Archive of Past Programs & Events
October 18, 2020: Aging and Resiliency with Dr. Sally M. Duffy
Dealing with changes as we age. Improving resiliency with training by maintaining support systems of friends, family, social activities and spiritual connections. Schedule time for exercise. Practice mindfulness and gratitude. Presentation was held at Time Out Youth.
September 20, 2022: Take Control Like Janet Jackson circa 1986
A discussion of wills, medical directives and power of attorney with local attorney, Connie J. Vetter. Discussion about taking control of who makes medical decisions if needed, who gets your belongings and your furry friends and the party, cookout or remembrance you might want. Lots of useful and insightful information was provided addressing various situations and circumstances. Presentation was held at Time Out Youth.
August 20, 2022 and August 21, 2022: Charlotte Pride 2022
The Covid-19 pandemic had everything and everyone on hold for two years. The community showed up in support and solidarity after pandemic restrictions were eased. The Charlotte LGBTQ Elders celebrated Charlotte Pride 2022 in uptown Charlotte with our Pride booth while meeting many fabulous people! Over 250,000 people attended Charlotte Pride 2022. We all had a blast!
July 18, 2022: Sorting Out Charlotte with Dr. Tom Hanchett
Complimentary snacks, bottled water, soda and wine were provided by Stan Schneider, Roxanne Stanard, Lisa Wallace and Dimitri Triantafillakis. Presentation was held at Time Out Youth Center. 14 participants.
One of the largest and fastest-growing cities in the South, Charlotte, North Carolina, came of age in the New South decades of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, transforming itself from a rural courthouse village to the trading and financial hub of America's premier textile manufacturing region.
In this lecture, Thomas Hanchett traces the city's spatial evolution over the course of a century, exploring the interplay of national trends and local forces that shaped Charlotte, and, by extension, other New South urban centers.
Hanchett argues that racial and economic segregation are not age-old givens, but products of a decades-long process. Well after the Civil War, Charlotte's whites and blacks, workers and business owners, all lived intermingled in a "salt-and-pepper" pattern. The rise of large manufacturing enterprises in the 1880s and 1890s brought social and political upheaval, however, and the city began to sort out into a "checkerboard" of distinct neighborhoods segregated by both race and class. When urban renewal and other federal funds became available in the mid- twentieth century, local leaders used the money to complete the sorting out process, creating a "sector" pattern in which wealthy Whites increasingly lived on one side of town and Blacks on the other.
July 16, 2022: Summer of Love Drag Brunch at the Artisan's Palate
The July drag brunch at The Artisan's Palate supports the programs of the Charlotte LGBTQ Elders. All of The Artisan's Palate Drag Brunch ticket proceeds go to a local charity. For the month of July the proceeds will go to Charlotte LGBTQ Elders that serves as a resource for LGBTQ elders in the Charlotte, NC area who are aged 55+ (https://www.charlottelgbtqelders.org/).
Over $1,700.00 was raised for the Charlotte LGBTQ Elders.
June 21, 2022: Social Security Changes Effecting the LGBTQ+ Community
Complimentary snacks and wine were provided by Stan Schneider, Cindy Hostetler, Dimitri Triantafillakis and Roxanne Stanard.
The SSA now allows LGBTQ individuals to receive survivor benefits if they can show they were in a committed relationship and would have married if possible, as well as those who were married for less than nine months before one spouse died. Presenter: Lisa Wallace from the Social Security Administration in Charlotte, NC. Held at Time Out Youth Center. Eight participants.
April 21, 2022: Information Meeting
The Charlotte LGBTQ Elders held an information meeting at Time Out Youth Center to relaunch programming and create an initial Board of Directors under the new 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Steering Committee members Stan Schneider, Cindy Hostetler and Chris Rudisill gave an overview of the organization and an update on our work throughout the pandemic. Attendees were invited to join the new Board of Directors or volunteer on committees. Around 10-15 people attended this initial meeting. The following board members were selected at this meeting and the following monthly meeting, and officers were designated in May 2022.
Roxanne Stanard, Co-Chair
Stan Schneider, Co-Chair
Lisa Wallace, Co-Chair
Cindy Hostetler
John Hunter
Lee Robertson
Dimitri Triantafillakis
David Webb
March 27, 2022: Charlotte Queer Oral History Project
On Sunday, March 27 from 2-4 p.m. Linda Lawyer and Tina Wright from the UNC Charlotte Atkins Library Oral History Archive presented an overview of the Charlotte Queer Oral History Project and interviewing skills at Time Out Youth Center. The project was started several years prior to COVID to record the personal histories of our LGBTQ community. The program included an outline of opportunities for the project from recording interviews to writing summaries and translations.
February 9, 2022: Queen City Friends relaunches
With diminishing levels of COVID infection in North Carolina and fewer restrictions on public interaction, Charlotte’s LGBTQ community is taking small steps towards normalizing social activities again. Queen City Friends, a historic social group for the Charlotte Metro area senior lesbian community that was originally founded in 1986, has been recreated anew in conjunction with Charlotte LGBTQ Elders and started offering two monthly programs for lesbians 55 and older. Organized by Linda Lawyer, the group started meeting twice a month, once during the day and once during the early evening.
