What is the North Texas LGBT-Friendly Senior Housing Initiative?

Originally launched in December 2017, the North Texas LGBT-Friendly Senior Housing Initiative is a program of the Coalition for Aging LGBT (CfA LGBT), designed to empower senior retirement communities to provide safe, welcoming housing options, and connect them to LGBT seniors and their friends and families looking for a home. We recognize that education and relationship-building are essential, as many service providers are interested in improving their LGBT cultural competency, but require greater support on this journey. 
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This online guide is the result of years of relationship-building, support, and hard work between our CfA LGBT volunteers and the dedicated staff of various Senior Retirement Communities in the four-county area of North Texas (Dallas, Denton, Tarrant, and Collin counties). Each of these communities has attained a passing score on our LGBT-Friendly Senior Housing Metric. The Metric covers areas such as LGBT-friendly policy updates, LGBT cultural competencies, procedure changes, staff training, programming, outreach, and marketing enhancements. The goal of this standard is to increase the visibility of the LGBT community and to form explicitly LGBT-affirming practices and LGBT cultural competencies in each community.

Support & Giving

volunteer opportunities

COVID-19 Resources for North Texas Seniors

How Should I Read This Guide?

This guide is presented with at least two audiences in mind... 

1. LGBT seniors, their family, loved ones, ​and fellow activists who are searching for LGBT-friendly senior housing options.

For those searching for LGBT-affirming senior housing options, we’ve ​​presented profiles of ​each ​community that has passed our LGBT-Friendly Senior Housing Metric.

learn more as a resident

2. Retirement communities, retirement community professionals, and other industry representatives in North Texas who are interested in learning how to improve their practices in LGBT culturally competent care.

For members of the senior care industry, and for those working in and for retirement communities especially, this guide is meant as a practical tool for improving your care for LGBT clients and residents, and to provide an invitation to join our initiative as soon as you are ready. 

Learn More as a Retirement community Professional

Here are a few indicators of the discrimination faced by LGBT individuals:

It is reported that there are currently 159,978 LGBT individuals aged 40-85+ in North Texas; a number which is expected to grow to over 200,000 by 2030. In a survey conducted by the Coalition for Aging LGBT (CfA LGBT), the need for transitional/senior living facilities that are respectful of LGBT people was identified overwhelmingly as the most pressing need for aging LGBT people. (1)

SOURCE:  
​1. 2014, Opening Doors: An Investigation of Barriers to Senior Housing for Same-Sex Couples. 
2. LGBT Movement Advancement Project (MAP), and Services and Advocacy for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Elders (SAGE). Improving the Lives of LGBT Older Adults. 2010, Improving the Lives of LGBT Older Adults.

• In a study by the Equal Rights Center, 1/2 of older same-sex couples experience discrimination while applying for housing.
• In a study by SAGE, only 22% of respondents felt they could be open about their LGBT identities with faculty and staff. (2)
• 43% of LGBT seniors reported instances of mistreatment in their facilities. (2)
• 89% predicted that staff would discriminate based on their sexual orientations and/or gender identities. (2)

Housing search by County

For information on LGBT-Friendly housing by County, click in the button for the corresponding County.

Denton County

Click the button or the image to see all communities in Denton County, TX.

Collin County

Click the button or the image to see all communities in Collin County, TX.

Dallas County

Click the button or the image to see all communities in Dallas County, TX.

Tarrant County

Click the button or the image to see all communities in Tarrant County, TX.

A word from our Chair, Sandy Anderson
Thank you for accessing the 2021 version of the digitally responsive North Texas LGBT-Friendly Senior Housing Guide (“the Guide”).   This edition of “the Guide” has all of the old content, new content, and more accessible details that allow you to find data specific to your needs:  your county, your city, and your requested service - with just a click.  It’s a virtual view of the old “Guide” into which much work, love, and commitment was given.  
 
This expansion of the service assessments, as well as the more digitized updating process, will allow ongoing editions of “the Guide” to be immediately updated online and available to you as assessments are finalized and providers are listed.  We will continue to reassess existing communities and expand with new retirement communities.  In the coming months, you will also find not only an updated list of retirement communities, but access to hospice providers and at-home health care practitioners which are LGBT culturally competent and inclusive.  By expanding the assessment process to cover a broader range of services, we continue our mission to serve the needs of the senior LGBT community living in North Texas.  
 
Content will be added individually as each entity is vetted.   Please check back frequently to access the most current version of “the Guide” to ensure that you access the latest information available.
 
As the current Board Chair of the Coalition for Aging LGBT, I am honored to work with our dedicated board members, staff and volunteers, as we continue this essential work.

Sandy Anderson,
Board Chair
​Coalition for Aging LGBT
Augustg 12, 2021​

​How your community can be included in the next North Texas LGBT-Friendly Senior Housing Guide:

Step 1

A staff member at your community will fill out a survey assessing your community’s current practices according to the LGBT-Friendly Senior Housing Metric. 
(Note: Your initial score will not impact your community’s ability to fulfill all aspects of the standard.)

Step 2

A team member from the Coalition for Aging LGBT (CfA LGBT) will schedule a site visit to discuss your survey results, tour the community, and develop a plan to bring your community up to standard. 

Step 3

Your community will work with our team members to schedule staff trainings, LGBT programming events, and work to update policies, procedures, forms, and other forms of marketing and outreach to the LGBT community. This process should take between 1-4 months.

Step 4

Once your community has met at least the minimum standard, your community will pay a small fee, and will be included in the next North Texas LGBT-Friendly Senior Housing Guide.