Ethos Equality Fund Reception for LGBT Elders / Gen Silent Screening

Ethos Announces Launch of Equality Fund to Support LGBT Elders

Boston, MA - As Boston’s first not-for-profit organization established specifically to help frail elders remain at home for as long as possible, the Jamaica Plain-based agency will announce the launch of the Ethos Equality Fund (EEF) on February 16th at the Boston Public Library, Copley Square.

The EEF will be the Boston area's first fund solely dedicated to supporting the development, implementation, and expansion of programs, services, and activities that will enhance the quality of life for lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgender (LGBT) elders and their support circles.

Dale Mitchell, Executive Director of Ethos, says, “Few groups age with more challenges than LGBTs. Less likely to be partnered, more likely to be childless, and too often estranged from their own families, LGBTs face significant barriers to healthy aging. Isolation, depression, substance abuse, and suicide are major risks.”

Ethos has long been a leader in taking on the challenges facing elders and finding solutions to the vexing knot of problems that—often prematurely—push the isolated and homebound into nursing homes. Mitchell says that other eldercare leaders agree that LGBT elders need support to age in their communities and with the caregivers of their own choosing.

A co-founder of the LGBT Aging Project, Ethos was the first eldercare agency in the state to go through LGBT staff training, the first to open LGBT-friendly elder lunch sites, the first to offer LGBT-friendly volunteers, and the first to host support groups for LGBT caregivers, as well as those grieving the loss of loved ones. “While other mainstream aging services organizations in the state may finally be embracing the challenge, no other has shown as much leadership on LGBT issues as Ethos,” Mitchell adds.

Ethos is proud of its work helping LGBTs age with dignity and respect. But according to Mitchell, much more needs to be done. “More venues for older LGBTs to socialize and learn, more support for stressed-out and grieving LGBT caregivers, more LGBT-trained home care aides and personal care attendants, more support for LGBTs aging with HIV/AIDS, and more safe LGBT-affirming housing opportunities are all desperately needed. The establishment of the Fund will mark a significant step forward for equality for older LGBTs and their caregivers.”

The EEF has enthusiastic support from many community and business leaders, and the Host Committee includes Boston’s Mayor Thomas M. Menino; Bryan Rafanelli, CEO of Rafanelli Events in Boston; the LGBT Aging Project’s Director Lisa Krinsky; Boston Herald Columnist Steve Buckley; Aids Action Committee Board Member Kevin Powers; WCVB-TV’s David Brown; Judy Bradford of Fenway Health, owner Krista Kranyak; and Wells Fargo Financial Advisor Frederick Gillis and his wife, Shelly.

The launch will take place at the Boston Public Library in Copley Square, where there’ll be a special screening of the award-winning documentary Gen Silent—filmed in Boston by Director Stu Maddux—about LGBT elders and the issues they face in our healthcare system. A reception in the Library’s Courtyard Restaurant will begin at 5:30, followed by the film at 7:00 in the Rabb Lecture Hall with Stu Maddux and Gen Silent cast members in attendance.

Tickets to the film are $15, and tickets to the reception and film and are $60. To purchase tickets, and for sponsorship and advertising information, please visit www.ethocare.org. Or contact Brigid Boyle: bboyle@ethocare.org or 617-477-6689. The Lecture Hall has seating for 300, and tickets will not be available for purchase at the Library.
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