DONOR PROFILE
FOR ALL THE RIGHT REASONS, CIRCLE OF LIFE DONOR ENSURES FELLOW SENIORS' QUALITY OF LIFE
TAKING CARE OF HIS GENERATION he says enthusiastically, referring to the memory challenges. Participants stand at Center’s Liberation Coffee House. “The a podium and read quality literature aloud. Campus is a marvelous place—a place The class has continued throughout the pandemic via Zoom. where a dream became a reality.” “All of the studies indicate it’s not Galassi grew up in the Bronx and attended the New York University only good for the brain but also for the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, body and self-esteem,” Galassi says of the and Human Development. He earned classroom’s activities. “It’s also good for a doctorate in English Language and our LGBT community to see one anothLiterature in 1971 and, by that time, er, to witness one another, and to read out loud—perhaps for was already an LGBT the first time in their rights activist. He lives.” joined a picket line Galassi envisions and began handing out the need for services fliers on the second day and programs to the of the Stonewall Riots LGBT community which was, according only increasing in to him, “the day my the coming years— activism was really, another good reason really born. I got to for joining the Circle meet people who have of Life. left such an impression “Our LGBT seniors on me.” are coming forward During his first trip like never before,” he to Los Angeles in 1979 points out. “My cowith friends, he met horts, my folks—we Hamilton and relocated the following year so they could begin were severely marginalized constitutionally, socially, and psychologically so we’re a life together. In 1983, Galassi was given a fellowship new at living our authentic lives publicly. at the University of Southern California’s With the long history of marginalization, Leonard Davis School of Gerontology we have to be vigilant about our rights which launched him into the study of and getting what we need. We have to clinical psychology and led to his licen- keep on top of it.” sure in 1991 as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT). For more information about our Circle of Life He launched the Brain Power class estate planning, contact Director of Planned Giving in 2014 to help his fellow seniors with Nellie Sims, J.D., at nsims@lalgbtcenter.org
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VANGUARD | SUMMER OF PRIDE
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efore the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Frank Galassi loved to eat a hot lunch with his fellow seniors inside the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Senior Center after teaching his Brain Power class on Thursdays. “People couldn’t wait to get to that lunch. It was like a new world: all sitting together and absorbing who we all are,” shares Galassi, 83. “I would sit there with my peers—a very mixed group—but most are struggling financially. They have expressed such gratitude for the services that the Center is giving including the ability to provide quality food five days a week.” Galassi, a licensed marriage and family therapist, became more involved with the Center and committed to its future after the 2011 death of his partner of 30 years Scott Hamilton, a renowned Hollywood makeup artist. “After Scott died, I said to myself, ‘Where am I going to put my future in terms of endowment, scholarships, funding?’” he remembers. “I contacted my attorneys and said I’d like to make a major donation at my death in my and Scott’s names.” Galassi, who has included the Center in his estate plan through its Circle of Life program, recently decided to increase his donation amount because of the robust expansion in recent years including the opening of the Anita May Rosenstein Campus. “There’s housing for the youth and even our little coffee shop at the corner,”
