RAINBOW COLLABORATES TO IDENTIFY COUNTY LGBT ELDER RESOURCES

The Rainbow Community Center (RCC), in collaboration with Lavender Seniors of Alameda County, has received a $5000 grant to provide consultative services and training support to the Contra Costa Area Agency on Aging (CCCAAA).  The ninety-day contract (1 April - 30 June 2007) mandates broad consultative services including research, education and publicity.

Ben-David Barr and Kent Sack, MD, representing the RAINBOW, have been collaborating with Barbara Faulkner – Executive Director of Lavender Seniors.  Two organizational meetings have identified the five CCCAAA contract requirements:

  1. Identify available and needed CCC LGBT elder services.
  2. Review existing CCCAAA materials for gender and LGBT neutral language with the development of a glossary for future publications.
  3. Develop methods to collect LGBT elder demographic information in CCC focusing on financially limited and ethnic people.
  4. Provide three LGBT cultural competency trainings for sections of the CCCAAA.
  5. Publicize the resources available within RCC, Lavender Seniors, and the County for LGBT elders with efforts to make these known to the greater community.

The Collaboration has developed a Project master calendar with Agency assignments.  This was presented and approved at a joint Collaboration-CCCAAA meeting on 11 April.  The review of CCCAAA publications and the trainings for CCCAAA staff are underway with Lavender Seniors serving as the lead Agency.

LGBT elders interested in actively participating in this Project to enhance services for our community should contact Ben-David Barr or Kent Sack, MD at rcc@rainbowcc.org or at (925) 692-0090.