seniors in Los Angeles. As housing and living costs continue to rise and the health care system becomes increasingly more inaccessible, many LGBT seniors face further marginalization and isolation. The first of its kind in the nation, Triangle Square is part of a burgeoning movement to create new models for community throughout the United States.

Central to the story are the seven remarkable and colorful individuals who embark upon an emotional rollercoaster in search of their future home. Triangle Square has given each of them hope, and we follow these courageous elders through the highly competitive and tension-filled application process. At the same time we are offered a very intimate look into their histories, dreams, and fears. With great humor and determination they face the challenge of their uncertain future in order to find a secure, safe place to live – for some, for the first time in their lives.

A PLACE TO LIVE is as much a celebration of collaborative vision and hope as it is an exploration of our diverse history and the importance of human connection. The film underscores the great need in our society for building communities that honor our elder citizens and that address the concerns of an already vulnerable population.

A PLACE TO LIVE dir Carolyn Coal 2008 USA 88 min.
Community Partners: Senior Housing and Retirement Enterprises & Elder Resource Alliance

www.QDocfest.org for tickets

March 13, 2009

Registration INFO

Registration is now available online for the 4th Annual LGBTQ Meaningful Care conference.

Conference highlights:

· Health care best practices

· Skill-building workshops

· National keynote—Joel Ginsberg, Director of the Gay &  Lesbian Medical Association (GLMA)

· 6 CMEs or CEUs available for providers

Register now by clicking the link below:

www.lgbtqmeaningfulcare.org

Forum on Diversity & Aging in Oregon Communities

Working with AARP we have created this forum.  Creating an opportunity for our diverse community to get together to discuss issues on aging.   Become part of the discussion.  Let your voice be heard.

DATE:                   Monday, November 17th, 2008

TIME:                    8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

WHERE:                 Double Tree Lloyd Center – Portland, Oregon

REGISTRATION:     1-877-926-8300

The forum is free but registration is required.

Town Hall 2008

A Celebration of the LGBT Spirit in Post-Election America

Presented by the Portland Gay Men’s Chorus

Featuring; Gov Barbara Roberts, Jeana Frazzinni,

Marty Davis & Terry Bean

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

7:00 – 8:00 PM

First Congregational Church

1126 SW Park Ave

Portland, OR 97205

Gather in community to hear civic leaders discuss our

triumphs, assess our challenges, and focus on what the

post-election landscape holds for the LGBT community.

Let’s speak out for our most venerable, our LGBT seniors!

California SB 1729 Signed Into Law

This bill would require that licensed health professionals who have constant interaction with seniors in institutional settings receive training to better understand how to foster an environment that is free from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

 

SB 1729 requires that all registered nurses (RN’s), licensed vocational nurses (LVN’s), certified nurse assistants (CNA’s), and physicians and surgeons working in 24-hour senior care facilities participate in a training program that focuses on preventing and eliminating discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Where utilized, such trainings designed to educate providers about nondiscrimination laws and policies, how to avoid heterosexual assumptions, and how to create a culture of respect for gender and sexual orientation diversity, have already proven effective in transforming institutions to be more inclusive of and welcoming to LGBT seniors. 

GLMA Conference

LGBT Aging Breakouts Offered this Friday

LGBT Aging in a Changing World

 

SAGE’s Fourth

National Conference on

LGBT Aging

 Sponsored by

October 12 – 14, 2008

Full day dedicated to senior housing development.  Building on best practices from projects throughout the U.S.  Please call SHARE for the latest information regarding this powerful opportunity.