LGBT Senior Services in Detroit
Detroit’s senior population is growing, and that means the LGBT elder population in the Motor City is increasing, too. While the retirement years can be challenging for everyone, many gay, lesbian, transgender, and bisexual seniors face particular difficulties finding inclusive senior services and assisted living communities. Luckily for Detroit’s LGBT seniors, there are several city and suburban groups working to ensure they have the services and support they need.
Detroit-area LGBT social and service groups
Affirmations in Ferndale, just north of Detroit, offers support groups, counseling services, relationship skills classes, and referrals to LGBT-friendly health care providers. Affirmations also coordinates social groups, including a weekly senior coffee klatch.
KICK, the city’s LGBT African-American organization, hosts monthly meetings of the Detroit Elder Project to discuss specific issues that African-American LGBT people face as they age. KICK participates in the annual LGBT Older Adult Summit at Michigan State University’s Detroit Center, sponsors free health fairs, and hosts the Hotter than July pride and equality rally, now in its 20th year.
East of the city in Ann Arbor, the Jim Toy Community Center is home to a dozen social and support groups, including Older Lesbians Organizing and inclusive and lesbian-focused book groups.
All of Southeastern Michigan is served by the LGBT Older Adult Coalition. Its members are working to establish a local chapter of SAGE, the national Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders organization. The coalition’s members include regional agencies on aging that have trained staff to help LGBT seniors find housing, transportation, meals, and other assistance.
LGBT-friendly home care and senior living options
Other LGBT Older Adult Coalition members are direct providers of senior services. These include:
- Oakland Family Services, a non-profit agency with locations in Rochester Hills, Pontiac, Walled Lake, and Berkley. Senior services include mental health and dementia screenings, medication management, treatment-plan development, and training for family members who are taking care of a loved one with dementia.
- Optimal Care, Inc. is a Bingham Farms home health agency. Optimal Care is Medicare-certified and provides home health aides; speech, physical, and occupational therapy; dietitian services; behavioral and dementia care; and skilled nursing services to its clients.
- Synergy HomeCare of Grosse Pointe offers non-medical home help for seniors. Synergy’s menu of services features help with activities of daily living, such as bathing and dressing, and household help with meal planning and cooking, transportation, and light housekeeping. Synergy offers bundled service packages for weekday health appointments, morning routine management, and mealtime visits, along with respite care and post-hospital help.
- The Village of Redford is a Presbyterian Villages of Michigan community that provides a full range of living and care options for its residents, including fully furnished cottages for independent living, custom-tailored assisted living services, a secure neighborhood for dementia care, and short- and long-term skilled nursing. On-site social events and nearby shops, restaurants and Redford city amenities make the Village of Redford a welcoming and inclusive option for LGBT seniors.
These LGBT-friendly services can help seniors make the community connections they need and build the retirement lifestyle they want in Detroit.
Learn more about Detroit Senior Living here:
Pet-Friendly Senior Living in Detroit
How Much Does Detroit Assisted Living Cost?
How Much Do Detroit Nursing Homes Cost?
Visit SeniorAdvisor.com to find more assisted living in Detroit.
Casey Kelly-Barton
Casey Kelly-Barton is an Austin-based freelance writer whose childhood was made awesome by her grandmothers, great-grandmother, great-aunts and -uncles, and their friends.
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