2021: Year Two of the Pandemic
With many exhausted from Zoom meetings, the Charlotte LGBTQ Elders took a break from our virtual programming and Steering Committee members Stan Schneider, Cindy Hostetler, Leigh Dixon and Chris Rudisill focused on organizational items for the Charlotte LGBTQ Elders. This included a launching a small fundraising campaign in February 2021 to support our application to become a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization. The community quickly responded and helped us raise over $650, the cost of the application fee. Local attorney Lee Robertson completed all of the paperwork and helped the Charlotte LGBTQ Elders become an official nonprofit. Steering committee members then opened a bank account, worked with Time Out Youth (our fiscal sponsor) to move over any assets, and set up by-laws for the future of the organization.
Lisa Wallace continued to keep members informed of ongoing news and events through our Facebook page and small groups of members continued to meet for walks together or via Zoom, text and phone.
October - December 2020: Inside the Story, supported by an Arts & Science Council Cultural Vision Grant
In celebration of LGBTQ History Month, the Charlotte LGBTQ Elders kicked off a new programming initiative supported by the Arts & Science Council of Charlotte. Inside the Story was a series of programs celebrating the lives and experiences of the LGBTQ community through music, theatre, and storytelling. The project was conceived by the late Dan Kirsch who was the leader of the Charlotte LGBTQ Elders up to his passing in February.
The series kicked off with a virtual concert and storytelling event on Sunday, October 18 with musician June Millington. Millington was the co-founder and lead guitarist of the all-female rock band Fanny and has been labeled the “godmother of women’s music” after decades of headlining Women’s Music Festivals around the country.
That was followed by two Storytelling Workshops by Hannah Hasan of Epoch Tribe on October 25 and 29; a presentation by Dr. Williams Southerland of the Triad Pride Women and Men’s Choruses called "Orange Juice, Milk and the Rise of the Gay and Lesbian Choral Movement" on the history and the rise of LGBTQ choruses nationwide from the Stonewall Uprising through today on December 7; a virtual Open Mic & Holiday Party called “Your Queer Life” on Monday, December 14, 2020; and a virtual reading of Samantha Gellar’s 1999 play “Life Versus the Paperback Romance” by Project Enough on December 17.
All programs were offered virtually and the program was organized by Steering Committee member Chris Rudisill.
June 15, 2020: Racial Equity in the LGBTQ Elder Community, a virtual conversation
Via Zoom, our regular virtual social was focused this week on a discussion of racial equity in our LGBTQ elder community. We were joined by the Founder and Executive Director of The Freedom Center for Social Justice, Bishop Tonyia M. Rawls.
Bishop Rawls is a national faith leader and social justice activist who has focused the majority of her work in the Southeastern United States fighting oppression and discrimination. In 2000, Bishop Rawls founded Unity Fellowship Church Charlotte and in April 2008, was consecrated as one of the first women Bishops in the Los Angeles-based Unity Fellowship Church Movement’s history. In 2014 she founded Sacred Souls Community Church, a diverse congregation of progressive Christians in Charlotte. Bishop Rawls is cofounder of the Charlotte Clergy Coalition for Justice and the National Trans Religious Cohort which provides training and support to trans and gender-variant seminary and religious studies students.
Over 14 people were in attendance.
April 20, 2020: Charlotte LGBTQ Elders Virtual Socials
After COVID-19 shut-down much of our activity and residents learned to deal with stay-at-home orders and protective measures during the beginning of the pandemic, the Elders took to Zoom to build connections. Like many, we found ways to stay in touch with each other via online video chats, programs, etc. over the next several months. Our weekly Virtual Socials were a welcome connection for many who felt isolated and alone during the early months of the pandemic. Weekly online events gave us a chance to talk about our weeks, share new recipes, provide advice to one another, and just chat. Some members also started texting or phone-call circles to check-in.
February 21, 2020: Dan Kirsch passes away
Dan was a pioneer who made it his mission to create a vibrant and supportive LGBTQ community here for all. He was behind many organizations, initiatives and programs in the Queen City. Most recently, Kirsch was leading our group here in the Charlotte LGBTQ Elders. At a recent meeting of the LGBTQ Elders Steering Committee, co-chair Cindy Hostetler said, “Every LGBTQ organization today (in Charlotte, N.C.) ties back to Dan Kirsch.” Kirsch died suddenly on Friday, Feb. 21. He was 66. Read more at https://qnotescarolinas.com/remembering-dan-kirsch/.
February 17, 2020: Caring for Your Pet
Workshop Presenter, Ginny Dodd, DVM, Diplomate ABVP (American Board of Veterinary Practitioners) presented a workshop at Time Out Youth Center on various issues that face pet owners, including wellness exams, spay-neuter surgery, nutrition, first aid, dental disease, pain control, behavioral issues, pet insurance, and end of life / estate planning with your pet in mind. Ginny has practiced veterinary medicine in Charlotte for many years, and has a mobile veterinary ultrasound service. Estimated - 19 participants.
