Good afternoon and welcome to today's New York City Council hearing for the Committee on Aging. If you would like to testify, you must fill out a witness slip with one of the sergeant-at-arms, even if you signed up already. At this time, please silence all electronic devices and no one may approach. Chair, we are ready to begin. >> Thank you. Good afternoon. I'm council member Susan Dang. I serve as chair of the aging a committee on aging. It's an honor to be chairing my first budget hearing on the fiscal 2027 preliminary budget for the New York City Department for the aging as known as new NYC aging. Thank you to DFA's new appointment commissioner. Welcome Lisa Scott McKenzie for joining us. We are joined by council member Schumer Schuman, council member Abdul. Uh that's it right. Uh following testimony and questions with NYC agent, we will hear testimony from the public uh approximately 2:30. Thank you for the older adults, advocates and join us today. I will keep my comments here brief and I request the commissioner keep your comment oral testimony brief too so we can move on the questions from council members. I'd like to share we are starting a new tradition in the aging committee which every single hearing we will show a picture of issue senior are facing. It's essential that we are here. Oh, and today we have the picture of one of the senior center in Nicha building from last testimony. They said it's pouring when it's raining outside. It's pouring inside. Those the pictures. And the next time we'll have better board and put behind me. Yeah. Look at the hole on the wall. big hole on the wall. This is a situation our senior facing every day. It's essential that we here on council and at NYC agent come face to face with real issues senior deal with they they they affect seniors living every day. Every day senior and the people who serve them are forced to exit in those condition. We must hold all agencies accountable, not only just NYC aging. So I com committed to you today, we will hold up an image at every hearing so no one can deny reality. Seeing this will convey the urgency and seriousness of the situation. O older adults and the older adults provider network. We have faced challenges in the past few years due to the pandemic and the budgetary conrain constraints as well as inflation and increased the cost of living. I look forward to work collaboratively with providers and the administration to help city's 1.8 a million older adults overcome those challenges. NYC aging has a critical role to play in accessing and meeting the needs of older adults and collaborating with provider network and the city council. We must harness best practices and create innovative approach to best serve our city's growing population of older adults. NYC's a NYC agent's fiscal 2027 preliminary budget is 573.5 million which is approximately 32 million less than fiscal 2026 adopted budget as the council's discretionary initiative funding is not yet included for fiscal 2027 despite serving almost 20% of city's population. NYC's budget continues account for less than 1% of city's overall budget which is simply not sufficient to meet needs of other our older adults in the city. The preliminary budget includes two minor new needs to more act accurately budget for expected cost for the indirect cost rate and the cost for leaving adjustment for human service contract but none for director service or program for older adults. As chair of this committee, I look forward working alongside the administration to come up with a new way to create, fund, and implement new and expanded expanded service for older adults. NYC agents capital commitment plan the smallest in the city total 75.9 million over fiscal 2026 to 20 30 which over 300 older adult centers promising about 40 nors in New York City agent network this funding is insufficient to properly address all the infrastructure needs. I believe the capital program would be enhanced to help refurbish centers, improve kitchens, and connect older adults to much need technology and resources. In addition, DFA should advocate for additional capital funding to be added in HPD's budget to create more affordable older adult home units across the city. It's a big priority of mine as older adults are struggling with ra rising rents and a lack of accountability accessibility afford affordable order adults friendly units cross this five the five borrows in today's hearing we would like to get a deeper understanding of NYC agents expense budget its capital plan the imple the impact act of its service metrics that are used and the key agent service and programs including case management, home delivered meals and orders center programs. We would also like to devote into metrics reported for NYC aging in fiscal 2026 preliminary mayor's management report. I would like to thank committee staff who have helped prepare this hearing. Simo Hamid, senior financial analysist. Julia K. Haramus, assistant director. Christopher Pepe, senior legislative cons uh council. Joshua Newman, policy analyst. and the migra staff, Kayn Oric, deputy chief staff of um deputy chief staff and the Jennifer Thorp Moscow, director of budget and legislation. I'm sorry if I pronounce anyone's name not correctly. English is my second language. I have excuse. I will now pass the mic to committee council to administer the oath to members of administration. >> Thank you, chair. Good afternoon. If you could both please raise your right hand. Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth before this committee and to respond honestly to council member questions? Commissioner, >> I do. >> Chief Financial Officer, >> I do. >> You may proceed with your testimony. >> Absolutely. Thank you. Good afternoon, Chair Zwang and members of the Committee on Aging. I am Dr. Lisa Scott McKenzie, the commissioner of the New York City Department for the Aging NYC aging. Before I go into my testimony, I have to say uh viewing photos like you showed us a few moments ago as commissioner uh they're dramatic and deeply disturbing. So definitely you will see more from uh DFA. Obviously it's not wholly our problem, but we will join forces with all the others such as NICHA to ensure that our older adults are in safe functional environments. Um, I have pledged to go out to all of the 308 of our centers and uh take a look at what our older adults are are are experiencing every day. And again, I've said I it's not the beautiful sites that I want to see first. I want to go first to those sites that look like what you just showed us. So, if you would be as kind, we would definitely invite you also to come along with us and advocate for our older adults. >> Absolutely. Now, I'll move into my testimony. I am joined this afternoon by Jose Marcado, our chief financial officer. Thank you for this opportunity to discuss NYC aging's preliminary budget for fiscal year 2027, FY27. I'm speaking to you this morning on my ninth official day as commissioner for New York City aging. I am very excited to serve as the head of this agency delivering vital services to nearly two million New Yorkers over the age of 60. We of course do this through our partnership with hundreds of contracted providers across a range of programs and much of our success is due to the relationship we have fostered over the years with these dedicated professionals in aging services. I am proud to bring my years of experience working at the New York City Health and Hospitals most recently as the chief operating officer at Woodall Hospital in Brooklyn to this new role. I am committed to bringing the same innovative innovative approach to aging services and pursuit of excellence in the way we serve older New Yorkers to my time as commissioner. We believe that New York City's older adults have earned the right to age gracefully and with dignity in the communities they have built. Nurturing and fostering that reality for older adults is fundamental to the work of this agency. To support this important work, our FY27 preliminary budget projects 573.5 million in funding, of which 469.5 million is in city funds. This includes allocations to core programs you are all familiar with, including 240.8 million to support older adult centers, 78 million for homed delivered meals, and 47.4 million for case management. The work done by OAC's, HDM programs, and our CMA providers combat poverty and financial insecurity while also connecting older adults to inhome services, which addresses their needs when struggling with activities of daily living. There are also allocations of 36.5 million to support home care for homebound older adults who are not Medicaid eligible, which allows older New Yorkers to age in place, and 16.3 million for NORC programs, which provides similar services as OAC's other than meals for recreation and combating social isolation, but includes nursing services. Finally, 14.2 2 million for caregiver services, supporting the 1.3 million caregivers and their care receivers in the city, and 7.1 million for transportation services, allowing older adults to be connected to community centers, houses of worship, shopping, and medical appointments. These numbers tell only a portion of the story beyond the services included at NYC aging and show the human side of what we do to make New York City fully age inclusive. As this administration has made clear, there are key challenges in the city financially and NYC aging is always prepared to prioritize the needs of older adults and our core aging services while limiting the impacts of these challenges. Nonetheless, we are still keenly aware of these challenges which have been exacerbated by changes to the federal landscape and the need for continued and increased investment from the state to support the growing number of older adults throughout New York. We also continue to advocate that our state and federal partners share the financial responsibility of serving older New Yorkers living in the city over the current fiscal year. We are proud of our work done along with the work of our nonprofit partners and addressing some notable recent successes and upcoming items we are looking forward to. In November of 2025, New York City Aging celebrated its 50th anniversary. As the largest area agency on aging in the country, we are proud to be the first in a number of accomplishments, including developing the community care plan, creating the cabinet for older New Yorkers, and utilizing our platform as an agency to take us from age friendly to age inclusive. New York City Aging's commitment to service and leadership will build a future where every New Yorker can age with dignity and respect. In FY25, New York City aging once again hit a post-pandemic record of 10 million meals served to older New Yorkers throughout the five burrows. This includes 6.1 million meals served at the 300 plus OAC's in the network and 4.2 million meals delivered by our HDM providers. As we have said before, when the Older Americans Act was passed more than 60 years ago this July in 1965, a key reason for creating that pivotal legislation was to address older adult poverty nationwide through nutrition and supportive services. While the significance of what it means to be an older adult may have changed since the 1960s, the basic human needs for dignified aging, meals, health, agency, safety, and income remain the same. Last fall, we launched a dynamic AISM stops with you campaign focused on calling out agism regardless of age. This means both older and younger New Yorkers that age discrimination affects us all. This reminds all of them and we should call it out, reject it and challenge a aism together. This multilingual campaign is not the only effort our agency has put forward combating agism but is complemented by our anti-agism high school resource guide and the intergenerational my New York story campaign. Both these endeavors have been developed through the cabinet for older New Yorkers and were recognized as programs of merit by Generations United. We are proud of the work we are doing to fundamentally push against agism in New York City. Finally, last July, we were pleased to release the state of older New Yorkers report, which was developed based on the results of our milestone service needs assessment administered in 2024. We have learned much information about the way older adults perceive their environment and aging in New York City. and we have learned about the work and challenges our agency needs to overcome in order to better meet the needs of older adults. This report has informed our work and allowed us to develop a better understanding of what older New Yorkers are really experiencing on a daily basis. We are thrilled about these recent successes and some key programs supported in this preliminary budget which shape our core services and improve the lives of older adults in New York City. Two of New York City aging's core services are OAC's and the HDM program which are intrinsically connected to providing meals and nutrition assistance to older adults. In recent years, we have altered our own thinking and clearly see congregate or homed delivered meals as programs which provide food as medicine. These are essential services for healthy living and preventing the social isolation that affects older adults at a very basic level. This work done by OAC's, HDM programs, and our CMA providers combat poverty and financial insecurity, which address their needs when struggling with the activities of daily living. Not only does the HDM program provide meals to homebound older New Yorkers, their interaction with the delivery person, which for many of our clients may be the only direct human interaction for the day, supports our ongoing effort to combat social isolation. Again, a critical aspect of our community care approach. This program continues to follow the strict guidance set by the state and is open to all those who meet the criteria. Additionally, because financial insecurity remains among the most critical needs of older adults and it is highly correlated to food insecurity, NYC aging is continually evaluating our efforts and exploring areas for improvement. While workforce programs continue to be a way for older adults to avoid long-term poverty, meal meals programs are a lifeline to older adults struggling with financial and food insecurity. This includes enhancing meal options for recipients, embracing the diversity of our city by increasing the availability of culturally aligned meals, and promoting uniformly high quality and nutritious meals. Over the past few years, per meal reimbursement rates have gradually risen to help meet the needs the needs of our providers serving these critical needs. These have been key improvements to service and our providers that we have met through partnership between the administration and council leadership. As the number of older adults in New York City continues to grow, it is imperative that we continue to grow the community care support systems which allow older New Yorkers to remain in the communities they built and truly age in place. We do this through home care and caregiver services which greatly serve those who are homebound or in need of additional supports. Home care services are provided through Medicaid reimbursement and for those who do not qualify for Medicaid programs through the expanded inhome services for elderly persons ISP program where case management hours are reimbursed to providers. Without this, ISP clients are at a disadvantage when Medicaid home care workers are incentivized to take on those clients because the pay is higher. There is no distinction between ISEP and Medicaid home care workers. They are primarily women of color and this exacerbates inequity because of the salary. Currently, the home care program at New York City aging is funded at 36.5 million for FY27. Many older adults are caregivers for their aging parents or others. Many are caregivers who also have full-time jobs. The caregiver program offers options for respit care through home care or participation in social adult daycare. There are an estimated 1.3 million New Yorkers who function as a caregiver. We know that the cost of maintaining an older adult in institutionalized care is far higher when compared to the cost of community care options such as supporting caregivers. We know that the cost of uh it costs excuse me on average $160,980 to house an older adult and institutionalized care whereas the average cost of community care services is roughly 32,000 per person per year. In FY27 funding for the caregiver program is currently projected to be 14.2 million. We are additionally excited to announce that a citywide caregiver campaign just launched today and will help to educate New Yorkers about this incredibly important program at NYC aging. Caregiver supports positively impact the health and well-being of older adults while aligning with the cultural background of the