JQT Seniors Initiative — JQT Vancouver

Do you provide care for Jewish queer trans seniors in BC? If so, please take this 5-minute survey to help the JQT Seniors Initiative find out who is caring for Jewish queer trans seniors in BC, so we can focus our time and energy with those serving this population with additional support and training. Please share widely within your networks.

With the launch of the BC Jewish Queer & Trans Seniors Resource Guide (scroll down to learn more) in April 2023, the initiative would now like to conduct outreach across British Columbia to inform caregivers, centres, homes and service providers about the guide. We would also like to hear from those in the field about any concerns or questions they might have. Thank you!

Take the outreach survey here

Thanks to a BC Community Response Network project grant, the financial support of the Province of British Columbia, and the private donation made by Jeff Kushner of Victoria, BC, we have developed THE BC JEWISH QUEER & TRANS SENIORS RESOURCE GUIDE to address knowledge gaps regarding Jewish, LGBTQ and healthcare concerns for older Jewish queer and/or trans people across BC.

In April 2023, we released a series of eight (8) videos (scroll down for video links, covering the main points in each chapter of this resource guide. Thank you to all those who contributed their time and knowledge so that our community members can make more informed decisions in light of what they can and cannot get access to or plan for as Jewish queer and/or trans people living in BC in 2023.

Please note that this is a living document based on info collected in 2023. You can help keep it relevant by completing the short 4-min survey at the end of this resource guide. If there is info that requires updating, please send us an email at info@jqtvancouver.ca

Access the guide here

The JQT Seniors Initiative is a Community Response Network of Jewish, LGBTQ+ and seniors healthcare organizations, addressing senior social isolation and loneliness in our communities, as well as the fear of going back into the closet and/or hiding one’s religious and cultural identities upon entering Assisted Living and Long Term Care in BC.

This initiative meets monthly to organize educational events and development resources to identify a number of areas that require improvement including:

Increased inter-collaboration among Jewish, LGBTQ+ and seniors healthcare organizations;
Integrated outreach to seniors, who are affiliated/unaffiliated to the Jewish community living independently or in long-term care; and
Commitment to organizational learning through mandatory and continual staff training, and the adoption of inclusive, diverse and accessible Board Bylaws and internal policies.

Community partners include: JQT Vancouver, Louis Brier Home & Hospital, Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver, Jewish Family Services - Vancouver, Live Educate Transform Society (formerly, Creating Accessible Neighbourhoods BC), Vancouver Coastal Health, PRISM Services, iCANACP Diversity Access Team - SFU Gerontology Research Centre, Canadian Virtual Hospice, and Dignity Seniors Society.

Past Programming

On Friday, April 16, 2021, JQT Vancouver presented at Capital Pride • Fierté dans la Capitale's EDUCATE series. In this 45-min educational video, JQT Founder and Executive Director Carmel Tanaka talks about JQT's partnership with the Jewish Museum and Archives of BC on Phase I of The BC Jewish Queer & Trans Oral History Project, how it all got started, and shares preliminary stats, as well as a few teasers of what to expect from their upcoming exhibit. She also announced the launch of the JQT Seniors Initiative, a working group of Jewish, LGBTQ+ and senior healthcare organizations bringing awareness to important issues affecting LGBTQ+ Jewish elders in our community today.

On February 2, 2022, researcher Claire Robson presented "Indigo Survivors Project" on LGBTQ2SIA+ elder abuse to members of the JQT Seniors Initiative. "LGBTQ2SIA+ individuals are more likely to experience elder abuse, but hardly any research has been conducted, no actions are being taken to reduce harm, and no-one has listened to the voices of survivors." Learn more about the "Indigo Survivors Projects" by contacting Claire Robson at clairerobson@shaw.ca

On June 16, 2021, the JQT Seniors Initiative hosted a Zoom call with, for and about Jewish LGBTQ+ Seniors in BC with representatives from the JQT Seniors Initiative’s partner organizations. As Jewish, LGBTQ+, and healthcare organizations, we've identified a number of areas that require improvement and already have several actions items to follow up on, which is very exiting. Please have a listen to this 1.5 hour long session brainstorming what we can do right now in the interim to help improve lives while we advocate for policy reform in senior healthcare.