NISC Programs of Excellence 

• Year Awarded: 2023
• Programs of Excellence Name: Silver Pride
• Hosting Organization: Senior Friendship Centers, Sarasota, Florida
• Sarasota Population: 441,508
• 60+ Population: 195,296
• Senior Center Members: 648

About Silver Pride

Silver Pride is a unique, day-long event that was established to address the distinct concerns of LGBTQ+ adults age 55+. The mission is to conceptualize and deliver social and support programs that cater to the diverse needs of this community, encompassing social and learning, health and well-being, and arts and culture. This event aims to showcase and share LGBTQ+ information and services not only from the senior center but also from other organizations within the community, thereby raising awareness of LGBTQ+ and aging-related issues.

While most local and regional pride events cater to a general audience, Sarasota Silver Pride pioneered dynamic sessions addressing topics like health disparities, legal services, housing, and caregiving through an aging and queer lens. Creative highlights include the ShimmyBOOM Tribal Bellydance Troupe, as well as Ballroom City performing pride-themed artistic numbers.  With intergenerational mixers and mentorship programs, Silver Pride fosters connections between older and younger members of Sarasota's LGBTQ+ community in innovative ways as well. As the only senior-centric Pride event in the region, Silver Pride innovates both in its unique focus and creative offerings for attendees.

Silver Pride produces several valuable outcomes for Sarasota and Tampa Bay's LGBTQ+ community. Primarily, the event raises awareness about aging challenges, especially those unique to LGBTQ+ older adults. As the central information hub, Senior Friendship Centers directly provides and connects older adults with services, programs, and resources that are vital for healthy, engaged living. For example, over 50 vendors were accessed by over 500 attendees at the 2023 event.

Post-event feedback indicated that the majority of attendees found Senior Friendship Centers to be a welcoming space to connect with the community. Moving forward, the Senior Friendship Centers hopes to expand their measurement of success indicators such as information access, service enrollments, or improvements in senior health/quality of life attributes over time. Offering an open, affirming environment for older adults to gather and thrive is key to Senior Friendship Center's core mission outcomes.

Senior Friendship Centers plans to repeat and grow this event with each passing year.  

Sarasota is an officially designated Age-Friendly Community, and we strive to ensure that our community is a safe and thriving place for ALL seniors. 

The planning and execution of this event was a collaboration between two organizations—Senior Friendship Centers and Project Pride SRQ. Leveraging existing community partnerships, both organizations worked together to source event sponsorship, services, and information to support the LGBTQ+ population. Through regular joint planning meetings leading up to the event, tasks and responsibilities were coordinated between the two organizations. An estimated 60-75 staff and volunteers from both agencies contributed their time across pre-event setup, event execution, and post-event cleanup activities. As we move into planning for the 2024 event, we have added a third presenting organization. This coordinated effort allows us to deliver successful events while benefiting from shared knowledge and resources within our community partnership network.

Key takeaways from Silver Pride:

• As the only senior-centric Pride event in the region, Silver Pride innovates both in its unique focus and creative offerings for attendees.
• A coordinated effort benefits from shared knowledge and strenthening local partnerships.
• Senior Friendship Centers plans to repeat and grow this event with each passing year as part of an ongoing effort to ensure that the community is a safe and thriving place for ALL seniors.

About Senior Friendship Centers

Senior Friendship Centers builds "vibrant communities by advancing wellness, connection, and enrichment throughout the journey of aging." The organization's vision for Southwest Florida "is for people to feel supported and included at any age. Each of our communities will have a well-known hub and network of resources to help older adults not just survive but thrive! Seniors will be seen as vital contributors to community life and have connections that ensure they never need to 'go it alone.'"