In 1988, long before he became a client of Shanti Project’s LGBTQ+ Aging and Abilities Support Network (LAASN), Daralt was already deeply connected to the organization’s mission.

At the height of the AIDS epidemic, Daralt — a former business owner with many close friends living with HIV — spent his time fundraising for Shanti while also opening up his own home to people with AIDS who could not afford rent. It was an act rooted in compassion, love, and survival during one of the darkest chapters in LGBTQ+ history.

“Everybody passed away,” Daralt recalls quietly. “They’d have to go to the hospitals to die or fly home to die with their family … I helped pay for them to get there.”

The trauma of losing so many people he loved profoundly changed him. After years of caregiving and grief, Daralt became increasingly isolated and reclusive. But in the late 1990s, Shanti showed up for him the same way he had once shown up for others — visiting him at home, reconnecting him to community, and helping him engage with supportive programs again.

There is a deep full-circle moment in Daralt’s journey. Once the person caring for others during crisis, he is now the person receiving care and support himself. “It’s… humbling,” he says.

Over the years, Daralt has had several Shanti volunteers, but one connection in particular changed everything. “My volunteers have all been beautiful,” he says with a smile. “And then Libby came along and we meshed right away.”

After undergoing a quadruple bypass surgery, Daralt unexpectedly found a new creative outlet: music remixing. What started as experimenting with sounds on his computer turned into a genuine passion. Today, he creates remixes and shares them online through TikTok and YouTube. “It surprises me that an 81-year-old man enjoys this the way I do,” he laughs.

And when Daralt talks about music, his entire face lights up.

In one particularly surreal and beautiful moment, a younger doctor even played Daralt’s remixed music during a brain surgery operation. It’s hard not to pause at the significance of that — the same man who spent decades holding grief and loss now bringing joy, creativity, and comfort into an operating room through music.

For Libby, becoming a Peer Support Volunteer through LAASN started with a desire to feel more connected to San Francisco’s LGBTQ+ community. When she came across an opportunity to volunteer with LGBTQ+ elders, something immediately clicked.

“Intergenerational relationships seemed exciting to me,” she says.

As someone who identifies as LGBTQ+, Libby realized she had never truly had queer elders in her life before — something that became deeply meaningful once she connected with Daralt. Working with him, she says, felt seamless from the beginning. “I felt so instantly accepted.”

During their very first phone conversation, Daralt casually asked Libby if she was straight, gay, or bi. When she shared that she had a girlfriend, Daralt immediately responded: “So you’re family.”

For Libby, that simple moment immediately put her at ease.

Now, the two meet weekly, bonded by their shared love of music. Libby used to play in a band, while Daralt spends his time remixing songs and teaching her the ins and outs of music production. Their visits have become less about volunteerism and more about connection — jam sessions filled with laughter, creativity, and genuine joy.

“I never expected I’d be remixing,” Libby says. “I never expected to connect over music.” The joy on both of their faces when they talk about each other is undeniable.

For Libby, Pride means community, connection, and everyone having the ability to feel safe, protected, and fully themselves. And through Shanti, she says she found something she didn’t even realize she was searching for.

“It introduced me to a larger LGBTQ community.”

Daralt and Libby’s story is a powerful reminder that connection can happen in the most unexpected ways. Two people from completely different generations and life experiences found each other through Shanti — through shared identity, shared humanity, and an unlikely mutual love of music.

This is the power of community. This is the power of intergenerational connection. And this is the power of Shanti.