The Palms of Manasota
The Palms of Manasota
Address:
P.O. Box 460
Palmetto, FL 34220
USA
Telephone: 941.722.5858 (Ask for Terry)
The Palms of Manasota is America's 1st Gay & Lesbian Retirement Community, located in Palmetto, Florida between Sarasota and St. Petersburg.
Please consider visiting our wonderful community, meet our residents and tour our villas...Step into the world of the Palms of Manasota!
About The Palms of Manasota
The Palms of Manasota is the first active adult retirement community in America that was planned for, built and is populated by gay men and lesbians. Its vision was that of the late Bill Laing, a psychologist and college professor, who envisioned a safe, supportive and caring community for gays and lesbians where they could live a free and open lifestyle.
From The Palms' inception (1994) through the drawing board stage, development permits and ground breaking (1997) and the moving in of residents (1998), the community has been highlighted in articles by The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, USA Today, ABC's Nightline and Newsweek, as well as various local and GLBT publications (visit our Reading Room). In fact, when a national GLBT issue surfaces, such as California's Proposition 8, journalists reach out to The Palms for issue clarification, thoughts and opinions.
Our community is self-run by women and men (approximately equal in number) who offer their knowledge, experience and expertise from across the nation and from their backgrounds in accounting, marketing, finance, management, government, retail, real estate, education, health, human services, human development, intelligence and security, hospitality, telecommunications, carpentry, theater and the arts, journalism, clergy, library science, natural science, computer science, research and more.
Our community is an active community with residents making frequent use of many local resources, the most popular of which are golfing, kayaking, fishing, tennis, biking, hiking, and participating in choral, spiritual and various social groups. Our residents can also be found volunteering with various organizations, including Meals on Wheels, Southeastern Guide Dogs, Habitat for Humanity, Prime Timers and Silver Threads. The volunteers include some of our canine residents who have been certified as "therapy dogs" and thus, participate in children's programs and bringing good cheer to people in hospitals and nursing homes. Our residents have been participants on various fund raising walks for causes such as Breast Cancer, HIV/AIDS, Heart Research and Hunger. They have also been participants in global expeditions such as Earth Watch. In addition, we have the mentoring types who have taken on various roles in environments like a Big Brother program, a university fraternity and writing herstories.
Organized and impromptu dinners, holiday celebrations, in home musical recitals, and informal gatherings are embedded into the social fabric of the community, as well as needed support by the "we care" committee during times of need. Some have characterized our community as an "instant family".
Copyright © 2009 Palms of Manasota. All Rights Reserved.
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