Lesbians Incorporated provides financial backing to lesbians and lesbian-friendly groups in Australia through our community grants scheme. All grant applications are closed for 2019. We will be announcing the recipients of out second round of grants in November. While the current submissions are being reviewed by our committee we will continue to share stories of our past grant recipients and their success stories through our weekly Recipient Spotlight.
In the first round of Grants for 2019, Switchboard Victoria received funding to help support their program Lesbian visibility in aged care. “Lesbian visibility in aged care” celebrates the strength and passion of older lesbians and queer-identifying women as they negotiate ageing and aged care. Through intergenerational conversations and peer support, participants’ lived experience is seen and heard – an experience often lacking for older lesbians and queer-identifying women within aged care.
Out & About is Switchboard’s free home visiting service that connects lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) people across Victoria. Our peer volunteer visitors make regular social visits to older people living at home or in aged care as part of the national Community Visitors Scheme. Out & About currently has 25 recipients; including 12 women, all of whom are lesbian and/or otherwise part of the LGBTIQ community. Both the Coordinator and Outreach Officer at Out & About are lesbians.
This project celebrates the strength and passion of older lesbians and queer-identifying women as they negotiate ageing and aged care. It provides a unique opportunity for participants to talk about their expectations and lived experience of aged care in a safe and supportive space. Through intergenerational conversations and peer support, participants have the chance to be “seen and heard” in all their power and vulnerability, an experience all too often lacking for older lesbians and queer-identifying women within aged care.