The White House today announced the award of the first-ever, federally funded, national resource center devoted to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues, awarding a 3-year contract to a coalition that includes FORGE’s Transgender Aging Network (TAN).

TAN is one of ten organizational partners that will assist lead agency Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE), the country’s oldest and largest agency devoted to serving LGBT elders, in carrying out the duties of the U.S. Administration on Aging’s new Technical Assistance Resource Center: Promoting Appropriate Long Term Care Supports for LGBT Elders (Resource Center).

TAN is charged with helping ensure that the diverse needs and viewpoints of transgender elders are reflected in all Resource Center training and technical assistance materials. TAN’s founder, Loree Cook-Daniels, will also serve as part of the core training staff that will be deployed throughout the country.

The Resource Center has three mandates:

• Educate mainstream aging services organizations about the existence and special needs of LGBT elders;
• Sensitize LGBT organizations about the existence and special needs of older adults; and
• Educate LGBT individuals about the importance of planning ahead for future long-term care needs.

The Resource Center will achieve these goals by developing: a comprehensive, interactive, web-based clearinghouse with resources useful to all three audiences; a train-the-trainer curriculum and national LGBT aging training corps; in-person trainings and webinars; best practice publications; consumer educational materials and campaigns; a listserv to provide professionals ongoing technical assistance and support; dedicated phone and email technical assistance portals; and a range of social media vehicles to entice users to remain in contact with the Resource Center and grow along with it. The Resource Center will also devote special outreach and attention to low-income, rural, transgender, limited English-speaking LGBT elders and LGBT elders of color.

In addition to TAN and SAGE, the organizational partners in the new Resource Center are:

• Brookdale Center for Healthy Aging and Longevity at Hunter College of the City University of New York;
• Centerlink, a national association of LGBT community centers;
• Griot Circle, the nation’s largest organization serving LGBT elders of color;
• Openhouse, a San Francisco agency with particular expertise in LGBT elder housing;
• PHI, a national organization addressing the needs of direct-care workers;
• The American Society on Aging, a national association of aging professionals;
• The LGBT Aging Project, a Boston-based training agency with a caregiver support specialty;
• The National Association of Area Agencies on Aging, representing local government agencies that oversee all programs funded under the Older Americans Act; and
• The National Institute on Senior Centers of the National Council on Aging.

“We are extremely pleased to be included as an equal partner with many of this country’s leading organizations addressing aging issues,” said FORGE Executive Director michael munson. “I think our inclusion is a tribute to how much work TAN has done over the past 11 years to raise awareness of the unique needs of transgender elders. We also want to thank SAGE for recognizing how important it is to include transgender aging experts and so ensure that this exceptionally exciting federal effort meets the needs of all older members of the LGBT community.”

This partnership award represents the fourth time in a year that FORGE has won federal funds. In mid-2009, FORGE completed a 6-month Office of Victims of Crime grant to produce a “Guide for Milwaukee LGBT Crime Victims” and train local service providers. In the latter part of 2009, FORGE won two additional, 3-year grants from the Department of Justice to provide direct services to transgender survivors of sexual violence, and training and technical assistance to the professionals who serve them.

FORGE was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. TAN was founded in 1998 and became a project of FORGE in 2000. FORGE’s Executive Director, michael munson, is available to answer questions about this or other FORGE projects. He can be reached at mmunson@forge-forward.org or by calling 414-559-2123.

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