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SAGE, from p.3
COURTESY: JERRY HOOSE
agreement SAGE reached with the Center was 95 percent on target)” and that after the meeting “SAGE and the Center discussed further and have agreed that there will be a fridge in the room. So the remaining issue has been resolved.” Hoose did indeed say he was “95 percent pleased” and thought the deal “was the best we could do.” He said he remained concerned that they are not being allowed to bring their furniture into the new room, but was assured that “comfortable furniture” would be provided. In most meeting rooms in the Center, people sit on metal folding chairs, but the SAGE room already has cushioned chairs with arms. In the wake of the agreement, the Center’s Wheeler wrote in an email, “We love our long-standing partnership and mutually supporting relationship with SAGE — the community room connects the two organizations, and we really value it and the people who attend.” While Hoose expressed concern that the SAGE lease was “changing” from yearly to month-to-month, Wheeler said that has been the arrangement since 2012. Carol Demech, a SAGE member and chair of SAGE’s Advisory Council, emphasizing the importance of keeping the Center space, said it was vital for members “in their 80s and 90s from the Village who can’t get up to 305,” the address on Seventh Avenue at 28th Street where SAGE’s main offices and services are. SAGE had earlier funded someone to host the SAGE room, but that was stopped several months ago. Tracy Welsh, deputy director of
SAGE member and longtime activist Jerry Hoose.
SAGE, said that SAGE also “is trying to get programs going in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and Harlem. Some of these boroughs never had LGBT elder services let alone welcoming space.” (SAGE’s plans for additional sites, funded by the City Council in the budget for the year that began July 1, will be profiled in the October 2 issue of Gay City News.) The Save our Space leaflet ends with, “If people think the activists in the 1960s and 1970s who fought for LGBT rights were fierce when they were young, they have no idea how fierce we can be as Seniors.” “I deeply respect their passion,” said Adams. “We want the Center to be an age-friendly place.” According to Wheeler, the Center partners with SAGE on intergenerational programming, including an arts program and another where young people provide technology and computer assistance to older people. “I hope we’re not going to have to continue to fight,” Hoose said. “If we hadn’t fought for the last month, we wouldn’t have gotten this deal.”
L’Shana Tova Good health, happiness and peace. Assemblymember
Providing comprehensive end-of-life care in the home, nursing home, and in-patient setting throughout the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and Nassau County. For referrals or information call or click:
718.472.1999 | www.hospiceny.com EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES BILINGUAL (ENGLISH/SPANISH) MEDICAL SOCIAL WORKERS TO JOIN OUR BRONX HOME CARE TEAM LMSW required, reliable automobile & valid driver’s license are preferred. Competitive compensation and benefits package. Hospice of New York is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
FORWARD RESUME TO: JUDITH GAYLE judith.gayle@hospiceny.com or Fax: 718.784.1413
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
Come Make a Difference New training groups each month!
Patient Care Volunteers Support patients and their loved ones in your community Bereavement Volunteers Support families who have lost a loved one Administrative Voluteers Assist personnel in our Long Island City office NASSAU & QUEENS Contact Angela Purpura angela.purpura@hospiceny.com or 516.222.1211
MANHATTAN, THE BRONX & BROOKLYN Contact Sandra Nielsen sandra.nielsen@hospiceny.com or 718.472.1999
Deborah J. Glick
BEREAVEMENT SUPPORT SERVICES
853 Broadway, Suite 1518, New York, NY 10003
Free bereavement support services for adults who have had a loss (Loved one is not required to have had hospice care)
Tel: 212-674-5153/Fax: 212-674-5530 glickd@assembly.state.ny.us
| September 18 - October 01, 2014
Contact our Bereavement Department at 347.226.4823
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