Peer Counseling Opens Doors for LGBT Baby Boomers

In the early 1980s, I moved to San Francisco from my culturally closeted home in southern Ohio. I was wowed by the diversity and openness of my new home. I made what I thought were my first gay friends, several of whom became like family to me. Years later on a visit back to the Midwest, a long-time friend came out to me, fearful that telling me that he was gay would end our friendship. Too many people carry that heavy weight for years.

When I was younger, most of my gay friends opted to stay closeted – to protect their family ties, jobs, even safety in their neighborhoods. Thankfully, things have begun to change and tolerance has improved. Yet, there’s still a lot to do – and the people at Peninsula Family Service are helping to do it.

Peninsula Family Service offers the Senior Peer Counseling Program that serves the LGBT community with issues such as loneliness, depression, caregiver and illness-related problems. They recently expanded services to the aging LGBT Baby Boomers -- adults aged 55 and older.

What makes this program particularly cool is that the volunteers are of the same age and have similar experience, wisdom, values and culture. Oh, and it’s free! And it’s open to clients who speak Spanish, Mandarin, Filipino and Cantonese. 

“Our community is so youth-based. The big issues for LGBT older adults are identifying as LGBT and finding resources for someone who is older with people who can understand their experiences, because things have changed a lot,” explains Arquimides Pacheco, the new LGBT program coordinator at Peninsula Family Service.

In its fourth year at Peninsula Family Service, the Senior Peer Counseling sessions take place anywhere the client and peer counselor feel comfortable, including at the client’s home or at a local senior center. Meetings and information are confidential.

For information about more services available from the Peninsula Family Service, go online or call 650-403-4300.