LGBT Help Hits Eldercare

A recent national survey found under 25% of LGBT seniors feel they can be open in a traditional nursing or assisted living environment. Jewish Home Lifecare is building the first Green House high-rise in the US to offer dedicated space for LGBT seniors.

The Green House design for eldercare is fairly new. They look like large apartments with 12 single rooms, each with a private shower. They surround a large living room, kitchen, and a gas fireplace hearth. Each has a “universal worker” who cooks, does light housekeeping, offers direct care, and communicates with medical staff. The project will replace Jewish Home Lifecare's current facility on the Upper West Side.

CEO Audrey Weiner says the 414-bed Manhattan residence is the first Green House for elder living in an urban, high-rise setting. It will open in 2018 and include 22 Green House apartments, with at least one of them being an all-LGBT home. Jewish Home Lifecare partnered with Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders on “cultural competency” training to make sure the 3,550 staff members understand and meet the needs and concerns of LGBT seniors. The new facility is also unusual in that Jewish Home Lifecare worked with the local healthcare workers union on the building design.

The 20-story, 376k SF project price tag is $278M, with $40M of it already raised. (The rest will come from the elderly asking for their grandkids to return all the $2 bills they gave them.) The organization, which has been approved for a mortgage, also arranged a land swap deal with the property owner, who will take ownership of the organization's current facility, once the new residence is up and running. Jewish Home Lifecare, which also provides long-term housing, assisted living, and rehab care on three campuses, will hold its “Eight Over Eighty” gala Wednesday night to honor leaders in their 80s and 90s, including Edie Windsor, the woman who fought for same-sex marriage. The gala is expected to raise $1.2M.