MAKE IT LOUD Art Care Service Platform

There are currently around 3 million LGBT+ adults over age 50 in the United States of America. That number is expected to grow to around 7 million by 2030. Of the estimated 800,000 LGBTQ+ adults in New York State, nearly one-third (28%) are over the age of 50. LGBT+ older people face unique challenges as they age:

• LGBTQ+ elders are 2 times more likely to be single and live alone.

• LGBTQ+ elders are 4 times less likely to have children.

• They are more likely to suffer from poorer physical and mental health due to loneliness, separation, isolation, and inability to express their identity and emotions.

• 34% of LGBTQ+ older people worry about having to hide their identity in order to access senior housing while 59% of LGBTQ+ older people report feeling a lack of companionship and 53% report feeling isolated from others

Fear of discrimination can lead LGBTQ+ older people to delay seeking needed care and can lead to premature institutionalization in nursing homes and long-term care facilities due to fear of hostile in-home care providers. LGBTQ+ older people also experience significant health disparities that include reduced access to health care, mental health concerns, and chronic physical conditions.

We want to change this.

We want to improve the life quality and satisfaction of LGBTQ+ seniors above 50 living in the New York Metropolitan area.

They need to be seen, heard, understood, and appreciated.

They need to connect with society as well as with themselves.

MAKE IT LOUD is a not-for-profit organization that targets improving care quality and well-being for LGBTQ+ seniors as well as enhancing work satisfaction and mutual understanding of their caregivers.

We are a third-party platform that provides the following resources for caregivers and receivers:

• A safe and non-discriminatory mindset

• Workshop guidelines and manuals

• Art supplies & technological devices

• Online gallery and contact channels

Both caregivers and receivers can choose to participate in the following programs:

• Art

• Music

• Creative collage

• Pottery

Through art creation, the elders are able to document their internal thoughts and feelings that are usually hidden or ignored. They can also increase their self-perception and self-image through artistic expression. The storytelling activities enhance personal value, cultivate community interaction, and eventually promote social awareness.

The artwork done by the elders will be displayed in our online gallery; the web platform will provide contact information for people to connect with elders as well as involvement options for the public to participate in or donate to the initiative.

We want to serve

• The care receivers - the LGBTQ+ seniors, who are prone to low care service quality, discrimination, and loneliness

• The caregivers, who are prone to emotional burnout, low satisfaction, and psychological discrimination 

Through these artistic mediums, we want the LGBTQ+ seniors to be able to

• Create a concretized, creative artwork based on their life stories to tell the society

• Establish a more positive, internalized psychological narrative within themselves

Through these artistic processes, we want the caregivers to be able to

• Better understand care receivers’ identity and background

• Better engage in the caregiving process and improve work satisfaction

Thus, our goals are to 

• Help LGBTQ+ seniors to externalize and express their inner journey through artwork creation

• Help LGBTQ+ seniors to internalize positive and constructive self-image and self-compassionate identity

• Improve LGBTQ+ seniors’ mental health and subsequently, their physical well-being

• Enhance the community engagement through hands-on interaction between LGBTQ+ seniors groups and the caregivers

• Raise social awareness for the usually marginalized LGBTQ+ seniors group

• Encourage more social participation and responsibility for the LGBTQ+ aging group

• Care is always our passion & motivation.

• Our team members all come from the Strategic Design & Management program at Parsons School of Design, which puts human-centered experience & values first in today’s complicated business and social environment. 

• Our community on campus and in New York City also actively and enthusiastically engages in gender equality initiatives and LGBTQ+ awareness movements.

• We are planning to reach out and get in touch with LGBTQ+ seniors in New York City. We’d like to interview and participate in their daily life to experience what they see, hear, and feel on a daily basis with permission.

We are applying to Solve because we want to receive help and inspiration for the following areas in which we are encountering barriers:

• Financial: we want to learn more about not-for-profit fundraising methods and channels, especially those for gender and LGBTQ+ topics

• Cultural: we want to know more about how to reach out and get in touch with the LGBTQ+ seniors' groups and also the caregiver communities 

• Market: we want to receive guidance in terms of strategy and development for us as a not-for-profit organization

• Evaluation: we want to understand how we can collect useful information and data with permission from our participants or stakeholders to better improve and navigate our strategic development

Our solution aims at enabling broader positive impacts through connections between LGBTQ+ seniors, their caregivers, and society. The creative and artistic elements make our solution stand out because of the power of art to rethink norms, challenge conventions, break boundaries, and elicit emotions and sympathy – all important factors for improving gender equality and eliminating the stigma around the LGBTQ+ senior community. The abstract nature of artworks also warrants psychological privacy and security for the participants.

