openhouse One of Ten Community Partners with SAGE to Implement This Historic Grant

San Francisco— U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and the Administration on Aging (AoA) have awarded Services & Advocacy for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Elders (SAGE) a three-year, $900,000 grant to create the nation’s only national resource center on LGBT aging.  The National Technical Assistance Resource Center for LGBT Elders will assist communities across the country in their efforts to provide services and support for older LGBT people. openhouse is one of ten community partners working with SAGE to develop The Resource Center, which will provide training to aging service providers and LGBT agencies nationwide, and will offer critically important educational tools to LGBT older people.

“We are thrilled to be working with SAGE on this historic opportunity,” said openhouse Executive Director Seth Kilbourn. “The expertise we have developed here in San Francisco on housing, services and community programs for LGBT seniors will now be reflected on a national scale.”

As a community partner openhouse will provide advice, counsel and other assistance in the creation of effective and culturally competent Center training and technical assistance materials.  openhouse will also participate in Center training and technical assistance activities.

“The creation of a National Technical Assistance Resource Center for LGBT Elders is a monumental step forward for the LGBT community,” said Michael Adams, Executive Director of SAGE.  “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.”

Founded in 1998, openhouse is building housing, services and community to promote the health and well being of LGBT older adults.

SAGE is the world’s oldest and largest non-profit agency dedicated to serving lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender older adults. Since its inception, SAGE has pioneered programs and services for older people in the LGBT community, provided technical assistance and training to expand opportunities for LGBT elders across the country, and provided a national voice on LGBT aging issues.