According to the National Council on Aging, roughly 80% of American households with older adults are struggling financially. For older adults to live on their own, they need social safety nets — and options for affordable housing.

According to Cece Cox, the CEO of Resource Center — an LGBTQ+ nonprofit founded in Dallas, Texas during the AIDS crisis in 1983 — the need is especially dire in older LGBTQ+ communities.

Seniors in this community tend to have fewer dependents and only recently became eligible for the benefits of legal marriage. They also face compounded experiences of social isolation, according to advocacy group SAGE.

“Because our relationships weren’t recognized legally until 2015, we often have a much lower household income than our heterosexual counterparts,” Cox told Dallas Morning News earlier this year.

So, Resource Center built Oak Lawn Place, an 84-unit affordable housing complex for LGBTQ+ seniors ages 55 and over.

The building — which resides in Dallas’s longtime “gayborhood” of Oak Lawn — opened in September 2024, with apartments priced to serve people who earn between 30% and 60% of the area’s median income. 

Rents for a one-bedroom unit range from $567 to $1,118.

The building has 79 one-bedroom units, and most of the floor plans are nearly identical. They include a kitchen and living area, bedroom, bathroom, and a closet with a washer/dryer. 

Five other units are designed specifically for people with hearing and vision disabilities and allow them to use light and sound cues for certain accommodations. 

Part of what stands out about Oak Lawn Place is the exterior design, which features tastefully designed colored accent panels, like red, white, yellow, orange, blue, and pink. They serve as a wink to a traditional Pride flag, but don’t explicitly reproduce it.

“We didn’t want to be cliche, and we didn’t want to out the people who live here,” Cox said. “Safety is still a concern for queer people.”

Plus, the space is not exclusive to LGBTQ+ elders, though it is intentionally designed with them in mind.

“It’s a welcoming gesture,” Ron Stelmarski added. He led the design of the project for the Dallas office of Perkins & Will.

Aside from amenities like a dining area, conference room, gym, and patio deck, the main offering of Oak Lawn Place is community.

“When you’re a queer person, it’s really important to be able to find your tribe,” Cox told Next City.“We keep doing what we do because we know we’ve got to take care of our community, and we have a lot of support in doing that.”

The residents agree.

“It’s more like a community than just an apartment building,” Michael Saldivar, who has lived at Oak Lawn Place with his two dogs since its opening, told Dallas Morning News. 

“Everybody here, we’re like one giant family. It’s a very unique, one-of-a-kind place,” he added.

The building includes other accommodating designs, like wide hallways, quieting acoustics, and signage chosen for optimal readability. Furniture was also selected for seniors’ maximum comfort and ease.

In total, the project cost about $31 million, with support from partners Matthews Southwest, Volunteers of America, Perkins & Will, and Spring Valley Construction. 

For Cox — who joined Resource Center more than 18 years ago — it’s a dream come true. But it’s a dream that has come with incalculable loss and struggle.

“Forty-one years ago, Resource Center’s founders dreamed of a home like this, by us, for us. Their dreams were interrupted by a nightmare, the nightmare of going to funeral after funeral for friends, decimated by the early days of the AIDS pandemic,” Cox said at the opening of Oak Lawn Place.

“Our community was also fighting discrimination everywhere we turned — in houses of worship, in our families, and at work. Even though much progress has been made since then, Oak Lawn Place is one of only a handful of residential settings designed to affirm and support members of the LGBTQIA+ community, age 55+.”

Despite the heartache that comes with this progress, it is a miracle it came to fruition — especially in Texas, where lawmakers have been emboldened to introduce and pass anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in recent years.

“We built this housing development during COVID and during the last Texas legislative session with all the things that were targeted at our community,” Cox told Dallas Morning News. 

“It’s miraculous in some ways that we continue to do what we’re doing, but that’s just the heart and soul of Resource Center.”

The progress is not finished yet. Soon, a new healthcare facility, Resource Center Health, will open across the street, providing even more care and support to Oak Lawn’s “gayborhood” neighbors.

“Oak Lawn Place helps make Dallas a more inclusive, inviting city,” Cox said in a statement. 

“For those considering moving here and for those wondering, as a queer person, ‘Will I truly feel welcome? Are there spaces in Dallas for me?’ We are honored and proud to bring this project to life.”

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Header image courtesy of Perkins & Will