individual. This is why community care is so incredibly important to the future of older New Yorkers. As an as the New York City population ages rapidly, ensuring older adults can age in place is paramount, naturally occurring retirement communities are a v vital piece of the community care puzzle. Through contracted providers, New York City agent currently funds 36 NORCs across the city, delivering essential social services directly to where older adults live. NORC programs are uniquely positioned within people's homes and communities, offering services distinct from traditional older adult centers. Just like caregiver supports, NORCs are a fundamentally sound investment in community care that saves the city money while improving lives. NORC staff also intervene early to prevent the negative impacts that lead to costly institutionalization. Beyond health care, they empower older adults to advocate for their daily living needs. Currently, the NORC program is funded at 16.3 million in New York City. Because they are embedded in the community, NORC staff provide vital healthc care management to address long-term housing issues. These are key interventions that prevent older adults from being forced into institutional care. Just this year, the governor's 2026 state of the state address underscored the immense value of this model by proposing to double state investments in NORCs to 16 million. This commitment highlights the immense impact that this program has and we know that council has contributed discretionary funds to NOR pro programs as well in the past years. These integrated services keep older New Yorkers safely in the communities they help build, which is their overwhelming preference. Maintaining and expanding NORC funding is essential to our shared goal of making New York City a truly agefriendly city, and we welcome your continued advocacy and investment in these critical community anchors. In conclusion, I continue to be proud of the great work that NYC aging and our providers accomplish with our resources. This past year has shown where NYC aging is prepared to prioritize vital programs that truly meet the needs of older New Yorkers and continue to advocate for innovations and aging services which look to the future. Even in the face of challenges, we continue to be good stewards of public dollars. That said, given the need for further investment from our state and federal partners, we continue to be concerned about the current uncertainty and what changes may affect NYC aging. It is imperative now more than ever that New York City receive its fair share of aging services funding and that federal grants continue to be dispersed for these vital programs and services. We are grateful to the chairs of and committee members for your ongoing advocacy and continued partnership to support older New Yorkers. Thank you for your time today. Mr. Marcato and I are happy to answer any questions. >> Thank you, Commissioner. And then we just joined uh by with us council member Brewer. Congratulations. Uh we're going to move to the question Q&A. We're going to move to Q&A portion of this hearing. Congratulations, Commissioner. Again, I enjoyed the conversation we had yesterday. I'm excited to work with you and uh um but a lot of people still don't know yet. I'm going to ask the question again. What's your priority uh for the agency? >> Well, we have taken a look at the an overall look at the agency. Obviously, again, it's my ninth day, so there's a lot still to be uncovered, but we found that we really have a great missiondriven agency that has done great work in partnership with this council. So, we want to thank you so much for all that you've done uh and how you've supported the work that we do. But as far as uh some of our changing mission, we are looking at uh agism and we know that agism has been at the foundation of all the work that's been done over the last few years. But now we're starting to realign and recognizing that uh today folks are dealing with and especially our older adults are dealing with the real meat and potatoes issues of food insecurity of a safe place to live an affordable place to live and especially providing the best environment possible when we do have places like our OAC's where it should be an area of respit for our older adults. Yes. And also um like you just said OAC this OAC is in NICHA building u what's your plan to work with other agency because if like the last testimony um we had advocate told us >> this situation it's raining outside it's pouring inside yes >> and it's in nicha building nicha building doesn't let the OAC fix the issue >> what's your plan to working with other city agencies. >> Well, exactly as you've said, we definitely need to partner better with NICHA and we will do that. I know that we have an escalation process right now where you have a ticket and we do have a liaison that works along with us, but I'd like us to really advocate a lot more strongly that uh these environments are looked at immediately. We are not a capital agency as you all know, but we can make use of monies that we may have that uh are due to overspending and others to be able to uh to effect some of these repairs. And of course, of course, NICHA as one of the city agencies, I'm sure that they're eager to help us solve this problem. So, we will work with them and whatever other agencies we need to in order to make sure that we don't have centers that look like this. >> Thank you. And also second question the older adults represent approach about 20% of city's population. Uh 2021 grad center study report that the population of older adults age 65 and older in New York state will increase to 25% between 2021 and the 2040. In the city alone, population older adults will be increased by 40% by the year 2040. Um, this is a big increase. What metrics does NYC agent track or monitor regarding older adults population growing, demanding more programs and more service? Well, we are looking at metrics and I'm sure Jose may want to add some things, but we are looking at metrics that help us to identify the total number of folks that would need our assistance. Of course, uh allowing uh there to be some overflow because we do recognize that there are folks that we may not know about that are 60 and older that will enter some of our centers and require uh additional services as well. So while I don't have those numbers in front of me now and I'm happy to bring them back for our next meeting, we are tracking uh the need and meeting the need according to uh our recent numbers. >> I'm a data person also. >> Me too. >> So when the number of senior increase >> but the percentage of senior also increase >> and uh but we did not see the percentage of the budget in the city increase. Is any plan of increase of percentage of the budget for seniors this year? >> Well, there are innovative approaches and of course our partnerships with some of our nonprofit profit agencies as well to be able to address the needs and and properly assign the needs because through case management we should be able to uh assess our our older adults and then be sure that we're meeting their actual needs. And not all of that is a budget issue. Some of it is budget neutral. We found through our cabinet for older New Yorkers that we have been able to come up with approaches that don't cost a lot of money but actually increase the service and increase the service um the the offerings of services that we have across the city. >> Um I'm in the ground every day. >> Uh a lot of senior center oasis uh they come to me always say Susan we don't have enough budget we have to cut this we have to cut that. And this year from the budget so far I haven't see uh increase of money for OAC's but I see the cut is any um plans for our OAC's for the budget. >> Well yes we we did release a concept paper >> uh very recently and we were waiting for the results of that to uh get a better picture of whether or not we do need to make further adjustments. But I would open the floor and say to you, please if you do hear that, you know, I can't speak for the past, but I can speak for the future. And I'll say if you get that, please pass it on to us because we want to be able to ensure that we're meeting the needs. And if there are ways that we can look at our budget and use it in a different way to meet those needs, we're willing to do so. >> That's great to hear. Probably you're going to have a full list. >> Good. We've got lots of work to do. And then we just joined by council member Hudson. Um >> and and also council member Lee. Oh, our finance chair. >> Good. Hi. How are you? Um for the mayor's saving exercise, >> did we have any idea what aging uh NYC DFA able to save and what area they going to save? For me, I see DA or already don't have enough funding. How we going to save more? Which area that you guys going to look at it to save? >> Um hi. And so uh we're currently looking at ideas and so we're still working through that. >> No, that's kind of again we're still reviewing what we have because commissioner mentioned earlier we're looking at all our budgets reviewing them. Um so currently we have made no decisions regarding any savings at this point in time >> and we really want to be very thoughtful in this process because again we we don't have an infinite budget. No one does. But we want to be sure that we're meeting the needs uh and we're meeting our older adults where they are and our uh providers to be sure that what we are funding we're funding the right things and if there's something that we can draw back on that we're drawing back on the right issues. And uh um we also here going to end a two for one hire hiring policy but it was a concern to hear that agencies will only permit to file half of fill half of their vacancies. Uh with a senior growing I don't know what's the situation with DFA. Well, I'm happy to say that at this point we only have two positions that have been approved by OM that we're actively hiring for at this point. So, we're doing quite well with our staffing and our vacancy rate right now is two percentage points lower than it was last year. So, we're doing well for now. Uh, and we will continue to monitor. Okay. Um, I still have a lot of questions, but I want to go uh let my colleagues ask a question first, then we'll go back to my questions. We have Council Member Schuman and followed by Council Member Brewer. >> Thank you very much, chair, and uh, welcome, Commissioner. So, uh, one of the questions I have is, um, sort of and continue in the vein of, uh, chair, um, there are communities like in my district where there are no senior centers and I know in terms of the capital, the capital is not there, but in Richmond Hill there is no senior centers. Are there any plans to how what are the plans to deal with that? I'm so happy you you mentioned that because definitely we want to be sure that we have centers in areas of need and underserved communities. So it is something that we will look at and I'd be happy to bring you back some information on that in the very near future. >> Okay. No, I appreciate that because there are seniors and they get together in small groups and they do their own thing and so they don't have a structure. Um, so that's very important. And also, um, you know, I would like to also invite you out to my district. The the the amenities to some of the senior centers are not great either in in my district. Not to the extent that you have at Nicha, but there you you know, you'll see. And we have in my district, we have a lot of um Holocaust survivors and they come for lunches at different places and the it's just, you know, there's stuff coming off the walls and there's like, you know, the tables are not good, you know, all of that stuff. So, we should talk about that. What um what kind of meals and do you have money for meals for um for seniors? Like how does that work? So currently all O so majority of our OC's basically have money. >> Okay. >> So they all have meals you know so they get reimbursed based on specifically cost on on average you know meal cost is about $5 on average. Um so currently I mean so right now for just so you know we currently are we've provided 3.2 million meals. Uh currently there are no as of as of January. Mhm. >> U so currently we have no outstanding invoices for meals at this point in time. >> Okay. And the the last question that I have is um what are the what are your plans in terms of moving? I know you're at Lafayette Street now, I believe, and you're moving to 14 Wall Street. So, can you tell us a little bit about that? >> Yes. Um first I want to take you up on your invitation. >> You mentioned that we should go out to your community. So, absolutely. Let's plan that as soon as possible. you know, it's a major priority of mine uh to see and feel the same things that our older adults see and feel every day. You know, and as I've mentioned, I don't just want to see the glitzy programs. I actually want to go to those programs where there are real needs so that we can make a bigger impact when we do correct those issues. But, uh yes, we will be moving um in the very very near future. Uh there are renovations that will take place first. um it's listed right now as a mayoral renovation. So, we're expecting that um this will help us to uh not only retain the quality talented staff that we have right now, but as we move forward and continue to uh have needs to attract additional staff, that that will help us as well. We also have several spaces within our building where we invite our older adults in for training and for uh counseling, interview prep, and other types of services. So we again if it's going to be our overarching goal that we provide the best spaces safe functional we want to do the same thing when they're coming over to DFA. >> What is there a timeline for the move? >> Uh well we're working out the timeline right now. So I don't want to commit to something that's not in stone yet. Um but it will be in the near future. >> And what a big issue for seniors. By the way, I'm one of a handful of older adults on the city council, so this is important to me. Um, uh, loneliness is a big issue for seniors. So, what plans do you have? I didn't see anything in the testimony around that issue. >> Yes, social isolation, loneliness. Uh well, the first thing that we're doing um as I mentioned in in in the testimony, you might not have have heard me, but uh we do have those congregate settings at all of the OAC's. So, uh our older adults do have the chance to network and socialize and so on. And then some of them um don't want to go to an OAC or maybe they can't get to an OAC. So, at those home delivered meals, they do have that consistency with the driver that's coming every day. they become accustomed to them and become comfortable. But um I am a technology person and I do feel at many of our centers we have started to uh train up some of our seniors to be able to use some of the devices um that are out there such as uh language uh translation apps which would open the door to additional communication and connection and socialization for our seniors. So these are some of the avenues that we're exploring, but again, as I mentioned, we're looking at innovative approaches. We know that there are several ways to be able to uh provide additional services and to allow that sense of belonging and connection. So it is an an area of focus for us. >> Okay. Thank you, chair. Thank you, Commissioner. >> Thank you. We also joined by um Chair Millie. Um I have a follow-up question. Sure. >> So in council member Schuman already asked for moving um on the budget said including moving agent headquarter cost $27.1 million and also for our city agency's total project total funding is 7 75.9 million for fiscal 2026 to 30. So this is basically half almost half of the total budget for city agency for four years. Um why this moving is quite expensive moving the headquarter. Hi. So yes, it's so part of that is renovating the building to ensure that it basically meets the needs of the older adults, training centers as well as staff. >> Is any process inside? Who is the landlord and why this building is so expensive? Basically, it's a half the budget of four years da the moving expense. >> I'd like to review those numbers again. Um, and if there are changes, we will be sure to share those with you. But I would say that it did go through the bidding process. Um, it went through OMB. So, they've already uh addressed those hurdles early on in the process. So, the final number, and I'm not going to say right now that is the final number, but we will share that final number with you. And it it was in line with with what makes sense moving an agency of our size and also having to have those special amenities for our older adults when they enter our center. It's not just your basic vanilla box type of movement. These are not just offices. These are