Finding housing for aging loved ones can be a challenge, but add LGBTQ-friendly to the list of requirements and you’re in for an extremely difficult challenge. Luckily, there is more LGBTQ senior housing coming to New York City.
“New York may be a cradle of gay rights, but for many in the gay community it is still not an easy place to grow old,” states The New York Times. “Mary Ellen Green can attest to that. Her only refuge is a senior center in Manhattan that serves the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. She can sit down to a hot meal or settle in with a book without worrying about being harassed by her neighbors. But when the center closes at night and on weekends, Ms. Green, 61, a freelance writer who is homeless, is on her own again.”
LGBTQ-targeted housing is few and far between in the United States, but New York will be joining major cities Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
“Work is scheduled to begin next month on a $78 million apartment building at the Ingersoll Houses, a public-housing project in Fort Greene, Brooklyn,” according to LGBTQ Nation. “That project will be followed this fall by a $40 million building across from Crotona Park in the Bronx. Opening day is set for 2019 and will feature SAGE-run senior centers that will also serve the local communities.”
SAGE is an advocacy and service group supporting LGBTQ elders. The group, along with Mayor DeBlasio’s office, are advocating for affordable New York City housing.
