Workin It (Part 1) 2009
President and CEO, RainbowVision
Joy Silver asked the question: “What will happen to us when we age, or are in need of help, and who will provide those services particularly since some of us have alternative family structures?” She answered by founding RainbowVision Santa Fe, an adult community with condos, rentals and assisted living, now in its third year, where the LGBTQI & A population lives in the majority. With a fitness center, salon, restaurant, cabaret, and an event space, RainbowVision has become “the de facto community center for the Santa Fe LGBTQI+A,” according to Silver, hosting a wide range of ages and sexual identification at its many events. “Living through the AIDS crisis taught us that care through the end of life–medical and mental health challenges – may not necessarily be related to becoming elderly. The benefits that RainbowVision provides to our community are that there is now a place, and options for us that have never existed before.” – KW
The first 18 of 2009’s Red Hot Entrepreneurs!
Silke Reuthlinger
Owner, CafeVivid
It’s still possible to be a long way from
a LGBT scene, especially if you live in a rural area. In Colorado, it’s Silke Reuthlinger’s
mission to connect the community. In 1997, Reuthlinger decided to teach herself web design, and needed a topic. ”I believed we needed a resource online to reach all of LGBT Colorado,” she said. ”There are many ways to find out when you live in the city, but there are people in remote areas where there is no access to community publications. I wanted to create a resource for all vivid people.” So Reuthlinger created CafeVivid, a LGBT events and community website which is still going strong. Reutlinger is also the founder of HipChicksOut.com, which organizes all-woman outings to spots in Denver and Boulder. ”It is always a blast noticing the
puzzled looks when the HipChicksOut group ‘takes over’ a most-of-the-time straight establishment, guerilla-style,” she said. – KW