spaces that are designed to support the work that we do. >> So this is not the direct service cost to like similar to senior center. It's only just a moving. We like to see the numbers. I think the public also interest to see all the numbers. >> Okay. We will definitely bring that back for you. Not >> Thank you. Thank you. And also we um Council Member Brewer, >> thank you very much and it was nice to meet you on your first day at the Yes. Encore dinner. That was very special. Yes. >> Um I have a question about case management because I know that in many cases that is the I don't know what the right term meat and potatoes of some of these centers and they do never have enough. >> So the PMMR said there was an increase in the number of clients. I'm sure about that. Um and increase in case management hours and there's a large number of older CI city citizens who were served. But what is the current funding amount for case management in your budget for 26 and for 27? And is there a waiting list for case management services? I know the answer is yes. And then how many clients are on that list? And just generally, how are you going to address case management? That is like I said, what keep people housed and served and so on. I want to hear more about case management. >> Hi. Regarding the budget, so there was actually additional funding added during the November plan for case management for a million dollars. So currently our budget for 26. >> Can you talk up a little if you could? >> Sorry. Can you hear me? >> Yep. >> Can you hear me >> better? >> All right. I sound like a Verizon commercial now. But anyway, um with case management, um so currently our budget is $55.5 million, which includes that additional money for that one year. >> 55 million. You said >> 55 55.5 million, right? >> Yeah. And same thing that bas that is baseline for 27 as well. So now just so you know for example this does not include any additional ICR information and things of that nature. >> And what's the waiting list? What what how many more people do you have on the waiting list though? >> Okay. >> Okay. So right now we have 455 clients that are waiting for full case management services which uh actually is an decrease of 38% from the same time two years ago. >> Okay. So you feel that there's I that sounds low but I appreciate that that's the number that you have and that is those what what do you consider case management? What is on your what do you consider case management? Well, this would not be an everyday, you know, because we know the ratio is the council has requested a ratio of uh 65 cases per case worker. Right now, we're at uh 164 164 as opposed to >> right. So, we're just a smidge under, but um we are working obviously to to make sure that we do reach that target goal that you have mentioned previously. And this would not include the day-to-day interaction. Of course, one person with 65 people. So, case management for us would be that uh you do have that social worker that would be covering 60 uh four cases. That would be their case load. >> Okay. I think that's helpful. More to be discussed. I'm a big supporter of the New York Foundation for Senior Citizens. We're all trying to find housing and they were able to uh do home sharing for a hundred hosts and guests very recently. So I want to know if that's a program that you think should be expanded, funded, etc. Obviously the notion behind it. As you know, somebody has vacancy in their apartment and then they match and it ends up saving money. Last year about 1.3 million is what the city saved. So I want to know if you know the program, if you think it should be expanded. It's a great I think model. What do what do you think? >> Well, thank you for sharing that. You know, again, nine days in I don't want to say it should be expanded or maintained. What I'll say is that we will definitely take a deep dive and make sure that this is something that uh is meaningful to the organization and meaningful to the folks that uh need to use the program and we'll bring that answer back for you. >> Okay. And the other thing is hoarders. Hoarders are a big problem for talk about case management. That is a you know almost all by yourself. You got to deal with it. So my question is what are we doing to prevent eviction? APS is obviously the last resort. Is that something that's I know you have a big agism agenda. I'm like real uh granular so I have tons of hoarders and we spend hours we sometimes we clean them sometimes we call APS etc. How is that fitted in? Unfortunately they're often older adults. >> Yes. And I want to just circle back one moment if you mind wouldn't mind on the case management issue. Uh the number that we mentioned this includes individuals that are waiting for a full evaluation. >> Okay. they're still receiving services like home delivered meals uh where they qualify in in the interim. So on the issue of hoarders, obviously we do have a tenant um eviction specialist unit that would assist with issues like that. And as our case management workers are working with with these uh older adults, they also assess if there are environmental issues where they would need additional assistance. So it is something that we are looking at as well. It's it is an issue among uh our older adults as we know because many of them uh either don't have the resources or they're not able they're not bodily able to be able to do those things on their own. >> I'm just saying I think uh perhaps uh it's good to be reactive and I'm just saying tryhs look at some of the dockets at housing court something to be more proactive so we don't want them to lose their homes you know they're going to end up in shelter. So I would love to see that. is finally on scre. We love scree. We have work with finance. We have somebody there every week helping tenants. However, but due to memory loss and so on, people don't get their forms in. They don't do the lease right. The owner doesn't loves to not pretend or pretend they doesn't know about the lease renewal, etc. So, how are you that's working with another agency? I understand that. But finance, but how are you like dealing with screen? There are so many people who are not signed up. We know that. But even those who are signed up, we spend hours every week, you know, lines out the door with people who don't have the right free information. They don't want to lose it. They want to get on it. They don't remember etc. Well, thank you for that. And we welcome the partnership with you so that uh we can also advocate for what's needed there. At those older adult centers, uh we do have uh staff that work with the older adults to complete their applications. So they do have some resources and of course we want to do additional outreach so that they are aware that they have those services available to them. >> It's one of those things that I think the mayor and others should be doing it because a lot of those folks don't go to senior centers. They don't or they're older adult whatever the hell they're called but it's something that needs a lot of attention. Thank you. >> Thank you. And uh I actually we our office did a research about screen um people qualified only 42% of people applied because um I I see a lot of advocate knock their heads. Yes it it is the truth is because people doesn't know the program later on they lost their apartments they lost their homes. Um this is definitely a joint partnership between all the city agencies. We need to advocate even my office. We help people to apply also every we need to have a campaign in the between city agency and between all the council members even with mayor. We should let people know this program exist. Apply before you lose your home. And uh the next one we have council member Abdul. Good afternoon and uh congratulations and welcome to DFA. Thank you and the city council budget hearing. Um so I h I have a couple of qu a few questions actually. Um so you know federal funding is declining due to the removal of uh the pandemic era funding. How are you planning to close that gap and prevent uh service reductions? >> So last so la so the fiscal cliff so last year uh New York City covered all federal funding that went away >> and currently it's all baseline funding right now. So there are no specific fiscal cliffs regarding federal funding. >> Okay. Um and with um homed delivered meals appears to have declined by 25% uh compared to the same period last year um what factors are contributing to that decline and what steps is DA taking to ensure that seniors are re that need meals are receiving meals um and on you know on council members Wang's point um uh what is the outreach and you know mar marketing and education to, you know, seniors about, uh, the services that are are provided for these communities. Um, we have throughout the city and and in the Bronx, we have a lot of food deserts. Um, and is, you know, DFA doing anything to uh service those those uh food desert areas? Have you identified areas that are uh in greater in greater need? Um so those are my questions for now. I have I have a few more but >> Okay. >> Well, thank you so much for for your questions and uh obviously we all are very concerned about uh the federal environment now and some of the changes and we're monitoring what may be the impact on New York City aging. I do want to get back to you. This is one time that I'm going to have to say that uh I'm going to lean in a little bit on my nine days and I'm going to say uh I would like to take a deeper dive into some of these uh reductions. Obviously, we know we've spent more in the budget and I don't know if you want to mention that, but um if there's an area that um we need to take a deeper dive, I'd like us to do that. So as you can see for example I mean HDM has been growing every year and as a result support from council >> speaking to the mic. Sorry. >> Yeah because we can't hear you guys now. >> No you're off. No >> you hear me now right? Sorry >> like it's like teams right you can't anyway. Um so as you know for example historically htm has been increasing as well as the council has been supporting the rate increases over time. So the budget has grown. So you know that I mean regarding the actual like I said the commission will get back to you regarding the reduction in the in the actual meals. I think there's probably probably a data issue with there but we'll get back to you on that. >> Okay. Um can I ask another question? Um so on staffing you have about a 13.9% vacancy rate. um how are you ensuring that um there's adequate oversight of the over 1400 contracts uh with nonprofits that you have across the city? Um and do you are there any issues with pro with providers uh you know uh receiving uh funding uh having funding delays because of >> um so regarding on-time payments we don't have any outstanding invoices to providers and so we're pro our normally is if invoices come in we have a twoe turnaround so regarding delay payments that's not one of our issues at all. Okay. >> Uh we do have again a robust I said in terms of staffing we have I mean staff who are constantly contract managing the programs and so if there any issues I mean they normally get to one of us or again >> okay and uh I do have a a specific question about a center in my district uh the throck senior center. It's been closed for I want to say close to two years um uh or less but um you know it's it's fallen in disrepair. It's under NICHA, but it's now I believe it's a section 9 packed building. >> And so, so that transition from NICHA to to packed or even RAD, it it feels like we're caught in like limbo here as to who is responsible to make the repairs >> to the senior center, which is much much needed. About 58% of the tenants in Nicha housing in my district are over the age of 65. >> Yes. >> Which is significant. And and I'd say to you uh we are aware that there are some centers or OAC's that are in NICT facilities that uh the building itself has uh infrastructure issues and that is one of them. >> Um where there are issues there with the HVAC uh heating, ventilation and air conditioning and the roof. um aside from the site that we operate there. So again, this is another area where we need to partner with NICHA and to see what can be done and it it might call for us to take another look and perhaps if there's some swing space or something else that we can find in the neighborhood. We may have to take a look at it and make a hard decision because our overarching goal is that we are going to have safe functional environments for every one of our centers. We know it's going to take time, but we will work tirelessly to get there because, um, as I feel and as I've shared with the team at DFA, um, if I don't feel I can send my grandmother there, uh, my mother can't go there and I don't want to be there, then I don't want to have anyone else in that environment as well. So, we will work towards making sure every one of those centers is a place we feel proud of. >> Yeah. Currently, they're using the the Kips Bay uh Boys and Girls Club, but during the summer they can't use it because >> it's like full-time summer, the kids are there for like day camp. Um and so now they during the summer they won't have a space to they won't have a place to go to and they've talked about transporting. Does Diff pay for the agency that's running that center to transport people to other centers and how how would that work? I know a lot of seniors, they like being in their community and don't like the idea of having to get on, you know, transport being transported someplace else. And I would say that a lot of the senior centers are full to capacity. So just kind of adding um adding more more people won't necessarily work. Uh so we have to figure that one out. I would sooner rather than later. >> We we do and we know that it may take uh more innovative approaches for us to be able to serve our older adults. But I'll tell you um I agree that they should not be buffed into other communities. you know that their their preference is to stay within their own communities and to have a home base somewhere close to where they actually live where you can build those connections and that sense of belonging in a certain community. So yes, we do need to find other approaches and other methods. Um, I haven't found them in nine days, but we will work towards uh coming back to you with some ideas that make sense and again welcome your advocacy and of course our community leaders and elected officials too to help us to better serve those that deserve to age gracefully in place. And have you thought about working with other agencies or organizations like public libraries and even DOE schools um to provide um you know a space where our seniors can can go and also interact with some young folks who can you know learn from learn from us >> because I consider myself one of the few seniors on this committee. Uh but yeah uh well think of it as uh we're paying it forward. We're getting it ready for the folks that will come after us. So any steps that we take now will uh set the foundation for great work in the future. But yes, we have looked at some of those areas. You know, we we've talked about um being able to access space where we can have additional programming uh for our older adults in larger spaces, air conditioned spaces. We know, you know, the cooling season, as much as we'd love it to be today, it will be here pretty soon. And so, we're looking at that uh in connection with the cooling centers that we need to offer for our older adults in in the summertime. So, we're looking at a lot of different approaches. Again, once we start to solidify some of these a bit more, I think that's a better time for us to have a real logical cogent discussion about what we can do. >> Thank you. You're welcome. >> Thank you. If you don't tell anyone, people think you are 25. And then we just joined by council member Denowitz and the next one um finance chair Lee. >> Hi everyone. Welcome Commissioner and it's always good to see Jose uh who's been helpful. Um and uh it's great to well scary a little bit to be in this new role but as uh some folks at DFA know it's great to see the staff as well and of course the advocates. Um, having run a social service nonprofit with two senior centers and a males on wheels program for 12 years, I fully appreciate uh the work that DFA has done in supporting our communities. One comment I will make though is that I think that part of the reason why the budget's increasing even though the number of seniors have not necessarily for homebound delivered meals is because of the fact that the costs have been increasing and we've been trying to catch up with the national levels of rates for HDM. Um, so I think that's part of it because I think back when I was um this was in 2014 or 2015 as a subcontractor, we were only getting reimbursed $5.25 per meal, which was even at that time extremely extremely