SAGE Blog

Easy Changes for a Healthier Sandwich

The following is a guest post from Visiting Nurse Services of New York (VNSNY). VNSNY has partnered with SAGE over the last few years to bring nurse services and health programming to both The SAGE Center and SAGE Harlem. SAGE is committed to the health and well-being of all LGBT older people and we strive to share important health information with our community. We thank VNSNY for an informative blog post around eating healthier.

Is one of your New Year’s resolutions about eating better or losing weight? If you’re feeling overwhelmed at the prospect of renovating all of your favorite recipes, it might help to start small. Research shows that when it comes to a healthier lifestyle, small and gradual changes are easier for us to make and ones we’re more likely to stick with. Take your lunchtime sandwich—rather than reject it altogether,  try these tips to make your next one more healthful—but still delicious.

Creating Change a Great Success. Our Top 3 Moments!

The 25^th National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change was a rousing success. More than 3,000 participants from around the world attended to advance LGBT equality in their communities. SAGE was there to ensure the perspective of LGBT aging was included and to work with the many participants, advocates and leaders on coming up with creative and new ideas to address the issues faced by LGBT older people. While we had many amazing and powerful moments, we narrowed it to down to the top 3!

The Top 3 Moments for LGBT Elders at Creating Change

ALERT! LGBT Health Funding Absent from Executive Budget

It’s been a week since Governor Cuomo released his Executive Budget for FY13-14 and analysis of the plan paints a mixed picture for LGBT older New Yorkers.

In efforts to deliver a third on-time balanced budget, the Governor’s proposal closes a $1.35 billion funding gap through a number of measures, including cuts from public health and aging programs. While the Office for the Aging’s funding remains largely intact, a new mechanism that pools funding under the Department of Health (DOH) poses a threat to many LGBT health and human service organizations across the state.

SAGE Presents Advocacy Award to Southeast Asia Resource Action Center

SAGE is thrilled to present the 2013 SAGE Advocacy Award for Excellence in Leadership on Aging Issues to the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC). SAGE, in partnership with The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, presents this award each year at Creating Change to honor an organization or individual committed to improving the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) older adults.

Michael Adams, SAGE Executive Director, will present the award to Doua Thor, SEARAC Executive Director, today during Creating Change’s plenary session at 1:30 pm EST. For those of you in Atlanta for the conference, the plenary session will be in the Grand Ballroom. If you’re not in Atlanta, you can watch the session live at the Task Force’s Livestream channel!

Watch live streaming video from thetaskforce at livestream.com

Creating Change Starts Strong! The Momentum Continues with the 4th Annual LGBT Elder Institute

It was an energizing first day at Creating Change yesterday and today we are looking forward to the many day-long Institutes. For our part, SAGE is hosting the 4th Annual LGBT Elder Institute today. It’s a packed agenda filled with dynamic workshops and presenters. The theme this year is Aging Issues Activism and the LGBT Movement with a focus on how to direct your activism in a post-election climate.

Take a peek at the full agenda for the LGBT Elder Institute!

Being that Creating Change is in Atlanta this year, we are particularly excited to host a panel of prominent locally based activists who will speak about the intersection of their personal lives and advocacy work and how this work changes and deepens with age. After the opening panel, these amazing leaders are facilitating small group discussions on topics such as, “Multi-generational Organizing around Aging: Affirmative Models” and “Creating Trans Inclusive Change.”

SAGE Story: Bring Your Story to Life

“Fundamentally, I started writing to save my life. Yes, my own life first.” –Cherrie L. Moraga

SAGE is proud today to launch SAGE Story, a new digital storytelling initiative for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) older adults.  SAGE knows from firsthand experience that LGBT older people are among the most effective advocates for changing inequitable aging policies. They have survived a lifetime of discrimination and endured monumental changes throughout this country’s history. Many have helped pave the way for the social changes we now enjoy. And many still experience discrimination and stigma in their families and in the long-term care system. LGBT elders’ stories have the power to effect change in people’s attitudes, in public policy, and in the systems that all of us rely on.

