What do an LGBQT+ support group, Scrabble, and a denturist have in common? Jeff Bovee. Jeff is the founder and volunteer leader of Sage’s Over the Rainbow group for LGBQT+ seniors. You can also find him playing a surprisingly rowdy game of Scrabble there every week. In 2018, he was one of the first people to consult with a Nurse Practitioner in Sage’s Health Services program.

Jeff started visiting Sage in 2012, where he saw an opportunity to create a safe space for LGBQT+ seniors to meet, socialize, and support each other, so he founded Over the Rainbow, a drop-in support group for older adults. The group soon began to include games like Scrabble and dominoes, because, as Jeff says, “playing games was a good way to talk to each other.”

The group has since grown to include people who first came to Sage for other reasons, like getting their taxes done or learning English as Another Language or help finding affordable housing. “We all live in the same world,” says Jeff. “I wanted a group that mingled with everybody. An inclusive, but safe, space.”

When Sage introduced their Health Services program - a Nurse Practitioner led clinic located just upstairs from his support group and Scrabble games - Jeff was one of their first patients. In February, they added new services to the program, including an optometrist, denturist, and foot care specialist, and Jeff started accessing that too.

For almost 50 years, Sage has been helping to connect seniors to information, resources, opportunities, and each other. Adding Health Services to our existing social supports, activities, and programs is just one more way for Sage to help seniors live healthy lives, where and how they choose. Because senior services can only be integrated if seniors experience them that way. Like Jeff does.