low. And so I just wanted to actually um check on the fact that um the subs are also getting their indirect rates and you know fair share of the uh contracts as well as the main. Not to say that we want to take away from the main contractors because obviously we don't. But how do we increase that pie? And so do you if if you don't have it today cuz I get you're on day nine. Um but if you if you don't have it today, I'd love to see updated numbers in terms of uh where the reimbursement rates are with the mains versus the subs if you can provide that. And then also um I know that uh I'm very well like I one of the things I hate are unfunded mandates because that cost should not have to fall onto the providers. And so when we did our 7-day meal delivery service for seventh day that the bill that we passed um I I specifically wanted to make sure there was language in the bill that was subject to appropriation. And so just in your conversations with OM and with the mayor's office, does it look like there will be and I know that we're doing the budget dance right now, but um I would gladly advocate for you guys to obviously get funding in the budget for the 7th day meal cuz as we know a lot of the seniors, the homebound meals, it's usually only just the one meal a day that they get. So I just wanted to check in on that as well in terms of how those conversations are going with the administration. >> Uh so I'm going to go back to the very first question. So currently it's you know as we all know it's $14.78 per meal. So now unfortunately we don't get involved with the conversations regarding subcontractors and would they negotiate with the prime >> but do you guys have a sense of what those numbers are? >> So it varies from from provider to provider. It's not consistent across >> what's the floor and what's like the what's the range? >> So um I can give you that we'll send we'll give you that information. I don't want to kind of give a a guess right now but we'll provide that. >> Okay. And and I'd say on the other issue, uh obviously a lot more conversation uh needs to happen surrounding that. Um I have some preliminary numbers of the cost and um I'm not so sure the bill addresses uh the funding vehicle for this. So um >> it does. Yeah. It it was basically on the administration to see if we can put money into the budget for that. Yeah. >> Okay. So a lot more conversation. Um I I'd really love to have those conversations over the next few weeks or so. And um it's something that we can discuss because uh looking at the preliminary numbers, we're talking about an astronomical number um that would need to be uh it would be a pretty heavy financial lift. So >> it's about 300 million, right? >> Yeah. >> From what I remember, >> yes. >> Okay. Because I haven't looked at the number, but I remember 300 million is sticking out. Okay. >> Okay. So further exploration and discussion and definitely something for a future meeting. >> Okay. Yes. And I will advocate that for a future need as well. Um so really quickly shifting gears because I putting on my hat of my former committee chair role as mental health chair. Um obviously the the senior mental health uh is super super important and um just wanted to know uh I think some of the advocates are expressing concerns or health providers also um about the contracts and so if you could differentiate the contracts that you may have that support um mental health programs within New York City aging and then with geriatric mental health. I know there are groups like ESPOP and others who are very unique in the sense that they serve they have the both the article 31 as well as the DFA contract and so I remember there was I don't know if this has been fixed yet I'm sure you guys can answer um like even when I was at KCS we have an article 31 as well as DFA contracts and so the question I would always ask is why are the two contractors separate especially when we're serving linguistically sensitive populations and if you could speak to when the contracts are going to get renewed or when there are new RFPs coming out and if those changes could be looked at. >> So I'm going to talk about the renewals. So currently we have about 173 contracts which be renewed. Roughly it's transportation OC's nor and so forth. So we are renewing contracts that will end in 20 in 2027. Um >> so we'll get back to you with a with a nuance regarding again between the mental health contracts and the article uh 10 you said sorry what was the article >> um it's article 31s which are the outpatient mental health >> yeah so we'll get back to you on that nuances so >> yeah I because I just want to emphasize that I think that if there's value in a nonprofit that has the diff to contract and if they have the article 31 I would just really advocate that they should be allowed to provide those services within one organization. >> Yeah, there's a lot of nuance and I believe I said we'll get back to you on that. I mean, >> okay, thank you. Thanks, Chair, and congrats Chair. >> Thank you. Next, we have Council Member Hudson, former agent chair. >> Thank you so much, and happy to be here as a as a committee member, although obviously very sad to no longer have the the to no longer be the chair. Um although grateful for my new uh chairmanship or chairpersonship. Um and welcome. As everyone has said, commissioner, I look forward to spending some time um and getting to know each other. Um I've introduced legislation to permit older adult centers to opt to provide grab-and-go meals to their clients as many older adults prefer not to eat in congregate settings due to health concerns following the CO 19 pandemic. What is the department's current position on grab-and-go meals and whether they're permitted in OAC contracts? And are there any limitations given state guidelines? >> Well, uh, thank you for the warm welcome and I'm looking forward to working with all of you to, uh, continue the great advocacy and the work that we do for our older adults. Graband-go meals. Um, definitely we are in support. um any avenue or vehicle that we can use to provide uh meals for our older adults uh get it into their hands in the way that they prefer, we are in support of. Um I know that there are some changes and that uh we do need to take a look at because I'm aware that there's an additional cost um and pretty much it's the cost per container that some folks are worried about. Um so again, I'd say as we did on the earlier uh topic, I would like to have additional discussion um conversation. and it is something that I would like to join you in advocating for, but um we do need to have more discussion. >> Okay. Happy to to have that discussion and also want to um just say that I fully support adding $300 million to the budget to to feed older adults seven days a week. Um just want to get that on the record. Um, there's a proliferation of private for-profit social adult daycare centers that are in many cases busing older adults from across the city and pulling attendants from city operated older adult centers. Not to mention, they're charging Medicaid daily for things like measuring blood pressure. Is this on NYC aging's radar? And if so, what is your position on them? And are you working to get folks out of those centers and into ours? >> Well, it is on our radar. It's a topic that's very concerning uh to us, but um we have better control obviously over the centers that are under our purview. So uh we'd like to have some discussions with some of these uh newer centers that are are are popping up around the city, but we also need to have that pipeline to our older adults and really explaining to them the services that we do have available at the centers that we have w within the city. uh that would probably benefit them a lot more in the long run. And especially the issue that we talked about earlier with uh remaining in your own community, having that connection, uh having that sense of belonging, being able to share with people that you'll more than likely see every day or uh that could be alerted, let's say, if the if the senior has an issue, persons that are right within their own community will recognize, oh, you know, I didn't see them today. So we we want to continue that type of uh surrounding that type of environment, the the feel and experience of the New York City centers. So yes, again, another area that needs to be explored more, but it's definitely on our radar. >> Okay. Um and currently older adults make up 20% of New York City's population, and by 2040 that percentage will increase to 40%. Given the rapidly increasing older adult population, are there any plans to expand funding for NORCs on the administration side? The current funding of $16.3 million seems wholly inadequate given that our city will have more older adults than children under 18 by 2030. Essentially, many large residential buildings across the city will very soon be naturally occurring retirement communities. >> Well, we we welcome the aging to remain in New York City. So, we know at some point, especially with folks living longer and um hopefully folks continuing to want to stay in New York City, the numbers will rise substantially over the next few years and it's a very big tent. We know that. So, yes, we will have additional conversations with the administration regarding the needs at that time or preparing now for the needs proactively so that we're not hit with a crisis in 2030. But yes, it is something that we have already started discussing at uh DFA and we'll continue preparing and working along with all of you so that we can prevent any crisis in 2030. >> Thank you. And last year you embarked on an $800,000 anti-agism ad campaign which included subway ads informing New Yorkers about agism and how to spot it. Can you explain the decision behind prioritizing anti-agism advocacy and do you have any metrics to measure the campaign's success? Well, I I will I don't think we have the metrics with us today and um we will bring you uh some additional information on anti-agism and as I did mention um we will be revising somewhat the the sole focus on agism because we do believe that our older adults have many more substantial issues they're dealing with today. As I mentioned earlier, the meat and potatoes issues of of making sure that there's food on the table, that they're in safe environments, they have an affordable place to live. So, uh there may be some modifications to the campaign, but we will bring you the metrics on on the agism platform. >> Great. Thank you. Um, and I know that you are aware that you have one of the smallest city agency budgets um, in New York City and in city government. And uh, it shouldn't be that way with the growing older adult population and the older adult population that already exists and the importance of people aging in place. I want to state for the record how much I will always continue to advocate for more funding for your agency and hope that well I I I know you will be a partner in that, but I hope that the administration is able to um increase the the budget significantly to reflect the importance of the older adult population here in New York City. Um thank you and thank you chair. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. And I want to follow up to clarify the cost for legislation that could could provide home delivery meal 7 days a week for bill intro 280. Um you said 3300 million but previously we heard 27 million. >> Yeah, that's correct. 27.7 million that's the cost to bring seven meals for HDM. >> 27 million. Not >> 27.7. Yeah, that was >> okay. 27 million. Yeah. Okay. Thanks. And the next >> should be even easier to secure then. >> Y and then we have uh co-chair Millie. >> Thank you, Chair Spang. Thank you and congratulations. >> Thank you so much. >> Um I have so many but I know sooner or later you and I will be speaking and I have such a passion for my seniors. It's they call me the guru. So what percentage of um you think your budget will be handling the um the centers with uh AC for the summer cooling centers >> because we have to prepare before last year I feel it was almost a failure. I couldn't find real cooling centers for our seniors. This this is between life and death. So could you give me that percentage really quick because I have some other questions. So it's actually not a percentage. Um so so we've been basically to your point, we've been looking at since last year looking at all the different sites that need to basically be repaired and authorizing those going forward. So we can give you a list of those centers where the HVACs are being worked on and so forth. Any of them? >> Well, again, it's based on health and safety depending on which ones are needed to be repaired. So we've been starting that process last year and we're actually now doing the process with the providers and notifying them about the cooling centers and then determining which ones also need to be fixed really quickly. So that's kind of our focus right now. >> And I just want to add on to that just a little bit. Um our centers do have AC and there's a report that comes out every September that mentions uh the AC status at every one of our sites. But of course you are aware of my background and and the fact that um emergency preparedness has always been extremely important to me. And now that I get the chance to focus my emergency management skills on our older adults, you there is no uh more important issue during the summertime than AC. >> I will be your part. >> So you can expect that. I just wanted to mention though because I didn't get a chance to say, you know, in everything that we do, we definitely want to meet the needs of all of our older adults and our goal is to ensure every New Yorker can age in place in New York City. Uh we welcome the partnership with the council. We will continue to work with anyone that wants to work with us because as I mentioned earlier, we do have a big tent. It's going to call for all of us to advocate and to work really uh tirelessly to be able to provide all that we need for our older adults, but we want them to have everything they deserve. Thank you. And I'm looking forward to that. last budget um cycle, we were t told that an RFP would be released around the end of calendar year 2025 with new contracts set to start at the beginning of fiscal 27. >> To date, the RFP have not been released and it's unclear when it will be. Um will you know when a RFP will be released? Just for full knowledge, um I'm one that came in office and our senior center was closed. I can give you the percentage of how many people we lost because that center food, pool room, exercise room, arts and craft room, big dining room, closed. When I came in, I made it a mandate. Now it's coming out of my own budget because I know that's a life and death situation. I've been asking now when will a RFP that it could get off my budget and get on to yours to make sure that we all doing our fair share. So would you know when that RFP or a RFP will be released and when a new contract is expected to begin? >> So >> and the capacity um is being new now. Have you budgeted that in how much more the contracts will cost? >> So currently the proposed RFP it will be probably released sometime in the fall of 27. >> 27 I got Okay. >> Right. So you So that's probably sometime you know November December with a start date of July of 2027. >> July >> of 2027. >> Okay. Will additional capacity be included in the RFP to fund centers in part of the city with a high odor adult populations that may not currently have adequate New York City funding like myself and OAC's. Will additional capacity be included for the new expansion of programs at OAC's? And please put in detail since I'm the one doing it. I have boots on the ground. I have uh seniors doing boots on the ground teaching them sign language. We have campfires and movie nights. Um we had just speed friendshipping with our seniors. This has been a center went from 15 people coming to now 45 because I'm making sure those programs are in. So, how can we really partner to make sure every senior center has that? I moved to U Gilroy now, but what other capacities can we partner in to make sure that our seniors have fun and feel they are welcomed at every senior center? When I take my show on the road, y'all better watch out. I'm coming with my boots on the ground. So currently for example we have a specific budget and I'm going to say for that RFP um it doesn't include expansion however again the commissioner however the commissioner is 9 days in she'll be evaluating the RFP the proposal again so this is an opportunity for the commissioner to evaluate how we operate and how we basically run these RFPs. So again right now there is no expansion but the commissioner is nine days in she's going to be reval be reevaluating all the RFPs that were going to come out. So we'll that's kind of right now where we're at. >> And I'm chair of the senior centers and seniors food and security. >> So this budget I'm going to every center to see to make sure that all of them up to capacity. >> Wonderful >> and getting the food that they really need. >> Let me congratulate you for the boots on the ground for the signage for for all of that. You know, uh, one of the joys I would say of being the commissioner is that you can look at how our older adults are viewed in the city and one of the, uh, very first comments I made about, uh, our older adults is that not everyone is frail and elderly. You know, there's a huge number of us that want to have fun and we recognize that we're in the Big Apple and we want our bite, too. So we have very si similar views when it comes to how our older adults should be treated and some of the services that we should offer for them and entertainment and all those things that make life worth living in New York City. >> Thank you. And chair no we had a um staff whereas if the city is funding these programs why are the seniors have to pay out of their own pockets? I would love to have a conversation about that because something is wrong with that picture. I just found out one senior center I gave extra money and now they have to pay $125 to go on a trip. I feel our seniors have paved their way blood, sweat, and tears built this city and now in their retirement they still have to pay when things should be free. So, chair, I'm looking forward to and commissioner, we going to get down to the bottom. I don't mind them paying a little maybe. I really don't want them to pay anything, but I think $125 and is egregious. So, not talking about the food, they got to pay two or $5 just to have breakfast or lunch. Some people don't eat because they don't have the dollar or two or five. That's just a statement. Thank you chair >> for indulging me. