Aging In New York Fund Inc

Programs: Older adults strengthening communities: a three-year, ground-breaking collaboration of united neighborhood houses of new york, the new york city department for the aging, the new york community trust and the aging in new york fund to reposition older people as important local assets and change makers in communities throughout new york city. The partnership was created to implement a pilot project in dfta-funded senior centers based on an older adult community engagement model developed through the community experience partnership (cep). Older adults strengthening communities was designed to actively and productively engage older adults as local leaders of change. Its goal was to help redefine the relationship between older adults and their local senior centers and the broader community, moving to a more asset-based and purpose-driven approach around working with and involving older adults in ways that strengthen communities and enrich current and future programming. Working with staff and participants in selected senior centers throughout the five boroughs, the project helped to build the capacity of senior centers to develop and support senior-led initiatives that address healthy food access and other needs in local communities. The next phases of the project include replication and expansion to additional senior centers. Below are two quotes from participants: "it makes me very proud to be part of this team. It gave me the opportunity to share how much talent we have and how much we can give back to our community. My brain is all awake now. Were all more aware of ourselves and our community. "- team facilitator, stanley isaacs neighborhood senior center"team members have become inspired and bonded together to improve conditions in their community. This has brought out really great ideas from the older folks involved and given them the courage to conquer other issues important to the community. The hope: that this will become contagious so that other residents both old and young will begin to take a more active interest in where they live. "- associate executive director jacob a. Riis neighborhood settlementdeveloping a central vision care portal for new york citys english and non-english speaking seniors, a multi-year collaboration of the aging in new york fund and founding members of the nyc coalition on aging & vision the coalition (catholic guild for the blind, helen keller services for the blind, lighthouse guild, suny college of optometry and visions/services for the blind and visually impaired), and supporters, the readers digest partners for sight foundation and the new york community trust. The mission of the coalition is to improve access to and utilization of vision rehabilitation services by older adults experiencing age-related vision loss. The fund, as lead partner of the coalition, worked closely with the member agencies to strategically identify members unique strengths and areas of mutual need, laying the groundwork for becoming a central portal of information for the growing nyc aging community and those that serve it. The goals of this project were: to become the primary channel for all vision rehabilitation activities, acting as an expert resource center and outreach base for the vision community and others serving seniors and individuals in need of information and referrals; solidifying a relationship with health care professionals serving clients with or are at risk of developing vision loss, so that these professionals understand the benefits of and refer their patients for vision rehabilitation services; and to increase awareness and referrals among targeted populations of limited-english proficiency (lep) seniors who have been diagnosed with an eye condition or represent an at-risk population. The proposed target audience comprised: individuals with identified vision loss who have yet to access vision rehabilitation services, allied health professionals who work with lep clients at increased risk of developing diseases that often lead to vision loss, and lep seniors who speak spanish and russian. Several accomplishments of the coalition include the creation of a website, www. Nycvisioncoalition. Org, establishing an on-line referral process, and producing an instructional online bill-payer video. In addition, a number of special programs were conducted with the queens library, nycha, presbyterian senior services and the sun-b in brooklyn. Food insecurity and seniors: a forum hosted by aging in new york fund the aging in new york fund conducted a series of forums in the bronx, brooklyn, manhattan and queens to raise awareness and identify solutions to the problems of seniors sometimes going hungry. Multiple partners throughout the city were involved including emblemhealth, abyssinian baptist church, bronxworks, city harvest, city-meals on wheels, hostos community college, bedford stuyvesant restoration corporation, the brooklyn-wide interagency council on aging, community news group/nyc community media, hunger free america, new york common pantry, northeast brooklyn housing development corporation, the state society on aging of new york, york college and united neighborhood houses of new york. The programs were titled hunger, health and aging: a food insecurity forum to raise awareness of and identify solutions to the problem of seniors sometimes going hungry. Each forum featured a panel discussion and question-and-answer segment, and provided an opportunity for community leaders and nonprofits to learn about food insecurity, local projects and future programs that address the issue, initiatives at the city policy level, and the importance of healthy eating for seniors. Information identifying places where seniors could obtain low-cost or free food were distributed during the event. Linking aging services to healthcare: as we learn about the social determinants of health, the potential benefits of programs run at senior centers and community based organizations to improve health and reduce healthcare costs are becoming more obvious. In a public/private partnership with the new york city department for the aging, anyf has embarked on a multi-year project to build a bridge between healthcare (insurance plans and hospitals) and the new york city aging services network that will enable more older adults to receive evidence based health promoting services while creating a new funding stream for the agencies in the senior services network. Anyf has created a management services organization (mso) to link eleven agencies into a network offering a variety of services (e. G. , falls prevention) and then negotiating and administering contracts with health care payers. This way more at-risk older adults can be served and agencies can be more effective in their work to maintain the health and independence of older new yorkers. More information about the program may be found at community care link, www. Cclink. Org.