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.
While the older adult population continues to be the fastest growing demographic, making up nearly 16% of the State’s population, the programs that support older New Yorkers remain chronically underfunded. Representative of this underfunding, the overall state budget grew by 3.1% in the Executive Budget, while the NYSOFA budget lagged behind overall growth, at 1.8%, despite the population it serves making up a larger and larger share of the overall population.
This Wednesday, Governor Hochul held her first State of the State address, articulating policy and budgetary priorities for the coming session including aging related commitments to support all New Yorkers as we age. LiveOn NY applauds Governor Hochul commitments outlined in the agenda, which serve as significant markers of what's likely to come on the state level this year.
Led by the New York Housing Conference, LiveOn NY joined a coalition of 16 organizations to craft our newly released report calling on New York State to make a new, expanded 5-year capital plan and investment.
Recommendations in the report are centered around a call for a new, five-year $6 Billion Affordable Housing Plan and continued reoccurring program spending, totaling $1 billion over the next five years.
Among other challenges, the ability to remain fed, access to community-based supports, and an insufficient technology infrastructure were some of the primary issues facing older adults during the pandemic. Further, efforts to mitigate risk of exposure to COVID-19 had the unintended consequence of exacerbating issues of isolation across our state.