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Can I just really quickly? So, again, it's a contribution. They don't have to actually pay for the meals. >> It's It's not again, they're not required to pay for the meals. >> They don't know that it's a >> contribution. That's Do the directors know that where they can't >> Yes, they should be It's posted. It should be posted. It's a contribution. They don't have to pay anything. It's my job now to make sure it's posted cuz a lot of people don't eat because they don't see that sign and they don't want to feel embarrassed being turned away to eat if they don't have a dollar or $5 just for lunch. So, I'm looking forward to partner with you on that to make sure every senior know it's not embarrassing to not have the money to eat because they have paid their way already. Thank you so much, chair. >> You're so welcome. And I I'd say just really quickly, um it is our goal that every older adult eat and we certainly don't want anyone embarrassed seeking a meal. So maybe if there's some proactive approach letting our older adults know um of the fact that they don't need to pay for these meals. Uh I I think we can do more in that respect. >> Thank you. Um follow up with the meal questions. Um I share my personal story last time. My grandma enjoy those congregate meals. >> She love it and she sometimes couldn't finish she bring home for dinner. Um and also in New York City agent plan to is New York City agent plan to increase funding for OAC provider to address growing food cost increasing client demands and the high cost of the food. So um I don't know if you know but we actually monitor the budget very closely and we basically ensure that providers who actually need additional funding. So for example, there's always going to be under spending in some of these contracts. And what we do is we every quarter we look to see exactly where the unspending is and move money and funding appropriately to ensure that providers do not can cover their costs whether it's food costs, utilities, and things of that nature. >> And inflation, I'm sorry, inflation is certainly a part of that discussion because we're not immune. We're we're just as subject as everyone else. So we want to be sure that we are offering rates that make sense >> and also some um providers some area needs kosher and I see copo is here they need a halal food um also culturally sensitive meals uh do you know which how the provider contract those give out the contract what's the percentage of minority contractors and how they designate to pick the contractors. >> Okay. So, thank you. And instead of addressing it as uh a percentage, what we're doing is that every one of those centers uh every one of our OAC's, they are it's part of their contract that they must know their community. They must provide culturally aligned meals. uh and uh if that calls for a specialized meal, a kosher or a halal, then it must be offered at that center. Um I think now we know that we're in one of the most diverse cities in the in the world. So we are very very cognizant of the fact that we need to meet the cultural community needs of each one of our uh constituent areas. So I'd say uh just overall we're doing well but if you need to have specifics we can bring that back as well. >> Um a lot of time we see very often we don't the small business owner if there are people of color they don't get the contract >> and also do do you guys make sure this kind of issue will address in with DIA contract? Yes, we do. And um I'd have to say, you know, we differ on that opinion that um a person of color would not get the contract because it is a very competitive process. Um we don't control the process. Um but there are uh the biders will decide, you know, if they want to bid on a particular contract or not. Um we have uh an equitable uh process for selection of the vendor. Um and sometimes you may have some displacement. We may have a vendor that's been offering a service for a very long time, but through the competitive process, you may have someone that uh is a better choice for that particular time. So, uh from our standpoint, it is a competitive process. Um you know, there's no color assigned to the contract. So, it will go to whoever is the best spender. >> Okay, got it. Uh but I like to see the numbers by uh race by um is if it's a minority owned business as a city as New York City as such big city support minority business we like to see um they provide our senior support also >> absolutely >> and also for the budget for OAC's >> over 300 OAC's currently fund through DA um a A lot of time New York's uh DEFA continue have the smallest capital plan of all our city agencies. How do we uh as we enter the budget cycle for fiscal 2027? What's the additional resources our DA can advocate to help the OAC's to improve their um capital projects? Um so as as the commissioner mentioned earlier we don't we have a capital budget but we actually don't manage the capital budget. So for us for example what we've been looking at is more about the expense budget and actually looking at health and safety issues and that would be where we can then basically um actually provide them funding for the providers so they can actually do all the work. So that is actually much easier for us than actually having a capital process because a lot of the capital budget is managed by DDC and is there is their bandwidth to actually like renovate all these pro uh all these different sites. So that's kind of what we're looking for more >> and I would sorry >> sorry I I would say also that we are monitoring outcomes. So, I know that in 2025 we completed 27 projects and we're still looking at the list of priority projects for 2026, but the goal always is to make sure that we're in safe functional space. So, if there are any issues or any sites that need to be prioritized because of the fact that they're not meeting that very simple basic goal, we will be happy to add them to the list of of the projects that need to be prioritized. So, we also like to thank the council for providing us with $5 million for health and safety of 55 projects, some major renovations, kitchens, uh, roofs, and things of that nature. So, we would like, again, we would like to continue if that would be something that could be done for 27. Again, that is the quickest route to get the money to the providers to renovate a lot of these sites, respect of the NICHA sites. Um, but yes, again, thank you very much for that. Um >> when you talk about the um New York City council budget, we do have a question. Uh council member allocate NYC council discretionary funding to supplement industry work for variety of populations including older adult center serpent contract and they are deliverable. We heard from providers in the last few years. NYC aging has required provider receive discretionary funding to hit specific uh very special program outcome related to intent of council discretionary contract in order to receive discretionary funding. Commissioner, can you explain New York City agent intent and expect expectation behind this policy and why NYC agent required this additional expectation to unlock council funding and has council been consulting roll out of this policy? >> Uh so any so what we expect is everyone to provide give us for example there's a budget >> like say we we give a discretionary experience >> to nonprofit and the nonprofit uh give us what they want to do. they have already have the discretionary description of that funding and then uh diffa come to say oh you needed to do another thing one two three a lot of time and then if they don't do it they don't get funding >> is the a lot of provider told us >> so I would I would like to get examples of that because right now the business process the way we do is for example is when you do an allocation there's this there's basically the purpose of funds there's a budget you give your budget that we request from you guys right from from the provider and then provide units. That's a simple process. Nothing difficult. Like I say, if you're if you're basically if you can give us examples because we do we do ma'am. >> Okay. You can give me >> Okay. Like I just gave 250,000 to your um assistant. No, 250,000 to my senior center. It was for uh uh educational boat ride, uh a pool table, uh exercise equipment, and now it's like the provider I gave it to, it's either they could do it or not. So, how are you watching that? We gave out discretionary money and now I gave it. They don't have to do it. So, how are we watching that? So >> because that's kind of >> right. So there is a business. >> That's not what she's talking about. >> So I'm trying to figure out you give us examples like >> that's example I need to know. >> So right now for example in your case I would say you know so in your case for example that's money that was given to Fort Green. Correct. I'm just kind of specific. So we actually ask for a budget right you got a certain allocation. We want to know a budget so we can then track it against the spending. Right? You wouldn't want to know exactly what was spent or not. Right? That's how we track it. We know exactly what the line item is, how much it costs. Again, we've like I said, we don't stop anyone from getting a discretionary award. >> If the senior center that you or someone who you gave the money do not do those allocations to what it's supposed to be, what is the recourse, >> right? So, I would say for example, if you we can have a separate conversation to go through the process so you guys feel comfortable in this whole thing. But again, there is a business process. We do not stop anyone from receiving discretionary funds. That is a funding that you guys give to the to the providers. So, we don't stop any of that. I just it's kind of like I said we should have a separate conversation exact give us examples so we can review it like as I mentioned earlier because it's kind of hard for me to believe this because we really track this every month we have metrics and seeing exactly what the spending is exactly how many people are invoicing matter of fact we actually go to discretionaries to find discretionary providers to ensure that they actually get the money when there is due for them. So we are constantly finding trying to make sure they submit invoices on time. So I'm a little taken back by that but again we would love to have a conversation to see exactly examples of this. Yes. And I'd love to really connect with anyone that has an example like this because definitely DFA does not want to be a barrier to any one of our sites uh moving forward on any of their projects. If there's a specific issue or a challenge, we should be able to work together to be able to overcome those hurdles so that our centers and our sites and our older adults have what we want them to have and particularly if there's money already on the table. And the other question I have is not related to senior center uh diffa fund. A lot of time there's a a senior group in the basement of the basement of the church. Um some council member give $5,000 to them to buy coffee every day. uh they meet some people meet twice a week, some group meet uh three times a week, some close in the summer because the youth need to use the space. So this type of organization has very hard time to get their $5,000 every year and they come to our office all the time and we be told it's conflict of interest. We cannot help them. But uh in our some people's private time they try to help. Is there any way we can make that process easier and smoother? >> Well, I I I welcome your advocacy on this. You know, maybe there is a way that we can join forces. Um again, nine days in, I can't say it definitely is, but why shouldn't we explore it? Let's look at it together uh with some of our nonprofit partners in in the community. Maybe there is a way that we can work to better uh uh keep folks in those churches or other areas where they feel comfortable and where they feel connected. We don't want to break that connection ever. We want to do all that we can to support them. So, let's find a way. >> Yeah. I have a nonprofit. They haven't get money from 2023. The other council member before me give them $5,000. And then when I go there to visit, they said, "Susan, don't give us money. We cannot get it. >> It's fake." This is what they said to me. It's fake. So it's very disappointing how hard for those like small group. It's not small. They have 200 people meet once or twice a week. It's not that small. If those people don't come out to meet, um probably they're going to stay home all week. A lot of people in wheelchair. It it is very sad only $5,000 they couldn't get it. >> Yeah. I love to work with you about this issue. This is not just my district has this issue. A lot of council member has similar issue. >> Well, let's do a deep dive. >> Yes. >> And let's find out where where the barriers exist and then let's get them out of the way. >> Yeah. I have some question about how housing. Um we all know we did a survey between council members. A lot of most of council members said 74% council members said they have issue about senior housing. For many adults unable to afford the rent increase and they get kicked out from their building or some environment they they don't have leveled sidewalk or walkway. uh and our older adults make a almost 20% our city's population. Does NYC agent keep track of how many buildings units our city plan to do and which one is suitable for our senior residents? uh in partnership with HPD, uh we would like to uh work with them on uh taking a look at that issue specifically because we know that there are some monies available for minor repairs and things like that that should uh help some of these older adults to be able to stay in their homes with minimal modifications uh that would make it a more safe environment. So yes, that that is an issue I think we should explore more deeply because uh if we can keep our older adults in their homes that they love and they prefer in the communities that they love and they prefer that would be uh part of our mission at DFA. >> And also I heard from some nonprofit developer said the Sara program for seniors is very very slow and very very hard to get it. um as a DEFA able to help us to advocate for this issue because even they want to build senior housing first it's not profitable and then it's the process is very slow it's kind of discourage people don't build >> and also um if the developer build the other like say homeless shelter they can make more money >> so as a any developer they will definitely choose the other plan than sen for seniors. Is any way we can work together as a partnership to advocate for this issue? >> As you know, uh I see senior housing, seniors and older adults need to be prioritized when we talk about building affordable housing or any type of of setting in New York City. If the goal is for older adults to remain in New York City, then we know they have to be an in affordable place. Uh so yes, we would like to advocate along with you. Uh