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.
Last weekend, the delayed Fiscal Year 2023 State budget deal, totaling approximately $220 billion in spending, was passed. The budget included investments such as $500 million for Cost of Living Adjustments (COLAs) for human services workers, and a $25 billion affordable housing plan.
Rather than cuts, it’s time for equity for aging and for the City to just pay. We believe that every New Yorker deserves the ability to age in community with access to services regardless of one’s zip code or background. It’s time for the City to enact a more equitable budget that holistically supports these professionals that work tirelessly to ensure that no older New Yorker falls through the cracks.
Today, more than half of older renters are rent-burdened, as are a third of older homeowners. Further, roughly 2,000 older New Yorkers are living in homeless shelters, a number that is expected to triple by 2030 without significant intervention. LiveOn NY’s own research has found that there are more than 200,000 older adults languishing on waiting lists for affordable housing through the HUD 202 program, each waiting for 7-10 years on average for a unit to become available. This challenge is mirrored by the thousands of applications that come flooding in each and every time a new affordable senior housing lottery opens on Housing Connect.
We recognize there is more work to do in order to fully root out senior hunger in the City, including for the thousands of older adults who will continue to need home-delivered meals beyond the close of the Recovery Meal program in June. It is critical that the City use this moment and the momentum of a new Administration and City Council to go beyond short-term solutions, to instead executing long-term investments aimed at rooting out older adult hunger more holistically.