But how do we distill the most essential parts of LGBT elders’ experiences, and get those stories out to policy makers and leaders in the LGBT and aging fields? That’s where SAGE Story comes in.

Presidential Inaguration 2013: The Obama Administration and LGBT Aging Issues

 

President Obama and the First Lady with Tony Schmidt and SAGE Constituent Jerry Hoose

The following is a guest post by Aaron Tax, Director of Federal Government Relations at SAGE.

 

Today is the second inauguration of President Barack Obama. It’s a great day to celebrate the President’s accomplishments from the past four years and to look forward to what we hope will be four more years of progress for LGBT older adults.

As you know, President Obama has done a tremendous amount for all LGBT people during his first term–from signing the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, to issuing a memorandum on hospital visitation (providing for same-sex partner visitation and medical decision-making) and being the first sitting President to come out (so to speak) in support of marriage equality.  The list goes on and on.

Honoring MLK Day of Service: How One SAGE Volunteer Gives Back

"Life's most persistent and urgent question is: 'What are you doing for others?'"

- Martin Luther King Jr.

SAGE Harlem Program Assistant, Patricia Fraser and Volunteer Shelly Montrose
(Click Photo to Enlarge)

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.

At SAGE, our volunteers embody the spirit of service. They are an important part of our family, spending their available time with us to lead programming at The SAGE Center, visit a homebound LGBT older adult through Friendly Visitors or work with LGBT elders in their own communities through SAGENet. Without these valuable members of our community, we could not do all that we do.

This year, SAGE is celebrating MLK Day of Service a bit early with the White House. In honor of this day, we are highlighting the story of Shelly Montrose, an African American female volunteer at our SAGE Harlem program. A neighborhood program based on affinity, SAGE Harlem is dedicated to creating a safe haven for LGBT older people in Harlem, East Harlem and the Bronx and connecting them to services in their community. Shelly, an older lesbian herself, is a longtime Harlem resident and has been volunteering with SAGE for almost a year. Shelly told us how she became a volunteer:

Creating Change around LGBT Aging Issues

Next week from January 23 – 27 marks the 25^th annual National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change. Held at the Hilton Atlanta in Atlanta, Georgia, and organized by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Creating Change will welcome over 3,500 people from all walks of life and from across the country to network and strategize on new ways to move the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) movement forward.

 

SAGE Executive Director Michael Adams presents the SAGE Award to Kathy Greenlee, Assistant Secretary for Aging at Creating Change 2012

 

Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE) will once again host the LGBT Elder Day-Long Institute, and other trainings throughout the 5-day conference, to open dialogue and tackle issues faced by LGBT elders.

VISIONS/Services for the Blind & Visually Impaired

Check out a larger version!

Did you know that January is Glaucoma Awareness Month? There are 2.7 million people in the U.S.  who have glaucoma, and that number will soar to 4.2 million by 2030. People age 60 and over are among those with the highest risk of developing glaucoma.

Vision loss and how to work with older adults with low vision was the topic of a SAGE staff training today given by Nancy Miller, Executive Director/CEO of VISIONS. We learned how to approach a person with a visual impairment and offer help, used a simple tool designed to simulate low vision to get an idea of what a person with a visual impairment might see, and even read a bit of Braille!

VISIONS runs one of two innovative senior centers in New York City focused on special populations (The SAGE Center is the other!), and SAGE and VISIONS share many of the same constituents. Overall, of people who report severe visual impairments, over 60% are age 65 and over. As  more people continue to visit The SAGE Center, it’s likely that we will see more people with visual impairments. Therefore, it's important for us to expand our relationships with organizations like VISIONS and for our staff to be trained for cultural competency in areas beyond LGBT aging. Oftentimes the issues faced by older people who are visually impaired are the same for LGBT older people. Many people with visual impairments are isolated, hesitant to get help, and low-income.

We at SAGE are proud to work in partnership with VISIONS.  If you are visually impaired, services are free at VISIONS! Check them out on Facebook and Twitter.