we will will work with HPD. We'll look at the cabinet for older New Yorkers where we have some inter agency collaboration that perhaps uh may be able to assist us in moving this forward. But I'd say we need to shake every tree and go down every road that we can in order for us to be able to ensure that our older adults do get some priority placements and that we do have in all of those contracts for these developers and builders some priority for them so that they're looked at before everyone else. Um I know that may not sound fair to some, but for the older adults that have earned it, they deserve it. >> Yeah, thank you. I love to hear that. And also we I do believe we need to have a plan with HPD and also NICHA they have a lot of apartments empty and not fixed. No one able to move in. I heard that the large number there we have the building already built. We only need to fix let people to move in have regular life but we we just don't I don't understand what's a problem there. What's a gap there? Why not able to happen? Well, it's I know it's not a your is your >> it's not but I was just going to make one comment. The cabinet for older New Yorkers includes our organizations like NICHA so we can have them at the table. Perhaps they can give a shed some light on the issue for us and they can certainly help us. Maybe we should have a task task force for seniors for housing issue. And also we have uh my district in Bensonhurst has a highest number of SNAP theft >> that's that's very um bad for all the seniors. uh how NYC agent work with the city agency to address this issue because most of people get scammed as seniors >> and we have a line of people the beginning of the month every single month and my office come up with a video teach senior how to um use that app lock unlock it is very difficult I have 30 senior sitting in my office uh Ada my my former deputy chief staff give them training how to use it. But for senior take them first they don't speak English at all and they don't know how to use iPhone like high-tech and for them they get older the finger get bigger it's very hard to lock unlock and then that they forget the password it's impossible for them to use and then every single month when they open their banks and they don't have money there because money coming 12:00 at night 12:15 in the morning >> it's gone >> right >> and then it's repeated we can see it's like some bronze uh grocery the person living in Brooklyn have no idea where that grocery is the money is gone and repeat we try to have meeting with state and they always say they look into it and then nothing happened >> well there's a few ways uh that uh we can address this issue and it is a huge issue We know that um there's two forms really of the theft that's occurring with SNAP. One is that they uh the perpetrators are using the skimming devices. So they they somehow extract the uh client's information from the skimming device. And then the second is just flatout identity theft. So, in addition to partnering with NYPD, and we do partner with them on this issue, uh letting them know when we have received reports of this type of incident. I know that they're tracking and they're specifically looking at the number of older adults that have uh uh have been affected by this issue. Um but we're also on the DFA side. Uh we have outreach to uh the older adults and we're teaching them how to uh protect themselves from cyber attack. But as you mentioned, you know, some of it may be technology issues also and maybe there's additional training that can be offered in multilanguages so that we can help our older adults to be able to protect themselves so that um they don't have this issue reoccurring every month. >> Um I have a followup question about technology. Uh a lot of time the senior especially um people in my neighborhood English is their second language. A lot of people doesn't speak English at all. They don't know how to use this high-tech. >> Uh even they don't know how to use iPad, iPhone, they don't know how to use FaceTime. Um different neighborhoods have different needs. I this is my neighborhood and I spoke to some senior organization. and they are doing uh all the fancy artwork. Um but how do we address this issue? Can we have more training for high-tech? >> Sure. >> It's not really high tech. It's really basic training how to use iPad, iPhone, how to unlock lock your SNAP benefits when you are not using this type of training. Can we advocate for more funding and more training in OAC's neighborhood organizations and partner together with DFA? >> Absolutely. You know, I would never say no to to additional training in this respect. But I will say right now we have 113 of our centers that offer a technology lab for uh our older adults. So they can take advantage of that right now. And as you mentioned very basic training, basic things about how to log onto an iPad, how to get into your banking statement, how to use these uh basic technologies so that you can improve your life every day and protect yourself from cyber threat. So 113 of those centers uh right now offer it and of course we should have it at all 308. and also how much funding is budgeted for NYC older adult technology program in fiscal 2026 and in the out years. >> If I don't have that number now um then we'll bring that number back for you on how much funding is actually allocated for that purpose. >> You you guys think it's going to get expanded? Well, you know, training um if you think about it, we talked about some budget neutral things that we can do as well. You know, if we already have trainers at some of these center, maybe centers, maybe there's an opportunity to expand the training in the places that we already have it. So, there are things that we can do. As I mentioned earlier, we want to use innovative approaches, not just the old traditional models that maybe don't work for us anymore. So, perhaps there is a way for us to expand training. There's also uh training that can be offered virtually and once we start to teach our older adults how to use some of these platforms that they may not even have to leave their homes to attend. So let's look into other ways that we can address this problem that may not always call for additional dollars. >> Thank you. And also uh we have more question from council member Abdul. >> Hi. Um, so I do have a question about um, DFA and Department of Homeless Services and our uh, our shelters. Um, as you know um, you know um, homelessness is impacting seniors at a higher rate than ever. Uh we have more uh uh the fastest growing population of of homeless adults are seniors and wanting to know um how you can you know help provide services to those seniors. Not just once they've entered our shelter system to get them out of the shelters and back into um whether it's transitional housing or supportive housing. >> Absolutely. And as noted uh previously, affordable housing and having a safe place to lay your head at night, that is one of our goals, our true that speaks to our true mission at DFA. So, it is an area that's on our radar, of course, and of course with my background, I'm I'm very well aware of how difficult it is to get older adults into an appropriate setting. And it does take a while. Well, it does take uh some uh complex uh uh solutions for these problems because not everybody fits into a particular bud uh bucket. You know, uh many of our older adults have different coorbidities that have to be managed while they're there as well as other issues, behavioral uh mental health. So, we want to be sure that as we're uh strengthening these uh these areas or these settings where we can send older adults to that they're really appropriate to the the individual that we're sending there. So again, this is an area that I'd like to spend a lot more time um advocate strongly to ensure that again our seniors and our older adults that have earned the right to age gracefully in place have a place to call home and someplace to uh really serve as a stable environment for them. We know that uh when older adults are unhoused it really uh impacts every area of their life. very difficult for you to maintain your health, very difficult for you to maintain relationships when you're constantly moving around and may not have that stability. So, it's a major area of focus for us. >> And I I just want to follow up on the the question about uh about funding. Um you know, your cuts in federal funding. the city's making that up, but at the same time, the city is looking for savings in all of the agencies. Um um your uh your fiscal 2027 budget is uh less uh it's about $32 million less than the fiscal 2026 budget at adoption. So, and then you know add to that you know you mentioned inflation, rising fuel costs um you know food costs of food just about rising cost and everything. So how how are you going to be able to balance that and still be able to provide the appropriate services to our senior communities? So question the $32 million difference is that that doesn't include the discretionary money. >> So the reductions you see from point A to point B is doesn't include discretionary. And so as we mentioned earlier we tend to look at the budgets every month to see for example where specific issues or concerns from providers are coming to those are under spending. We move those to a basic overspending and covering costs. So we've been been doing that delicate balance on a regular monthly basis. >> And I have to say we're not alone in this effort. Uh we are in constant discussions with OM uh just to be sure that we have the appropriate funding to be able to continue the services that we need to offer for our older adults and and we have you know we have older adults who don't want to receive prepared meals but need help you know buying healthy produce um healthy food that they can cook themselves. Um and we have you know in many places like I mentioned you know we have food deserts and uh lack of uh adequate green markets and you know uh and supermarkets. How can Diffa help uh kind of close that gap? Well, we've DFA has done a great job in uh sponsoring farmers market nutrition programs and uh uh making uh giving older adults access to coupon booklets. And when you look at uh some of the numbers over the last uh year or so, um we do notice that um we have been able to distribute 70,000 coupons. Um and these booklets have been used through the end of last October. Uh this represents 1 75 million given directly to uh older adults. And we'll continue to sponsor these programs because we know there are food deserts in in some places where folks cannot get uh these fresh produce produce items that are so central to their budget uh central to their life, central to their health. We we talk about food being medicine. you want to make sure that folks are being uh that have access to these uh healthy vegetables and fruits and things that they need for uh healthy living. So that is one way that we're addressing the issue. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. That's uh a lot of questions that uh with the recent start of new administration the time required to appointment new commissioners and the budgetary concerns regard city's overall fiscal outlook. The preliminary plan did not include many new needs and the program expansion. Can Da provide the committee with new needs request that proposed not in this fiscal year? >> Well, I'll say our our needs always outpace our resources. Unfortunately, um my nine days in, I haven't had an adequate chance yet to really assess where the new need uh capacity would be, where it is that we actually need to focus more of our new needs on. So we will ask uh that we are able to come back and present some of these new needs. >> Thank you. And the OAC updates, the preliminary committee plan include 6.0 million in fiscal 2026 funded by Brooklyn bor president for innovation at 15 OAC sites. Can uh DFA confirm the sites are being funded and provide detail on the scope of each project? >> Yeah, we'll share that with you. Yes, >> it it is it is done all the >> there are basically no there are basically um it's new allocation of funding to different sites. They're in the process of basically being the funding being used. >> Okay. and we'll share the list with you guys. >> And also there's a lot of capital request also. Um is you guys have idea how many capital requests has NYC agent received from providers so far in fiscal 2026? >> Yeah, we haven't received the final number yet, but when we do have that information, we'll be happy to share it with you. >> Okay. for the Leonard Cavella order adult center upgrade. The preliminary plan include 7.7 million cross five years funded by the council and uh additional 11.3 million cross a 10-year capital commitment fund by administration for this OAC. What kind of repair and innovation will this project address in this site at this site? What's the timeline of this repair? >> So, it's actually it's a huge uh this roof is it's a boilers, this kitchen. It's a very it's a city's own site. So, it's a lot of renovation that's occurring. I can we can give you back again. We don't manage the project. It's being managed by DDC. We will give you we can give you exactly information you want in terms of timeline. >> So, who is overseeing >> DDC? >> It's a DDC project. It's a city- owned site. So again, a lot of it repairs to the roofs, the boilers, the elevators. So, so it's a very extensive repair job. >> So all the repairs is DEC, not you guys, >> right? We don't, like I said, as the commissioner mentioned earlier, we have a capital budget, but managed, but a lot of it's managed by other city agencies. A chunk of it is actually managed by DDC. Some of the projects are managed by HBD, some of them managed by EDC, and some of them are actually managed by NICHA. Um, so we're just kind of that's you see a lot of money, a lot of it, we work with different agencies to kind of get a lot of these repairs done. The PMMR indicates that there was a decade a decrease in number of caregiver persons served in the first four months of physical 2026. In the past four months of physical 2026 total a total of 1,971 caregiver was served a decrease of 20.5% from previous year. Why fewer caregiver much like suppose in my mind with the data the number of people growing the caregiver should increase why there's decrease Thank you. And um I understand that it's an issue that has to do with Viv and our data collection methods. So you may not have all of the accurate information there. So I would ask that we're allowed to come back and share the information once we've kind of uh re-evaluated and made sure that it's accurate. >> Got it. Thank you. So the preliminary plan include includes 11 19.7 million in city funding which is baseline beginning in fiscal 2027 for the indirect cost of human service contract. Why was additional funding re required? How was the month? How um does NYC agent participate additional funding to be added in the out years? >> So the $19 million is for the indirect cost rate. So that's actually um cost for overhead for the providers. So that was actually not baseline in the current when when when the OMB funded all the federal funding that piece was actually missing. So now that's being baseline going forward. Same thing with the COLA like you mentioned the $6.9 million that's also the COLA for providers is also being baseline. So as as providers basically every three years providers have an opportunity to submit for their indirect cost rate those those indirect cost rates are captured in that and that's part of the increase over time. Does the cost of leaving adjustment uh apply to all contracts providers in NYC agents network? >> Yes. As a as all contracts effective of 2024. >> Okay. That's it. >> Yes. Um, Council Member Mey >> just in between. Um, I know we gave the $5 million. How is that going? >> It's going very very well. Um, we have a lot of, like I said, some of them are less than 100,000. So you have a lot of uh purchases of sorry repairs and we have purchases as well. So things are going very well. We have two major projects two major big projects that we're keeping a close eye on. Um these are huge >> two major big projects. >> Yeah, there's two of them. One's 650,000. Another one's I think it's u not off the top of my head but they're we're keeping eye on them because those are very big extensive renovations. But overall, we're basically I mean, we're actually meeting with city council finance hopefully by an April to give them a status report on exactly all the spending and what's going to be met by June 30th. But yeah, again, we really appreciate the 5 million. Hint hint, we would like to have another one for 27. Hint hint. Um, so I think that's going very well. Like I said, it was a very partnership with us. I think that would be really helpful. Again, as I mentioned earlier, this money goes directly to the