Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders Welcomes Geriatric Specialist Dr. Magda Houlberg and Roosevelt University President Dr. Charles R. Middleton to Its Board of Directors
SAGE expands its presence in the Midwest, and continues its national commitment to building a geographically diverse Board of Directors.
[Chicago, IL] Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE) announced this week that Chicago residents Dr. Magda Houlberg and Dr. Charles R. Middleton have joined its national Board of Directors. SAGE is the country's oldest and largest organization dedicated to improving the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) older adults. Both mainstays in the Chicago community, Houlberg and Middleton's appointment reflects the Board's growing geographical diversity and the organization's commitment to understanding the needs of local LGBT communities across the nation.
"SAGE is pleased to welcome Magda and Chuck to our Board of Directors," said SAGE Executive Director Michael Adams. "SAGE's national work on public policy advocacy, training for aging service providers, and support for local LGBT aging programs requires powerful volunteer leaders in key communities like Chicago. Chicago has long played a pivotal role in the movement for fairness and equity for LGBT people; Magda and Chuck are the perfect leaders to ensure that Chicago brings its unique voice to SAGE's work to change the national landscape on LGBT aging issues."
Magda Houlberg, MD, is Chief Clinical Officer at Howard Brown Health Center, and her specialties include geriatric medicine, HIV care and transgender care. Of serving on SAGE's Board, Dr. Houlberg said, "As a geriatrician specializing in LGBT aging, it's an honor to be named to SAGE's Board of Directors. The organization's mission to be one of the leaders at the forefront of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender movement is a shared passion of my own as well as Howard Brown Health Center. I'm thrilled to contribute my experience and insight to further SAGE's mission in the future."
Charles R. Middleton is the President of Roosevelt University and serves on the board of Center on Halsted (Chicago's LGBT community center) and as Co-Chair of LGBTQ Presidents in Higher Education. "I'm honored to be asked to serve on the board of this vital national organization. My interests are in the well-being of women and men in the LGBT community as we age and especially in how we can ensure both a high quality of living for our elders and how we can create opportunities for them to continue to contribute to the success of their communities in the future," said Dr. Middleton. "It's an exciting time for LGBT older adults and a transformational moment for our country as we learn to honor and cherish their past contributions and their present lives. I hope to be able to help shape ways to do that work by serving on the board."
Chicago currently offers a number of critically important resources to LGBT older adults through the outstanding LGBT elder program at Center on Halsted. Center on Halsted's program features a number of innovative activities, including a homesharing program to help LGBT older adults remain in their homes and an affordable LGBT older adult housing facility that will break ground in 2012. It also produced the documentary Aging POZitively (available in its entirety at the National Resource Center on LGBT Aging), which follows three older LGBT Chicago residents who are living with HIV and shines a spotlight on the issue of HIV and aging. In 2006, the Center on Halsted's LGBT elder program became a member of SAGENet, a national network of independent affiliates that provide critical services to LGBT older adults in local communities across the country. SAGENet now includes 21 affiliates in every region of the United States, located in 16 states and the District of Columbia.
About Dr. Magda Houlberg and Dr. Charles R. Middleton
Magda Houlberg, MD, SAGE Board Member, graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Antioch College in Ohio, and completed medical school at Rush University Medical College. Dr. Houlberg is board certified internist and is subspecialty board certified in Geriatric Medicine and American Academy of HIV Medicine (AAHIVM) certified in HIV primary care. Dr. Houlberg holds a faculty position as an associate professor of geriatric medicine at Rush University. Her specialties range from primary care for underserved populations and community health to HIV care and LGBT care/transgender care. Dr. Houlberg's practice is inclusive of all ages of adult patients, with a focus on geriatric HIV care and LGBT older adults. Dr. Houlberg joined Howard Brown Health Center in 2007 and has been the Chief Clinical Officer at HBHC since 2011.
Charles R. Middleton, PhD, SAGE Board Member, is the President of Roosevelt University in Chicago, Illinois. Under his leadership, Roosevelt University has cemented its reputation as a distinguished institution with the principles, vision and tools to prepare students for meaningful roles as leaders in their professions and communities. A fellow of Great Britain's Royal Historical Society, Dr. Middleton has academic expertise in modern British history from the late 18th century to the early 19th century, and authored the book The Administration of British Foreign Policy, 1782-1846. In addition, Dr. Middleton is dedicated to a number of community organizations, serving on the Board of Governors of the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute in Hyde Park, N.Y., the Boards of Directors of the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL), the Center on Halsted (where he is Board Vice Chair), the Chicago Central Area Committee, the Near South Planning Board, the Point Foundation Board of Governors, and the Chicago History Museum Community Advisory Council. He is also Co-Chair of the LGBTQ Presidents in Higher Education. He earned an AB degree with honors in history from Florida State University and both an MA and PhD in history from Duke University.
Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE) is the country's largest and oldest organization dedicated to improving the lives of LGBT older adults. SAGE has pioneered programs and services for the aging LGBT community, provided technical assistance and training to expand opportunities for LGBT older people across the country, and provided a national voice on LGBT aging issues. In 2005, SAGE became the first official LGBT delegate at the White House Conference on Aging. In 2010, SAGE was awarded a three-year $900,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Administration on Aging to seed the creation of the nation's only National Resource Center on LGBT Aging. Learn more at sageusa.org or lgbtagingcenter.org .