• Target group: the LGBTQ+ seniors are usually ignored or marginalized. Research has shown that their life quality is often impacted by social stigma and discrimination. As a consequence, they are less willing to seek help or care services than their heterosexual counterparts. 

• Platform connection: as a third-party organization, we want to create a space where gender and identity diversity is welcomed and embraced via our service platform. It’s an integrative platform that connects caregivers and receivers, the public and the LGBTQ+ community, as well as artworks and audiences. 

• Transmedia storytelling: artistic expressions via transmedia storytelling empower the creators to regain a sense of agency and authenticity. They can freely choose what, when, and how they want to express their inner journeys, thoughts, and stories. The process enables the LGBTQ+ seniors to re-create their life narratives and therefore re-shape their self-image and improve self-worth.

• Technological enablement: through technological enablement, both the caregivers and receivers can actively engage in the educational learning process. They are not only expressing themselves through creative mediums but also familiarizing themselves with current technologies.

• In one year: to consolidate the business idea and test the prototype

  • Seeking advice and feedback from professional organizations and key stakeholders

  • Interviewing and engaging with LGBTQ+ seniors, caregivers, and other care sector practitioners in the New York Metropolitan area

• In  five years: to expand the team and establish a more diversified structure

  • Recruiting people with professional backgrounds in not-for-profit management, social work, and art therapy

  • Recruiting people with expertise in public relations, marketing, program development, and fundraising initiatives

In alignment with United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal #3, Good Health and Well-being, we want to measure our progress toward the following impact goals:

• LGBTQ+ Seniors’ Mental Well-being & Physical Health

  • We will conduct periodic follow-ups via phone calls, interviews, and questionnaires to collect information and feedback from the LGBTQ+ seniors on their mental well-being and physical health changes after engaging in the activities (weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly) 

• Caregivers’ Emotional Engagement & Work Satisfaction

  • We will partner with nursing homes or caregiving organizations to collect information and feedback from the caregivers on their emotional engagement and work satisfaction levels after engaging in the activities (weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly)

• Activities: Art, music, collage, and pottery making

• Immediate Outputs: Through engaging in the above activities that allow high degrees of mobile flexibility and creative freedom, the LGBTQ+ seniors are able to create artworks and artifacts, materialize inner feelings and possible traumas, reinforce a sense of identity and autonomy, and consolidate self-compassion and empathy.

• Short-term Outcomes: The LGBTQ+ seniors will benefit from an enhanced sense of self-worth and self-compassion. Meanwhile, the caregivers will also benefit from a sense of emotional engagement and enhance their work satisfaction through interacting and participating in the creative care service.

• Long-term Outcomes: Through viewing and appreciating the artifacts and artworks created by the LGBTQ+ seniors, the audience is able to sympathize with the community more easily and effectively. Creative storytelling provides an artistic and emotional conduit for society to better understand the usually marginalized group.

• Audiovisual Media: We use audio and visual media in our art care service to help LGBTQ+ seniors better participate in the activities. The seniors are encouraged to navigate and master the technology in order to increase their engagement level and familiarize themselves with modern applications.
• Software and Mobile Applications: We have developed a web platform to display the core solution functions and help promote our vision, mission, and values. There will be a subsequent mobile application to provide easier access to all the available information and contents on the website.

• Our leadership team consists of four Chinese female members. We recognize the importance of social, cultural, as well as identity diversity and inclusion as we are often the targeted, marginalized, or discriminated groups in American society. 

• We also acknowledge that not everyone has the same access to basic human rights or infrastructure services like internet, electricity, water, or housing. We embrace and want to create an inclusive environment where everyone is welcomed and encouraged to contribute with their unique perspectives and strengths. 

• In the next few years, we will expand our team and invite more people from different cultural and identity backgrounds to join. We will maintain an open culture of communication and collaboration.

Our business model can be found here.

Our plan for becoming financially sustainable is through the following channels:

• Sustained donations and grants: we strive to secure sustained donations and grants from public and private sources, including but not limited to crowdfunding, organizational funding, and personal donations.

• Selling products or services: through our online gallery and auctions, the public will be able to access artwork or artifacts created by LGBTQ+ seniors. The objects go to the highest bidder.

Not applicable.