providers to basically do a lot of major renovations. So >> that's what I wanted to know just how it was going and if we do it again will it benefit you? So >> so I will actually also put another pitch in there. I know the commission is going to kill me when I get back to the office. Um so we would like love to get some vans for transportation right guys. So transportation point A point B because again seniors again even though we want our seniors to walk more but sometimes the length to get to point A point B is a little bit more than we expect but again sorry commissioner. No, I absolutely agree. You live >> that is perfect. And here, could we put something in there? Because right now to transport my seniors, I got to pay out of my pocket sometime just to get the vans. They need to travel. So, please let's work on that. And then we need an outlook of how many of the vans for DFA is in action or and out of action. And what would it take to get the maintenance up and running to make sure that every senior center have a van to take their seniors places? >> So we so I just want to give you a little information so you know that there are about 300 plus vans all all our oldest I mean older adult centers. So 300 vans. So again it's a very big ask. So replacing all of them. Some of them more than 10 years old. But >> how much would that cost you think? >> We will get back to you on that. I can give you numbers. >> Thank you. because I just noticed uh New York City um I don't know what department but they got brand new Mustangs. So I'm start asking if they could get Mustangs we could get some new vans so I'm ready. >> You got a partner partner right here. Thank you chair. >> Thank you. I actually uh went to one of the senior center they got a new van through our boro president. >> Yeah. uh for the from the capital program. I see some nonprofit from my neighborhood also come here. They probably asking me where's our van. And then we also have council member Abdul has more questions. >> True. >> Uh so one more question. I promise this will be I think this will be my last one. Uh the state budget this year, you mentioned uh somebody mentioned uh people stealing uh SNAP uh benefits. The state budget this year proposes money to transition to chip card technology to help stop SNAP skimming uh which is affecting thousands of older adults. The legislaturator is also proposing a victim's compensation fund for those who have had their benefits stolen through skimming because now there's no now there's no recourse uh when people have their benefits stolen. Uh would DFA support a state compensation fund or any other solutions to address SNAP skimming? >> Well, we always support equity uh and justice. So definitely uh we would like to see the same information you have, but uh we would like to support any initiative that's going to be sure to protect our older adults from this type of activity. >> Thank you. I think I get a new chip for the card is easier for make for seniors. Thank you. Thank you everyone. And now we move to public testimony. Chair, could I ask one question about that? >> Okay. >> Um, is there anything going into um to help the seniors because once they uh their SNAP benefits has been taken for the whole month, they have no food now. Do we have anything in place going forward? cuz they can't get reimbursed be that's legislation to get the reimbursement off but >> some seniors go without food for that whole month. >> So I introduced a bill here. I I want to answer your question. I introduced a bill to senior if they um get their food stamp scanned. They can call 311 and the DFA and the HA require DIA H to send them information where the nearby food pantry >> or >> but they won't get their money back >> at all. >> Yeah. >> Well, I can't say that. I know >> the money they don't get back. That's federal though. >> I'mma talk to the congress person. Thank you. >> Thank you. Okay, let's move to the public testimony. Thank you. Okay. Now we open to uh open the hearing for the public testimony. I want to rem remind members of public that this is government proceeding and the decor shall be observed at all time. As such, members of public shall remain silent at all time. The witness table is reserved for people who wish to testify. No video recording. Photography is allowed from the witness table. Further member of the public may not present audio or video recording as testimony but may submit a transcript of such recording to the sergeant at arm for including in the hearing record. If you wish to speak at today's hearing, please fill out the appearance card with sergeant at arms and wait to recognized. When recognized, you will have two minutes to speak on today's topic. If you have a written testimony or additional written testimony you wish to submit for the record, please provide a copy of that testimony to the sergeant-at-arm. You may also email written testimony to testimony@consel.nyc.gov within 782 hours of this hearing. Audio and video recordings will not be accepted. The first group we have Katherine then. >> Do I need to say this? Okay. >> Beth Fininko, >> Marcus Jackson, >> Linda Hoffman, Anita Quark. Thank you. You can start. Good afternoon. I'm Katherine Thirstston. I'm the CEO of Service Program for Older People or SPOP. Thank you, Committee Chair Jewang for and committee members for this opportunity to address the New York City Committee Council on Aging. SPOP plays a unique role in supporting the health, emotional well-being, and independence of older New Yorkers. We are the only agency in the city that is exclusively dedicated to community-based mental health for older adults, and we provide outpatient treatment to 10,000 adults each year. We've been doing this work for over 45 years and we offer services via teleaalth at our offices on the upper west side of Manhattan and at satellite locations in Brooklyn, the Bronx and Manhattan. We are only as strong as our network of community partners. And we work with NYC aging and dozens of hospitals, older adult centers, and aging service providers to reach out to isolated adults who would otherwise have no access to mental health care. Nearly one in four older adults in New York City experiences a mental health challenge and about 6% live with a serious mental illness such as schizophrenia or severe depression which can affect their ability to function and live independently. For an older adult with serious mental illness, plus chronic medical illness, mobility impairment, and the cumulative effects of decades without appropriate care, life is very difficult. While NYC Aging has worked to meet the needs of older adults in New York City with mental health needs through the DG initiative, one program is not enough to meet the complex needs of those who are most vulnerable. We hear from colleagues across the sectors that the current structures do not work for older adults with serious mental illness. Most mental health programs for people with SMI are designed for younger adults and are not equipped to support clients who are also managing cognitive changes, fragile health, social isolation, and the practical realities of later life. Aging services, meanwhile, are often not equipped to provide robust psychiatric care. We therefore urge the committee to advocate for robust funding for programs and services that support older adults, including community-based age mental health care for older partners with serious mental illness. Thank you for your work on behalf of older adults and for the opportunity to testify today. >> Thank you. >> Good afternoon. I'm Linda Hoffman. I am president of New York Foundation for Senior Citizens and on behalf of our board of directors, I would deeply appreciate your ensuring the continuation of our home sharing and respit care program which is citywide by providing support for the funding that we've requested from the speaker citywide budget from allocations from your individual as well as your burough delegations budgets. Our home sharing program, which many of you know about and have been supporting forever and we deeply appreciate, is implemented by social workers uh who use their professional skills to successfully match older adults we call hosts with extra space in their apartments and houses to share with responsible, compatible guests in need of affordable housing. One of the matchmates must be over the age of 60. While last year was a banner year in 45 years, we had never matched more matched more than 100 people. We did that last year as um as council member Brewer mentioned and uh this year already we've matched 74 hosts and guests and we've got a couple of matches still pending. So, we think we're even going to exceed uh that number for this year, which uh at a total cost of $553 per person, a one-time cost, as opposed to spending what 500,000 to build an apartment in New York City. the um findings from a a study that we've um done between for the last fiscal year was as um council member Brewery mentioned um I we we received $25,000 total from the city council funding and we saved the city over 1.7 million uh in um Medicaid and uh other uh expenses for um ensuring these individuals had affordable housing. We're not in homeless shelters and not institutionalized in nursing homes. Along with providing uh significant savings in Medicaid, other expenses, our respit care component also um is um providing services for the frail elderly at um 19 home care services for people above the Medicaid level, those who are spending down for ISEP and and Medicaid home care um at $19 and 65 an hour when these agencies are charging double that and making a profit. So the funding we receive for this uh service under the same umbrella as home sharing uh is um really uh helping us to just find the appropriate home care workers to ensure that they are matched appropriately with those who need uh inhome care. whether they're struggling to live on their own or they're u managing with the help of caregivers who may need some time off. Our program is totally dependent upon government funding each and every year uh to continue to fill its everinccreasing number of citywide service requests and to ensure that the program remains fiscally viable throughout our fiscal year. We would deeply appreciate uh your support and providing the funding we've requested from the speaker's budget, the lo the um ver uh delegation budgets and your individual budgets and thank you very much for your past and hopefully ongoing support. >> Thank you. I think it's amazing program but uh I just want to remind everyone everyone's time is two minutes. Thank you. I did not want to interrupt you. Thank you. >> Um, good afternoon, uh, chairperson and the committee. Uh, my name is Marcus Jackson. I'm joining you today in my capacity as director of adv advocacy and government relations with Encore Community Services. Um, Encore is one of New York City's largest aging service agencies. Uh we deliver more than 800,000 home delivered meals each year to older adults who are homebound. Many of them isolated and managing serious uh infirmity. For many of the people we serve, the meal we bring them is the only one they eat all day. And often the volunteer who delivers it is the only person they see. Which is why I want to use my time today to speak about uh intro 0280. This measure would require homed delivered meals every day of the calendar year, including weekends and holidays. That's the right policy. But there's something the committee should know. Weekend meals already exist for some of our clients, funded through arrangements that reimburse providers below what it actually costs. Encore loses money every weekend we deliver meals. We do it anyway because these are our neighbors and that's what we do. But that's not a sustainable model. And it shouldn't fall to community organizations to quietly cover the gap in public policy. One in five older New Yorkers struggle with food insecurity. The people we serve aren't missing meals because they forgot to shop. They cannot leave their homes and many cannot cook safely. We strongly support this bill's passage with one condition. The mandate must come with reimbursement rates that actually reflect what it costs to do the work. A mandate without real funding shifts the problem. It doesn't solve it. a city-f funed home delivery meals stop on weekends. Hunger doesn't. Isolation doesn't as well. Encore has been showing up for older New Yorkers for half a century. So, we really want to pass this bill, fund it fully, and work together to make sure that all older New Yorkers receive two meals um a day and at least uh a knock on the door every day. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you. You're on time. Hi. Uh, I'm Beth Finkel. I'm the state director for AARP New York. Uh, all the groups with me here are actual providers. I think what's unique about me bringing perspective of ARP is that we are a membership organization and in the five burrows, we have almost three quarters of a million members just in New York City. And how the services of these providers and others affect their lives is incredibly important, not just to the people who are receiving the service, but to their family members who are caregivers. And the typical caregiver is a woman in her 50s who is working either part-time or full-time. And so we know what the stresses mean for caregivers. Also, without caregivers in New York, the whole long-term care system would fall apart because that is the backbone of taking care of older people. If those people have to move in uh into uh Medicaid or institutional services, we know that Medicaid will be the payer. So, then we will all pay. So what I want to address here today and came up earlier is that uh the budget right now for DIA is under 1 half of 1% and yet the population of the 65 plus in New York is at 20%. So I want to bring up the factor of disparities here and also of agism because it's inherent if populations are not receiving what they need then there is some background of disregard which we interpret as agism and disrespect. Um so this is about affordability. We also know that uh older adults the increase in people in poverty has gone up in the last 10 years almost 50%. 50% more older adults are in poverty. So that's the other component I'm not reading from my testimony because you have it. The last factor I want to talk about is the federal dollars. We know as the federal dollars are going to diminish and they already are affecting people. Last resort are all of these providers. This is where people will land if they don't get the social services, the information, the referrals, the food. You talked about SNAP before. This is where they're going to come and this system is not equipped to be able to handle it and we have to get ahead of it. So, thank you very much for your time today. I appreciate it. >> Thank you, Chair Dwang, for convening this budget hearing and for council members Brewer and Elderable for staying for public testimony. My name is Anita Quac. I am a policy analyst at United Neighborhood Houses. We're also a membership organization of settlement houses across New York. For my verbal testimony, I'm going to focus on congregate meals and so when it comes to food budget at older adult centers, I truly cannot stress how dire the situation is. It's the top issue that we are hearing from providers who year after year are asked to do more with less. The congregate meals budget hasn't increased since the last procurement in 2021. And in a focus group of our aging providers, we found that while food inflation has increased 22%, wholesale food cost for providers has increased as much as 76%. But despite these fiscal challenges, older adult centers continue to do everything they can to remain lifelines and provide nutritious, culturally appropriate meals for older adults. But with SNAP and new a rules, demand for congregate meals will only grow, which is why we're calling for a $60 million investment in the congregate meals budget for fiscal year 27. UNH is also launching a NORC in every neighborhood community campaign where we urge a $10 million investment to build NORCs in the 31 neighborhoods that do not have one, such as Sheepshed Bay and Burough Park. Norcs are a cost-effective model that strengthens the well-being of older adults and delays more costly intervention such as nursing homes. Prior to joining a NORC, 49% of surveyed older adults said that they felt socially isolated, but after joining, that percentage fell to 17%. In every neighborhood of our city from Bushwick to Flushing, there are thousands of older adult residents who would benefit from a contract in NORC program in their neighborhood and $10 million is needed to make that happen. Our other budget priorities are to budget the NORC nursing in the council initiative of $1 million, invest $30 million in home delivered meals, and expand the council's emergency infrastructure