Housing Project for Aging LGBT Community Finally a Go

Today, Mayor Michael Nutter and Mark Segal, founder and publisher of the Philadelphia Gay News, will announce an $11 million state tax credit for senior housing for the LGBT community.

“In their golden years, LGBT seniors need a safe and loving place to grow old,” said Segal, who has been advocating for the project for more than three years. “This is going to change the lives of so many people.”

The credit paves the way for the construction of a six-story building with 56 one-bedroom units, located on South 13th Street between Locust and Spruce. The facility is slated to open in late 2013. Residents must be 62 or older, though not necessarily LGBT, to live there. It will have a community center, retail space, a garden, and areas where social service agencies can offer assistance.

Donald Carter, co-founder of the city’s Log Cabin Republican chapter and a longtime mentor for AIDS Action, applauded the effort. “It would be nice when one is approaching one’s dotage to have the comfort factor” of a nonjudgmental community, he said.

In addition to the $11 million tax credit, $8 million in public funding will support the $19 million project, which will be constructed by Pennrose Properties LLC.

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.

TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!