SAGE is a proud, vocal LGBTQIA+ nonprofit that mobilizes passionate staff and volunteers to ensure older LGBTQIA+ adults are seen, heard, and loved. Yet despite strong community support, about one-quarter of SAGE participants still have no one to call when they need help.
To bridge this gap, SAGE created the volunteer-driven Lend‑A‑Hand Program—a practical, compassionate response to the everyday challenges that can limit older adults’ independence and quality of life. Rather than focusing solely on emergencies, Lend‑A‑Hand connects older adults with volunteers who assist with meaningful, non-emergency tasks that might otherwise become barriers—from getting to and from medical appointments to assembling furniture, running errands, or providing light “handy-person” help.
Powered by more than 200 dedicated volunteers across New York City, the program offers a reliable, flexible support system for older adults who may be isolated or without nearby friends and/or family. Each request is coordinated and overseen by SAGE staff, ensuring safety, accountability, and continuity of care.
At its core, Lend‑A‑Hand helps ensure that no LGBTQIA+ older adult has to navigate daily life alone, removing small but significant obstacles so they can live with dignity, connection, and independence.
A standout Lend‑A‑Hand volunteer is the incredible Shantel Grant, whose dedication has made a meaningful impact on many SAGE members. Those she supports consistently share how much they value her compassion, empathy, and the added comfort of being assisted by someone who is also part of the LGBTQIA+ community.
We are deeply grateful for Shantel and all Lend‑A‑Hand volunteers, whose generosity and commitment strengthen SAGE’s mission and expand the reach of our programs for LGBTQIA+ older adults.
If you are a SAGE member in need of Lend-A-Hand support please email [email protected] or call and speak with your respective SAGE Center Director or SAGECare care manager.
Read on to learn more about Shantel’s volunteer experiences below:
Tell us about yourself (name, pronouns, where you’re from, a bit about who you are outside of volunteering)!
My name is Shantel Grant (she/her). I am 35 years old, and I was born in Yonkers, New York, but have lived all over NYC since 2008. I am currently a scenic artist and member of Local USA 829; a labor union affiliated with IATSE. Working within a labor union as an artist has been one of the more serendipitous things to happen to me in my life. I have a BFA in Traditional Animation from the School of Visual Arts and originally thought when I graduated that I would either become a drawing instructor or take animation more seriously, but I quickly found out that I do not love sitting at a desk—even if it’s for art’s sake. I still think at some point I’ll teach art more formally, but as of now, I’ve done some adjunct and workshops as an instructor.
Before becoming a scenic artist full time, I was a bartender in NYC for almost a decade. The service/hospitality industry has a very special place in my heart. My time in it was very influential and formative to my sense of community. The number and variety of people I have met in my time as a bartender was a profound lesson in humility that I think everyone should have at some point in their lives. I am still a lover of bars and restaurants, and in my spare time I can be found galivanting around the city—mostly in Brooklyn with some rare evenings in Manhattan.
As a volunteer, what do you do and what is your favorite part of volunteering with SAGE?
As a volunteer, I can usually be found fulfilling the Lend-A-Hand assignments that SAGE offers. It’s sort of intimate in a practical way; I essentially get to be helpful company to the members of the SAGE community.
How long have you been volunteering at SAGE?
I have been volunteering at SAGE for a year as of April.
How did you first hear of SAGE?
The first time I heard of SAGE was in a member group on the LEX app. The conversation in the group at the time was people my age trying to find more ways to involve themselves in community-oriented spaces. I had previously lived in the guest room of an older couple’s apartment some years ago and was always helping them around the house or with errands when needed.
What does volunteering at SAGE mean to you?
I enjoy simply being involved in the lives of the elders in our community. It’s personally fulfilling for me to be able to help in a practical, one-on-one manner and to be able to connect with elders in the community. I enjoy hearing about their lives and help them in the small ways that can make their lives easier.
How has your experience volunteering with our older adult members enriched your understanding of LGBTQIA+ community?
My experience of volunteering with the older members of the LGBTQIA+ community has made me more aware of what my own life could look like as I get older. I did not grow up with grandparents, so spending time with older people who are a part of a community that I am also a member of is personally rewarding. I came out as butch lesbian at 15 years old in 2005, and back then there really weren’t many examples of what it would be like to be older within our community. There still aren’t very many examples in the media of what it looks like to get older in our community, so being able to have real life experience has been beautiful. To hear the stories that they have of what life was like before has made it easier to be more hopeful about what could be ahead for me. To be more hopeful about my own life, that even with all that is terrible in the world, that there are always things to look forward to.
How do you balance volunteering with SAGE and other parts of your life?
I am a freelance scenic artist by trade and member of Local 829 USA, which means for the most part I get to make my own schedule. That being said, I still have a very full social life so volunteering through the lend-a-hand program has made it very easy. Most of the assignments are short, task-based errands with usually a week or two of planning in advance.
