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Gay Old People's Home Opens Its Doors
Brian Misso, UK.Gay.com
July 13, 2005
Los Angeles officials and advocates for LGBT senior citizens will celebrate America's - and one of the world's - first affordable-housing facility aimed at older LGBT adults tomorrow.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and stars of the US version of "Queer as Folk" Hal Sparks and Robert Gant are among the speakers scheduled to appear at the facility's construction site at 1602 N. Ivar Ave. in Hollywood. The ceremony begins at 11 am.
When Encore Hall opens its doors in the winter of 2006, it will offer 104 one- and two-bedroom apartments.
Thirty percent of the residences will be reserved for older people living with HIV/AIDS and seniors who are homeless or are at risk of becoming homeless. The facility will also offer recreational and supportive living services to both residents and non-residents.
Several public and private sources contributed to the financing of the $20 million project.
Gay and Lesbian Elder Housing, a Los Angeles-based non-profit organisation that spearheaded Encore Hall's development, estimates that 33,000 to 121,000 LGBT people age 65 and older will reside in Los Angeles County by 2010.
"Even when this critically needed facility is completed, we will only be able to serve a small fraction of LGBT elders," Gay and Lesbian Elder Housing Founder and Executive Director Brian Neimark said.
"Our dream is for Encore Hall to serve as a model for many more LGBT elder housing projects, both in Los Angeles and throughout the United States."
Neimark said that since the Encore Hall project kicked off in 2002, Elder Housing has received inquiries from all over the country from interested seniors.
The demand is so great, in fact, that the organisation is now setting the groundwork for a second facility in Palm Springs.
A handful of nursing homes and retirement communities aimed at older LGBT people have opened throughout the United States in recent years. But Encore Hall is the first to target low-income LGBT seniors.
Many LGBT people find themselves heading into old age with few financial resources because of many factors: being childless, not qualifying for Social Security survivor benefits or federal tax benefits, and not being covered under a partner's pension or health insurance plans.
As a result, those seniors are frequently less equipped than their straight counterparts to pay for important social services like health care, assisted living and long-term nursing care.
Even when they can afford such services, many older LGBT people find themselves having to decide between hiding their sexual orientation and risking discrimination.
Studies indicate that LGBT seniors often encounter prejudice from both service providers and other residents at senior housing facilities.
For Howard Coburn, a retired postal worker who lives on his Social Security benefits and a small worker's pension, the appeal of Encore Hall is more financial than social.
"I'm a very private person," the 78-year-old Long Beach resident said. "I've never felt the need to 'come out' anywhere. I just assumed that if people were astute enough, they'd find out anyway."
But Coburn did concede that he might become more sociable in an environment where his sexual orientation was not an issue.
"I'd probably rather be in a gay and lesbian place," he said, "because I'm more comfortable around people of my own kind."
Retirement homes for LGBT people are still a new phenomenon, with no similar homes available in the UK.
However, other European countries, including Germany are apparently looking into the need for such places in the near future.
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