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!
Deb Malkin
Owner, Re/Dress NYC
Deb Malkin, creator of the vintage/resale boutique Re/Dress NYC (for sizes 14 and above, 8 and above in vintage clothing) spent much of her young adult life dieting and wishing she had a smaller body. The Re/Dress store in Cobble Hill is the fruition of Malkin’s activism and fashion sense. “I started working with a fat activist group called Nolose (National Organization of Lesbians of Size) creating and supporting activism and fat queer culture. We created a rummage sale called The Fat Girl Flea Market to raise money. I saw that there was not only a niche to be filled but a great opportunity to change the landscape for plus size women to experience shopping in a new way. I sought to create the kind of boutique I always wanted to shop in.” Malkin’s long-term goal is to open Re/Dress stores all over the country “and to help all women see their inherent beauty.” – KW
