Doing a better job of telling diverse elders’ stories, starting with AAPI Elders + an exciting reveal! (AAPI Heritage Month)

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    May is Older Americans Month. It’s also Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. As the National Coordinator of the Diverse Elders Coalition, I am honored to work alongside many diverse aging advocates, including leaders in the field of AAPI aging.

    Partnering with our member organizations, the National Asian Pacific Center on Aging (NAPCA) and the Southeast Asian Resource Action Center (SEARAC), I have become very intimate with the daily realities of AAPI elders and their loved ones. I’ve learned many lessons along the way, such as the silence of AAPI elders who identify as LGBT, to why the “model minority” myth is damaging to the AAPI elder.... Read More

                 

    You won’t believe what I learned from our black elders (Black History Month)

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    In honor of Black History Month, the Diverse Elders Coalition is featuring stories relevant to black aging during February. A new story will be shared every Wednesday, with additional posts shared throughout the month. Be sure to visit diverseelders.org regularly during the month of February.

    My father is my source of strength and love. He is an Afro-Latino older adult and much of the reason why I became an aging advocate. He supported me as a gay boy finding my way in a sometimes intolerant world, and now he is aging in a society where we don’t often take into account the unique challenges faced by diverse older adults.

    As an aging advocate, I know the power that stories have.... Read More

                 

    The Puzzle that is Obamacare. Explained in English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean & Vietnamese

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    Understanding the new Health Insurance Marketplace can feel a lot like piecing together a puzzle. Despite the setbacks, the Marketplace is up and running.  For community groups and advocates, it’s time to help our communities shop for health coverage that fits their many needs. For older adults, it’s time to get covered.

    To make it simple, the Diverse Elders Coalition has created a simple flyer, “Why the ACA Matters to Our Communities,” which offers step-by-step instructions for enrolling in the Marketplace, as well as a rationale for the Affordable Care Act (commonly known as the ACA or Obamacare) and older people of color, LGBT older people and older immigrants.  It’s available in English, Spanish, Read More

                 

    Give Your Medicare Part D Coverage an Annual Checkup

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    October is an important month for adults needing to secure insurance coverage. Not only is October 1st open enrollment for the Health Insurance Marketplace, but October 15th is the beginning of the Medicare Part D Open Enrollment period. Once enrolled in a prescription drug plan, it’s easy to forget the importance of checking annually to make sure your current plan is the most appropriate and cost effective.

    The lack of in-language assistance available to Asian American and Pacific Islander elders makes it challenging for many to.... Read More

                 

    Untold stories of Asian & Pacific Islander LGBT Elders: “I think the need to be accepted overcame their need to be themselves.”

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    Three things to know as May ends and we look towards June:

    May is Older Americans Month. It’s also Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. And I work for the country’s largest and oldest organization dedicated to improving the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) older adults.

    So, what does this mean?

    Well, for me, it made me really think: What are the stories being told about older LGBT AAPI people? Are they even being told? Outside of the amazing George Takei, I can’t think of another prominent openly gay Asian American older person. Can you?

    I am Puerto Rican, gay and not yet 30 years old, so.... Read More

                 

    Infographic: LGBT Health, Racial Disparities, and Aging—by the Numbers

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    Download the infographic LGBT Health, Racial Disparities, and Aging—By the Numbers, today!

    Americans who are people of color, older adults and LGBT identified (referred to in this blog post as LGBT elders of color) often have unique needs because of the intersections of identities. LGBT elders of color are historically marginalized on multiple fronts and their needs are often under addressed in the mainstream aging field and in the popular LGBT rights.... Read More

                 

    StoryCorps: A Transgender Woman’s Journey from Hiding to “Walking in Love”

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    Alexis Martinez grew up in a rough neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side in the early 1960s. She knew she was transgender from an early age.Alexis (whose birth name is Arthur) struggled with her identity, as did her family. At 13, she came out as transgender to her mother. Alexis’ mother called the police, who laughed and told her, “You’ve got a fag for a son, and there’s nothing we can do about it.”

    As a result, Alexis joined a gang and “went as macho as [she] could be, to mask what [she] really was underneath.”

    Alexis has a daughter, who accepts her for who she is. Says her daughter Lesley: “You don’t have to apologize. You don’t have to tiptoe..... Read More

                 

    A Gay Son and His Dad: “Why I am an Aging Advocate”

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    How my dad supported his gay son

    There was a time in my life, around 11 years old, when I often skipped school because I was being bullied and harassed. It was obvious to my classmates that I was “different” and they targeted me because of it.  At lunch, there was a boys table and a girls table, but I was relegated to the “other” table.

    I hated waking up for school. Sometimes I would put my head over the toaster to create a “fever” and ask my mother if I could stay home. Sometimes it worked. Sometimes it didn’t.  Those days that it didn’t, I would put on my uniform, grab my lunch and deliberately slam the front door.... Read More

                 

    HIV/AIDS is Still an Issue for Older Gay Black Men

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    In honor of Black History Month, the SAGE Blog will feature a post on LGBT aging in the black community every Thursday during the month of February. February 7 is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, so our first post in the series is on HIV/AIDS in the black community by Ty Martin, Community Liaison at SAGE Harlem.

    I am black.  I am gay.   I am an older adult. 

    I am resilient. And so is my community.

     

    I grew up during the civil rights movement, seeing powerful black activists around me fight for our civil rights as a people.  I also grew up during the Stonewall Riots, feeling the hostility society.... Read More

                 

    Honoring MLK Day of Service: How One Volunteer Gives Back to Her Community

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    January 21, 2013 will mark the official Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) Day of Service, empowering individuals and communities to come together and volunteer their time to get involved and give back. Americans are encouraged to help out where they can, whether it’s serving food at a soup kitchen or organizing a clothing drive for those in need. Together, we can begin to create solutions to social problems, moving us closer to Dr. King’s vision of a beloved community.

    Shelly Montrose, an older African American lesbian from Harlem started giving back because of her friend. Read her story here.

    .... Read More
                 

    SAGE Wants to Hear from more Communities of Color

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    Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE) is working on our next strategic plan to help guide the organization for the next few years, and we need your help. SAGE has a long history of listening to the many audiences we work with, and we would like to hear your thoughts on our work on behalf of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) older.... Read More

                 

    10 Considerations for Working with the Diversity of Older LGBT Latinos

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    Effective outreach begins with a plan and developing a plan requires research. Yet, anyone trying to develop an outreach plan for older lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Latinos can quickly feel as if he or she is hitting one brick wall after another—there is simply a lack of resources dedicated to this community.  Sure, you may be able to find strategies on how-to engage seniors, LGBT youth or the Latino population at large, but these strategies do not speak to the unique experiences and challenges faced by older LGBT Latinos.

    For those of you whose organizations are trying to better engage this community, you may simply need a place to start. You may wonder, “What are the most effective.... Read More

                 
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