January 27, 2020: Finding Rhoda: A Genealogy Workshop
Rhonda Watlington presented a workshop at Time Out Youth Center on tracing genealogy and its many challenges. You might not know where to start when it comes to identifying those linked to your family’s history. The workshop had about 20 participants and Rhonda provided tips on carrying out such research and the resources available to complete a successful genealogy search.
December 16, 2019: Holiday Get-Together & Dirty Santa
Guests brought their favorite appetizer and a gift for the Dirty Santa gift exchange. Complimentary wine was provided by Stan Schneider and Garry Justice. Some folx also brought at gift for a youth for their Life Essentials Closet. Held at Time Out Youth Center, 25 participants.
November 18, 2019: Advance Medical Directives.
Presenters: Connie Vetter, Attorney at Law and Candice Whiteside, Care Weavers.
Description coming.
October 5, 2019: Active Aging Expo
A day about health and wellness. Keynote by Dr. Rhett Brown. Workshops: Financial Planning for Future Needs with Frank Summers;Free LGBTQ and Moving into Elderhood: The Emotional Journey with Dr. Lyndall Hare; Social Security/Medicare: Securing your Identity with Lisa Wallace; Mindful Aging – Resilience and Equanimity with Clyde Alexander; Adapting Your Environment to Your Care Needs with Candice Whiteside and Elizabeth Pruett; Estate Planning for Diverse Families with Nancy Roberts. Vendors: Aldersgate Continuing Care Retirement Community; Care Weavers; Centralina Area on Aging; Charlotte Village Network; Nancy Roberts Elder Law; Seniors Helping Seniors; Connie Vetter, Attorney at Law. Free admission; held at Heaton Hall at Myers Park Baptist Church; 44 participants.
September 16, 2019: Potluck Dinner & Conversation.
A delicious way to start the new school year. Held at Time Out Youth Center; 30 participants.
August 2019: Vendor table at Charlotte Pride
July 2019: Vendor table at Charlotte Black Pride
June 17, 2019: Intergenerational Program
Four members of Time Out Youth's Speakers Bureau shared their coming out stories, pronouns, hopes for the future and how we can all work together. Free admission; held at Time Out Youth Center; 30 participants.
May 20, 2019: Lessons from Elder LGBTQ Servicemembers
What was it like serving in the military during “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell?” And what was the reality of serving after the policy was repealed? These local LGBTQ Servicemembers shared their stories with us: Rev. Floretta Barbee-Watkins, Melissa Miles, Joshua B. Moore, LeAnn Swieczkowski, Marsha Tegard and Rhonda Watlington. Free admission; held at Asbury Health and Rehabilitation Center at Aldersgate; 23 participants.
April 28, 2019: Family Picnic & Earth Day Program
A family picnic at Kilborne Park. The Elders provided burgers/veggie burgers, fixings, iced tea and water, and participants brought a dish to pass. Our program was via the Climate Reality Project-Charlotte Chapter, with Sarah Haley as guest speaker. Free admission; 30 participants.
March 25, 2019: Women’s Herstory Month Program
A special conversation with some of the women who helped create Charlotte’s LGBTQ community – Concetta Caliendo, Penny Craver, Ginger Walker and Angie Wheeler. Nikki Lynn Thomas, an archivist with UNC Charlotte Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives (including the King-Henry-Brockington LGBTQ+ Archive), facilitated the conversation. Learn more about our local herstory with the Charlotte Queer Oral History Project, a community program to collect the stories of past and present members of the local LGBTQ community. Oral herstories now available from Sandra Bailey, Sue Henry, Sonja Lee, Lynnsy Logue, Joan Tillotson and Diana Travis. Free admission; held at Time Out Youth Center; 42 participants.
February 25, 2019: I (heart) Elders Program
Our guest speaker was Douglas Meardon, MD, a family physician with an affinity for heart/vascular issues. He works with Gaston Family Medical Services and did his residency with Carolinas Medical Center. Special guests Gina Stewart and Brenda Gambill from Eastside Local provided a vegetarian food tasting, and give us tips on eating clean, fresh and healthy, and how easy it is to prepare ‘whole’ food. Free admission; held at Time Out Youth Center; 37 participants.
January 28, 2019: SAGE Raleigh Program
Charlotte LGBT Elders were very excited to welcome the SAGE Raleigh Planning Team to our first meeting of 2019. We learned about their journey from starting as the Gay & Gray Initiative to becoming a national SAGE Chapter (an eventual goal of Charlotte LGBT Elders). SAGE Raliegh presented a brief overview of research findings from SAGEUSA and AARP that highlight the importance of support programs for aging LGBTQ people. They are currently active in three major areas: Advocacy, Education, and Social Interaction. SAGE Raleigh an active program of the LGBT Center of Raleigh andan affiliate of SAGEUSA. Free admission; held at Time Out Youth Center; 40 participants.
More coming soon.