As part of ATA’s commitment to community education, during this Pride month we chatted with the Austin LGBT Coalition on Aging!
Tell us a little bit about your organization! What is the Austin LGBT Coalition on Aging’s (ALGBTCOA) mission and vision for the community?
The ALGBTCOA is a coalition of community activists, service agencies, LGBTQ organizations, and interested parties who have come together to improve the future for LGBT older adults as we naturally age. The Coalition hopes to encourage service providers and senior services to understand and train their staffs regarding the needs of LGBT clients, residents, and patients. The Coalition was formed to address the question: What are the LGBT friendly services in Austin? We would like to make all of them LGBT-friendly.
What has been one of the most impactful projects the Coalition has worked on in Austin?
The Coalition has participated in the City’s LGBTQ Quality of Life Commission and members have sat on several boards of the Age-Friendly program to advocate for the specific needs of LGBTQ+ elders, many of whom, for instance, do not have blood family relatives and are resistant to moving into residential facilities with people who might be hostile to sex and gender variant people.
The Coalition set out to alert senior-serving agencies and residences about the coming wave of LGBTQ people reaching retirement age. Six years ago a story had appeared in a national magazine declaring Austin the new popular place for LGBTQ retirement, and members of the local community formed the Coalition to facilitate such an eventuality if that in fact happened. And, in fact, it appears to have all happened smoothly.
How can the community get involved/volunteer?
On our website there’s a tab on the menu bar for Volunteering, most opportunities are with sister organizations.
The working committee of the Coalition is the Steering Committee. It meets on the 3rd Thursday of the month at 2:30 PM on Zoom. (Once a quarter, the meeting is at 6:30 PM.) The meetings are open to the public and anyone interested in working with us is welcome to attend, introduce themselves, and see what the Coalition is about. To get the meeting link, check the Newsletter on the Home page or drop us an email at contact@algbtcoa.org.
Anything else you’d like to share with us?
We publish a monthly newsletter by email with listings and announcements about events of interest to LGBTQ+ seniors. Some are about matters of social services or health, but many are social or entertainment events. We want the Coalition to help LGBTQ seniors find the local community. Sign up for the newsletter at our website, or join us at our upcoming event on June 5th!