The SAGE Friendly Visitor Program
“It is unique to the LGBTQ+ community compared to almost any community that’s made up mostly of heterosexual folks that we are twice as likely as a heterosexual person to be single and live alone after age 50,” explained Yvonne Rohrbacher. “We are five times less likely to have children to take care of us. There will be 3 million of us over 50 by next year and as many as 7 million by 2030.”
As the South Florida Friendly Visitor Program Coordinator for SAGE, the national organization that provides advocacy and services for LGBTQ+ elders, Rohrbacher helps improve the quality of life of local LGBTQ+ seniors by matching them with younger volunteer members of the community with shared interests. Participants create meaningful one-on-one connections through meeting in person for one hour a week and catching up on the phone at least once a week.
“I probably have 30 actively matched pairs and five to 10 more people looking for someone or waiting for me to train them,” Rohrbacher reported. “Sometimes our Friendly Visitors haven’t been in South Florida all that long and they’re looking for more social interaction as well. This is an easy way to get that and to also feel like they’re giving back.”
With an office in the Pride Center at Equality Park, the not-for-profit service is modeled on the successful program SAGE launched in New York City in 1979. The Friendly Visitor Program in Broward County is made possible by a grant from The Our Fund Foundation, an LGBTQ Community Foundation.
For those elders wishing to join the program, it begins with a home visit by Rohrbacher during which she learns about their interests, ensures a safe environment, gauges their ability to accept visitors and explains the limitations of the program.
“They know what we’re looking for in terms of what we usually imagine that these people are going to do and not do, and what roles are we looking for them to play in your life and not play,” she explained. “Maybe there’s a movie you want to watch again because you wish you had someone to talk to about it. Some say, ‘I would love to take a walk but I’m on a walker now. If there was a friend with me, I would walk around the neighborhood.’ Maybe read their e-mail to them or figure out something on their phones. Friendly Visitors are definitely not ATMs or dates. We don’t really want them to spend money or put people in their car. We want them to go and visit and socialize.”
LGBTQ+ people that are older may have no other people in our community in their lives.
SAGE reports that more than half of LGBT older people report feeling a lack of companionship and feeling isolated from others.
“Think about people their age,” Rohrbacher said. “How many people were they out to in their career? In their friend group? Then if their spouse passes or all their friends pass away, they’re not going to be 75 years old and suddenly decide to come out to everybody they meet. Some of them may not see anybody besides caregivers and us and they’re not out to the caregiver. You, as the Friendly Visitor, might be the only LGBTQ+ person they ever see in their day-to-day lives these days.”
Those interested in becoming Friendly Visitors can find out more on the Florida Programs tab at SageServes.org, by calling (786) 885-0101 or visiting the Pride Center.
The Art of Community
Resilient and courageous LGBTQ+ elders have taken us from pre-Stonewall through gay marriage during their lives, yet too many are aging without the support they need.
Loneliness in the U.S. was declared a public health epidemic in 2023 with a report that isolation increases the risk of premature death by nearly 30 percent as well as elevating the likelihood of experiencing a greater risk of stroke, heart disease, depression, anxiety and dementia.
Many of us in the LGBTQ+ community may not have had the opportunity to build warm, intergenerational relationships due to the unique dynamics each of us experiences in coming out. Very often, friends are the family one creates along the way.
The Our Fund Foundation is proud to support the Friendly Visitor Program and we echo its invitation to you, “Become part of someone’s story — and let them become part of yours.”
David Jobin
The Our Fund Foundation
President & CEO
