Q&A: The Aging with Dignity Initiative PDF Print E-mail

Q: What is Aging with Dignity?

A: Aging with Dignity is a multi-year initiative of the San Diego Human Dignity Foundation to provide financial support and leadership as our community addresses the complex array of challenges that impact the quality of life for LGBT seniors in San Diego.
Through each phase of this initiative, The Foundation will bring together donors, service providers, and community members to share the knowledge, expertise, and resources needed to understand and develop effective solutions for LGBT senior needs.
During the first phase of Aging with Dignity the Foundation will lead fundraising to provide support the LGBT Senior Advocate Office at the San Diego LGBT Center. The fundraising goal is $250,000 by the end of 2012. The LGBT Senior Advocate Office will provide care and connections for our seniors. At the same time, the office will collect data on the real and practical needs of our seniors. 
The next phase of the Aging with Dignity initiative will use the data collected to prioritize and guide development of innovative services and resources for our seniors. Within the framework of the Aging with Dignity initiative, The Foundation will build coalitions of donors, service providers and community members that most effectively address senior needs.

Q: Why is Aging with Dignity needed?

The San Diego Human Dignity Foundation believes that LGBT seniors are best able to age with the security, wellness, and success they deserve with the support of our community that they have helped create and nurture.
Reports from national and grassroots organizations point out the many challenges facing LGBT seniors.
  • Lack of family and other social support leading to increased isolation
  • Lack of culturally competent healthcare and social services
  • Lack of financial resources as a result of a lifetime of workplace inequality
  • Lack of safe, LGBT-affirmative and affordable housing options
The aging baby boomer generation is increasing the demand to develop innovative and effective ways to address these challenges.

Q: Who will benefit from the Aging with Dignity initiative?

The Aging with Dignity initiative aims to understand and address the broad diversity of challenges facing our growing population of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender seniors. The diversity extends in into cultural, financial, geographic, and a whole host of other dimensions. This underscores the importance of the independent, neutral leadership provided by The San Diego Human Dignity Foundation.

Q: Why should donors give to the Aging with Dignity initiative
instead of giving directly to an agency that provides services to LGBT seniors?

The interest and goals of individual donors guide their decisions about where to offer their financial support. Direct donor contributions are the lifeblood supporting many essential community agencies and service providers. With the mission to promote responsible philanthropy, The San Diego Human Dignity encourages and cultivates donors to provide this type of direct financial support to address immediate needs of our community.
The San Diego Human Dignity Foundation offers donors additional ways to increase the efficient use and impact of their financial support. As a community foundation, the Foundation is often able to leverage contributions from local donors to obtain additional financial support from other private and public institutions that are often not available to local service providers and agencies. For these other institutions, local donor support provides assurance that the programs and services that will be funded by the overall effort are important and should be supported.  For local donors, leveraging increases the efficiency of their contributions, making their dollars go farther toward supporting the programs they care about most.
From a broader, longer-term perspective, the San Diego Human Dignity Foundation’s position as a neutral third party in the community provides donors with some assurance that their contributions will be directed to solutions that have the most effective impact. The Foundation’s relationships with agencies and service providers give it a valuable perspective and ability to assess community needs and how they are addressed within the community. Donors can rely on The Foundation to direct funding to those that are most effective an impactful.

Q: Will all the monies in the Foundation’s LGBT Senior Fund be directed to The Center’s LGBT Senior Advocate Office?

During phase 1, most of the contributions to the LGBT Senior fund will be directed to support the Center’s LGBT Senior Advocate Office. This fund will also be used to help obtain supporting grants from private and public institutions and educational programs around the challenges facing LGBT seniors.

Q: Where will my contribution be held by the Foundation?

All contributions made to The San Diego Human Dignity Foundation for the Aging with Dignity initiative will be held within the LGBT Senior Fund. This fund was established by the Foundation’s board of directors to provide dedicated support for LGBT seniors in our community. It may not be used for any other purpose. This is not a long-term savings account. Rather, funds are put to work for our community immediately. Donors who wish to establish an endowment for the long-term benefit of LGBT seniors are encouraged to discuss options with Tony Freeman.

 
News and Events

San Diego Human Dignity Foundation Announces New Scholarship!

 

SDHDF is pleased to announce the establishment of the Richard Geyser Memorial Ethics Scholarship Award to Benefit LGBT Students in San Diego. Click here for more information!

 

San Diego HIV Funding Collaborative Announces Funding Grant Recipients

Funds raised from AIDS Walk San Diego make a difference for local HIV/AIDS service organizations. More than $400,000 in grants are being awarded this year to 10 local agencies.

Click here for more information.

 

Your Voice Matters!

The LGBTQ Reducing Disparities Project is conducting a groundbreaking survey to explore discrimination, inequalities, and needs faced by those whose sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression may not fit the expectations of society, their friends or families.

Click here to learn more and to participate in this important survey. 

 Join us for our new Springtime Event!


 Saturday, June 9th, 2012

6:30 PM-9:30 PM

 Click here for more information or to purchase your tickets today! 

 

 

We're on Flickr! 

 
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Interested to see how we've changed through the years?
 
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Visit our page to see hundreds of pictures spanning the past 16 years!
 
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All pictures or requests may be sent to info@sdhdf.org