BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. — A new assisted living facility named in honor of a famed gay rights activist has opened in Boynton Beach. The Connie House will be the first LGBTQ-centric assisted living facility for the area.
The Connie House ALF is named in honor of the late Connie Kurtz, who together with her partner Ruthie Berman sued the New York City Board of Education for domestic partnership benefits in 1984. They were the subject of a 2002 documentary Ruthie and Connie: Every Room in the House. Married in in 2011, Ruth and Connie retired to South Florida where they continued to be active in political causes prior to Connie's death in 2018.
The facility is privately owned by landscape architect and Pride Tribe Inc's Allan Hendricks, who will serve as board president and CEO. “We are very happy to open our doors to the Community,” Hendricks stated in a release. “Our goal is to provide a safe, caring, and fun atmosphere that fosters a family of residents.”
The Connie House will accommodate six residents in semiprivate rooms and will be staffed with 24/7 on-site professional care. Services include daily meals, medication management, housekeeping, transportation to Compass Gay and Lesbian Community Center, and a range of arts and crafts and activities. Located in Boynton Beach, the home is close to community parks, shopping and houses of worship.
Many of Connie's paintings that she created will be on the walls of the home.
The Connie House creators said that Kurtz and Berman are champions who never stopped fighting for equal protections and responsibilities for the LGBT+ community. While Connie has passed, they say her pioneering spirit lives on in this home named in her honor and that partner of many years, Ruthie, is making sure of this.
For more information, visit thepridetribe.org.