South Park Senior Citizens has recently launched LGBTQIA+ inclusionary activities that will provide for sensitive programming at our Center, and a safe space of belonging, for all the Seniors of our community.
SPSC is partnering with AgePRIDE and GenPride to ensure we have great support in welcoming all communities. Recently, our Board of Directors, Staff, and Volunteers all participated in training to begin the important work of serving Rainbow Elders—those Seniors within the 2SLGBTQIA+ (Two Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender/Nonbinary, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, and Asexual) community who are a part of our Center.
SPSC is a space of belonging—a place for all races, ethnicities, languages, and cultures; Rainbow Elders represent a culture within themselves with their own language, references, holidays, traditions, and the shared impact of a history of judgment that has been a risk to their lives and wellbeing.
Our amazing trainer, Mitch Hunter, from GenPride specializes in Elder Equity and Elder Engagement training, and believes it is not possible to become competent in a culture that is not your own, though it is possible to humanize the experience we all share as people. Sharing culture allows everyone to feel they belong; we all seek love and belonging, and by being curious, we are able to engage with each person authentically.
Isolation is one of the biggest issues seniors experience—for 2SLGBTQIA+ seniors, it is invisibility as well. The work of the SPSC Engagement Committee will ensure we build a robust environment of inclusion for Rainbow Elders. Honoring their culture, traditions, and openness to share who they are with us, allows them to bring their authentic selves to our Center and be respected for all of who they are.