Seattle discussing senior center devoted to LGBTQ community



SEATTLE – Some city leaders in Seattle are calling for a new senior center devoted to older adults in the LGBTQ community.

A meeting was convened Tuesday night to discuss building such a center on Capitol Hill.

Similar to other senior centers in the city, it would provide housing, food and nutrition, and social services.

A study released Tuesday found that Seattle provides fewer senior services to the LGTBQ community than other major cities do.

"You're looking at a group of people that often times don't have direct family relations,” said David Haack, the executive vice president of Living Care Lifestyles. “In the aging process, one of the most important things is to prevent isolation and loneliness, and it's also to make sure that you have a support structure that's in place."

The study found few older adults in the LGBTQ community access housing services because they're perceived as unsupportive or inaccessible.

One proposal calls for spending nearly $250 million in the next year on senior services for the LGBTQ community.