March is Social Work Month and at LiveOn NY, we celebrate our members who are essential to the work we do in making New York a better to age. Throughout the pandemic, social workers in the human services sector have been on the frontlines working tirelessly to ensure all New Yorkers have the support they need. Here are quotes from some of our members on what moved them to become social workers and their experience as an essential worker.
Today, LiveOn NY announced a partnership with the Reframing Aging Initiative, which is a multi-year strategy to counteract ageism and improve the way policymakers, stakeholders, and the public think about aging and older people.
LiveOn NY unequivocally opposes the continued, systemic attacks on older adults in need of assistance, namely low-income seniors, immigrants, communities of color and other marginalized populations.
At LiveOn NY, we work hard to make sure that the public hears about the issues affecting older New Yorkers, as well as the incredible momentum that exists as we grow old. To this aim, we are proud of each and every time we are able to share this narrative with the press and our local communities.
Many older New York rely on affordable senior housing with services to comfortably age in place. The need for affordable senior housing with services continues to rise with many older New Yorkers living on fixed incomes that cannot keep up with rising rent cost; experiencing mobility challenges that limit housing options within an aging rental-stock. In 2016, LiveOn NY found that an estimated 200,000 older adults were on waiting lists for housing through the HUD202 program in New York City.
Given that the Department for the Aging (DFTA) budget remains at less than ½ of 1% of the City budget despite older adults representing a rapidly increasing 20% of the population, the City must go farther in its Adopted Budget to truly set the trajectory for a recovery that leaves no New Yorker behind. Moreover, to wholly embrace this budget’s theme, “A Recovery for All of Us,” the City must do more to ensure that older New Yorkers, particularly low-income and Black and brown older New Yorkers, are included in that recovery.
While there's much still to be done, today, we're celebrating the strides made in this year's State Budget — namely funding to address waiting lists for senior services! Thank you to all of the organizations and individuals that made calls, sent emails, and raised your voices to advocate for senior services to receive additional support in the New York State Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Budget. Late Tuesday night, the state finalized a budget that included significant changes to the states revenue sources, support of excluded workers, funding for education, and new investments in senior services such as funding to address waiting lists and more.
