Inclusiveness is the biggest change in this year’s Garden Party fundraiser, hosted by the Health Initiative on Sunday, Sept. 23. Since changing its name from the Atlanta Lesbian Health initiative to The Health Initiative last year, the focus has also changed. The Initiative is no longer exclusively a lesbian health organization but now address the health needs of all in the LGBT community.
“Since we have broadened our mission to include everyone, we have had some new challenges that we knew we might face when we planned to make these changes almost two years ago. Mainly, we want to ensure that we cover the full continuum of the lives of our clients,” said Jo Giraudo, Health Initiative board co-chair.
That continuum includes a new support group for senior citizens called SAGE (Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders).