2020 was tough, but New Yorkers are tougher
The holiday season is here, and 2020
is drawing to a close. I look back and
reflect on a very difficult year for this
City, but as is typical with New Yorkers, a
crisis made us rise up and come together.
Our mission has always been to serve
older New Yorkers and provide them
with the services they need to age in
place and live with dignity and purpose.
This year, we worked harder than ever to
ensure COVID- 19 would not affect the
delivery of critical services we provide
and launched new, innovative programs
to help older adults.
The first major accomplishment of
the year was launching our in-house
contact center Aging Connect in
February. When the pandemic hit,
Aging Connect staff took calls from
concerned older adults and connected
them with available City resources
and services. To date, Aging Connect
staff have helped more than 70,000
callers. And they continue to help at
212-Aging-NYC.
From the start of our Covid-19
response, our top priorities were food
provision and limiting social isolation.
The closure of in-person activities at
senior centers meant thousands of older
New Yorkers no longer had a place to
socialize or get a hot meal.
In March, the Department for the
Aging worked with private vendors to
quickly transition to a meal delivery
system. From mid-March to April, we
During COVID-19, the Department for the Aging transitioned its services to a
system of delivery and virtual programming.
delivered more than 1.2 million meals to
older adults. As demand for emergency
meals grew for older New Yorkers
and other vulnerable populations,
our meal service was merged with
the City’s emergency meal program,
GetFoodNYC. Those in need can still
enroll at nyc.gov/getfood.
Meanwhile, to limit social isolation
our senior center network quickly
transitioned in-person programs to
programs done over the phone and
virtually. These virtual programs include
fitness classes like yoga and Zumba, arts
& crafts, music workshops and much
more. Providing these programs have
helped older New Yorkers stay active,
socialize, and see their senior center
friends online. Currently, more than
170 senior centers are offering virtual
programs and have had more than
78,000 attendees.
Senior center staff have also been
regularly calling older adult clients to
check-in. Since March, provider staff
have made more than 2.4 million case
management, social engagement, and
wellness calls, reaching more than
170,000 older New Yorkers.
Other initiatives to limit social
isolation included launching a social
isolation PSA campaign that featured
Broadway star Lin-Manuel Miranda.
In the radio PSA, Miranda asked
New Yorkers to volunteer for Friendly
Visiting, an initiative that matches
volunteers with traditional homebound
older adults and is designed to limit
social isolation. The campaign was
successful. In a month, more than 400
New Yorkers signed up to volunteer!
Building on that success, we launched
Friendly VOICES in October. It’s
modeled after the Friendly Visiting
program but is available to all older New
Yorkers facing social isolation. Older
New Yorkers wishing to participate can
call Aging Connect.
We also worked with fellow city
agencies to provide important tools
and services. In late Spring, the City
delivered 10,000 free Wi-Fi-equipped
tablets to older New York City Housing
Authority (NYCHA) residents. We
worked with partners to provide a
user manual and online courses to
tablet recipients.
In the summer, to help older New
Yorkers stay cool at home, we worked
with other City agencies in the
GetCool program, which distributed
75,000 free air conditioners to lowincome
older adults.
And our work is not over yet.
COVID-19 continues to be a health
threat. Recently, the City’s Health
Department issued guidance asking
older New Yorkers to stay home. This
guidance comes at a time of festivities,
in which we want to visit and celebrate
with friends and family. But, we must
remember that this virus is very
aggressive. It’s important not to let our
guard down. Practice safe distancing,
wear a mask and for older New Yorkers,
stay home as much as possible.
This year forced us to rethink how we
deliver services, but it also confirmed
that the work we do is vital. Looking
forward, we are taking the lessons
learned from this crisis and using them
to reimagine our older adult centers
to be more flexible and adaptable, and
better serve our older adults. We will
also continue combatting ageism and
plan to launch an anti-ageism campaign
in early 2021.
It has been a privilege to serve older
New Yorkers, and I look forward to
the coming year to do even more.
Happy Holidays and best wishes for
the New Year.
NYC Department for the
Aging Commissioner Lorraine
Cortés-Vázquez
SHOP
WHERE
YOUR
HEART IS
THIS HOLIDAY CELEBRATE THE
PEOPLE AND THE PLACE YOU LOVE
IN PERSON:
SHOP SAFE & BUY LOCAL
LOOK FOR YOUR FAVORITE
LOCAL STORES ONLINE
BUY A GIFT CARD
DOWNTOWNNY.COM
Schneps Media December 24, 2020 7
/getfood
/DOWNTOWNNY.COM
