D.C.’s first LGBT senior housing hopes to open by 2020

Despite having the nation’s highest percentage of LGBT-identifying residents, Washington, D.C., doesn’t have any senior housing developments dedicated to those in the LGBT community—yet.

By 2020, there is interest to create the District’s first housing development for LGBT seniors. D.C. resident Imani Woody plans on redeveloping her childhood home, located at 401 Anacostia Road SE, into a 15-unit development with low-, moderate-, and market-rate prices, called Mary’s House for Older Adults.

Each unit will have its own bedroom, bathroom, and sitting area. Some of the amenities will include a communal kitchen, hydrotherapy tub, garden, yoga room, and a library, as reported by The Renewal Project.

There will also be a stone wall and a yellow brick road. The stone wall is meant to symbolize the Stonewall riots of 1969, while the yellow brick road will reference the phrase, “friend of Dorothy,” a slang term used to identify gay men.

The Board of Zoning Adjustment approved the project in May 2017, and since then, fundraising has continued in order to secure $2 million. Still, Woody is in search for a developer for the project.

Woody told The Renewal Project that she hopes to eventually expand to Wards 1, 2, and 8 as well as Maryland.

• Mary’s House for Older Adults [Official Website]

• She’s transforming her childhood home into a community for LGBT seniors in D.C. [The Renewal Project]

• Aging LGBTQ Adults Anxiously Await Planned Housing Development In D.C. [WAMU]