fund to $10 million. If our city wants to wants our older adults to age in dignity in their communities, we have to make investments to make that possible. >> Perfect timing. Thank you. I I have some questions. I uh love the home sharing program. Um which borrow have the most home sharing program? is neck and neck between Brooklyn and Manhattan. >> What type of population easier to get um for this program? >> The type of population varies >> varies. >> Uh it it's mostly older adults. We we have to match people who are at least one of whom is over the age of 60. Uh by the way we have um I think about 19% of our population are immigrants and um it uh people who are some who are living on just social security they call they have $800 a month or less. Uh there are people who um from teachers to all uh retired teachers, home care workers, um uh um city city employees, retired city employees, uh people who have um been on the verge of eviction and we've prevented eviction and uh foreclosure. is a and very it it mixed um ages but mixed um ethnicities, mixed religions. Uh we have found that the um trick uh to having compatible successful matches is when there's a common interest and common values. It has nothing to do with anyone's background or family or anything. And when we do a pre-match meeting, uh after we've done very comprehensive vetting to ensure that these are appropriate individuals for matching and home sharing, um we require a license agreement which indicates all of the agre the agreed upon uh amounts of money that the guest will pay to the host, which very often are less than $1,000 a month for a full bedroom, a bath, In some instances they share baths. Uh each situation is different both in homes and in apartments. And in um and in some instances by the way we have hosts and sometimes guests who have pets and we've matched ho hosts and guests with with pets as well. >> This program sounds can save a lot of money for New York City, but it's also sounds like a marriage. um is what's a percentage divorce? >> Um fortunately there are very few divorces many more um st statistically than exist in marriages. Um but if in fact uh we do have to undo a match, we're right there. We have, you know, trained MSW, New York state licensed social workers who are very very careful and in some instances there are some personality situations with that that can't work. But usually we try to we work them through and we we manage because we have the this pre-match agreement where people indicate, you know, what parts of the home they're allowed to to use, whether where in the refrigerator they put their foods, whether they're going to eat together, not eat together, where they have alcohol in the home, guests in the home. It it it it it's really it's it's been very successful over the years. As a matter of fact, we have a new video us our our our star of the video happens to be Beth Finkele who has been very supportive of this program which has been going on for 45 years successfully. We've never had a really unsuccessful situation because we've been so so careful. We could we could do a lot more matches than even the hundred we did last year, but at the same time we want to be careful that they are safe. that >> thank you. I really enjoying hear this program. I love to come to see also. >> Thank you. >> And uh and also that's the program able to save money and then maybe we can move the money to the other program. >> Well, we have it under one umbrella. So we cost allocate. So so the the uh some of the social workers actually spit their time between both programs. So nobody's sitting there twiddling their thumbs. The calls are coming in. They're desperate for affordable home care. They're desperate for affordable um housing. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Okay. >> Uh Millie, >> that program sound awesome. Um so do you think uh how do you promote it? >> Good question. We've actually Have you been on the subways? We've been um on the subways lately. Uh it's very expensive but >> I didn't understand it on the subways. So, I'm glad now I got the connection >> uh from uh beginning from the middle of February and we're going to do it through March. Um we do constant um me social media on our website. Uh we've sent 56,000 postcards to uh older adults who are renters and homeowners citywide. Uh so we're trying we constantly have to promote it because once you make a match you lose the host unless the host had and we have some instances where the host has an extra two extra bedrooms not one and once they realize that it's a a very helpful and positive beneficial experience they often want to rent out the second bedroom. I'mma put that on one of our list when we doing our speed friendshipping. Yeah. >> Just getting to know each other, not dating. >> Friendshipping. So, I'mma ask them, do you have do you need a you know a partner to live with? >> We we will send we have if we will send >> I'm talk with you after send material. >> Thank you. >> Um to distribute. Well, we've sent it over the years and we have posters, um, palm cards and brochures. Uh, >> I'm being your advertisement now. So, thank you. Thank you so much, chair. >> Chair, >> thank you. Let's have next group. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Okay, we have second group. Abby Abby Ribbon Pope Jozie Joseph Rizy Katherine Suro Lydia Ortis Weiss in Stellon Bananas. >> You can begin. Just remind you two minutes. Good afternoon everyone. My name is Sessan and I am the director for Grand Street settlement grand coalition of older adults. Uh thank you chair Swan and members of the New York City Council Committee on Aging for the opportunity to provide testimony regarding the FY27 preliminary budget. Gran street settlement is a 110 years old multi-ervices settlement house. We serve over 18,000 New Yorkers through via vital services early childhood youth and older adult program. Gran street is committed to health and well-being of the older adult we serve on the lower east side. The Grand Coalition of Older Adult Center funded by New York City Agent is located at 80 pix and is a second home to many older adults. We provide communal nutritious meals and a host and array of intergenerational health and awareness and educational and cultural services. We offer robust program for cultural celebration, advocacy, initiative and engagement. At this hearing, we urged the New York City Council and the Mandami administration to strengthen our preserve program serving older adults by making a sustaining investment in New York City aging population including establishing baseline funding for the city older adult programs. The proposed 100 million in budget co will have a severe consequences for other adult who rely on organization like gran street settlement for critical services below. Um we are advocating for an investment of 10 million to expand the number of naturally occur retirement community um in every neighborhood. Baseline longstanding nor nursing support that is part of the city council. Uh nor initiative of approximately $1 million. Increase congreg center by 60 million to convert inflation. invest 30 million to expand home delivery meals to 7 days a week and maintain the council 10 million emergency capital infrastructure fund for older adult center. Thank you. >> Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, distinguished chairperson of the New York City Department of Aging Council Member Susan Swang and members of the city council. My name is Joseph Frizzy. the director of external affairs for the Federation of Italian-American Organizations of Brooklyn. And I bring warm greetings from the our chairman of the board, Mr. Jackpola, and the entire board staff and thousand of members of our diverse community who use the federation services. Uh thanks uh to NORC's initiative, the naturally occurring retired community, FIA has been able to provide quality service only two days a week to the ultra adult population. Our participants are provided with a complete program that includes use of the state-of-the-art wellness center, swimming, chair yoga, art and craft, bingo, Zumba, mental health, and meals among other things. It serves only 100 uh older adults each day, 100 on Thursday, the other one on Friday with many on the waiting list. We have the numbers and the capability to provide this program for five days if funding would be made available. In addition, our older adult community during the course of the year has the opportunity to participate in many multicultural event which include Luna New Year which we just happened and you've been able to uh be witnessed to uh Italian heritage and culture, Hispanic culture, eult fe which we're preparing right now, black heritage as well as senior proms and uh many others. I made a little notation there that some of you have already witnessed these things so you know what I'm talking about and you've been participants. These services uh provide the older adults most of whom are alone widowed and in need of support with the opportunity to come to a welcoming place to feel like members uh of an extended family with a purpose uh in life and an opportunity to be productive members of the community. FIA respectively requests to be put on the NOR initiative while waiting for the Department of Aging to promugate the new RFPs allowing other CBOS like ours to apply for funding. On behalf of our older adult community of FIA uh the FIAO serves, we thank you for all the leadership and support you have provided to us thus far and for the uh financial future uh and support that you will be providing uh to serve those u on the waiting list for the five five days requested. Thank you. >> Good afternoon, Chairang and the members of the committee. My name is Abby Ruben Pope and I'm a policy and advocacy associate at U.J Federation of New York. Thank you for the opportunity to testify on the fiscal year 27 preliminary budget. UJA supports nearly 100 nonprofit partners across New York City, allocating roughly $200 million annually to serve older adults and vulnerable New Yorkers. Today, we urge the council to protect and strengthen the aging services system at a moment of growing need. First, maintain the cost of living adjustment for nonprofit serum service workers. These workers care for older adults, deliver meals, provide case management, and respond in times of crisis. Yet, they remain underpaid. Without sustained COLA support, we will continue to see high turnover and workforce instability that weakens the safety net for older New Yorkers. Second, invest in older adult centers and critical infrastructure across the city. Centers are operating in deteriorating facilities with broken HVAC systems, kitchens, elevators, and unsafe conditions. We urged the council to fully fund the $60 million increase for congregate meals, maintain the $5 million emergency infrastructure fund, reform capital eligibility rules for centers and city-owned buildings, including NICHA, and improve inter agency coordination to resolve building issues. Third, fully fund nutrition services, congregate and home delivered meals are preventative health care. Years of flat funding combined with rising food costs have put providers at risk. Fourth, strengthen the naturally occurring retirement communities or NORCs. Rising nursing costs are straining these proven aging and place models and increased support is essential. We support an additional investment of $1 million for nursing services and we also support UNH's NORC in every neighborhood campaign to expand NORCs to the 31 neighborhoods in New York City currently without one. Uh finally, we respectfully urged the council to maintain the $4.2 million for the Holocaust survivors initiative. Survivors are now in their 80s and 90s facing complex medical and trauma related needs. Many providers maintain weight lists. There's limited time left to ensure survivors live the remaining years with dignity. New York's older adult population is growing and the city must match that growth with sustained investment. Thank you for your leadership and partnership. >> Good afternoon, Chair Wang and members of the committee. My name is Katherine Agramonte. I'm an intake coordinator and case manager speaking today on behalf of wellness together university settlement in support of increased funding for homed deliver meals for older adults. The home delivered meals program provides daily nutritious meals to homebound seniors who are unable to shop or shop for or prepare food on their own. Beyond meals, this program also offers case management and critical wellness checks for individuals who are at high risk of social isolation. At Wellness Together University Settlement, our program serves over 1,000 vulnerable homebound New Yorkers in the Lower East Side and Chinatown community, which is Community Board District 3. For many of these older adults, these meals are not just a supplement. They are their primary source of daily nutrition. The home deliver meals program not only meets participants most basic nutritional needs, but it also provides our most socially isolated participants with daily social interaction. The meal delivery staff is capable of bringing critical information about our clients, which helps our older adult programs provide the support they need to live safely and independently. However, what we continue to see is that many recipients of home delivered meals are still experiencing food insecurity. As a result, our case managers and social workers frequently connect participants to additional resources such as food pantries, city meals, mobile grocery programs, and breakfast box distributions just to help them get through the week. This highlights the depth of need among a population that is often invisible and overlooked. Currently, the city only funds home delivered meals five days per week. And we know that for homebound older adults, the need for reliable access to food exists every day. That is why the city must invest 30 million to operationalize council member Linda Lee's intro 280 and ensure that meals are funded seven days a week. The investment would provide a consistent lifeline for thousands of New Yorkers who depend on these meals for their health, dignity, and independence. Thank you for the opportunity to testify. >> Thank you. >> Good afternoon, chair and members of the council. My name is Lydia Ortiz Weiss and I'm here to share the importance of programs that provide case management services and ISIP. A few years ago, I had replacement surgery for both knees. My recovery was difficult. For nearly two years, I was homebound and mostly confined to my bed. Si simple say simple to say daily tasks like getting dressed preparing meals and even moving around the home became overwhelming. I felt isolated, vulnerable and and unsure if I could ever a be able to gain some of my mobility back. I became my lifeline. This support allow me to meet my daily needs and remain and remind me remain safely in my home. I gather some of the mo and gain some of my ability. I'm sorry. Uh without it, I don't know what I would say in my home. Even more vital was my the importance of my case management. The case manager became my advocate, guiding me to resources I desperately need. Air condition during the heat. Yep. Legal aid uh legal help to pro uh to protect my home when threatened with for closure. assistant devices to endure my safety in and out of my home. Therapy to to cope with grief after losing multiple loved ones during the global pandemic. Companionship services that remind me I was not alone. These services didn't just meet my needs. They gave me hope, stability and reassur reassurance that someone cared. Programs like I said came and and case management are not just services. They are lifelines. The the help PE people endured with the heart the hardness time with dignity, safety and support. As our community grows, the need for these programs will only increase. I'm only I'm deeply grateful for the care that com that continue to service me and I urge the city to continue investing in these programs so that my other my experience can uh change life support and made all the difference in the world. That's one be because of the support I receive, I am here able to sit uh and give you my public testimony. Thank you for allowing me to share my story. >> Thank you. You did a good job. Thank you. >> You have questions? >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you guys. Thank you. >> Well, I don't know about that. >> Seniors are really looking good. >> Okay, >> thank you. And now let's invite the third group. We have John Shen, >> Sonia Valentine, Christine Say, Vivana, Patanio, Common Buo. Thank you. Good afternoon, Chair Zang and members of Committee on Aging. My name is John Shin. I'm a program director at Korean Community Services of Metropolitan New York or KCS, the largest and oldest Korean-American nonprofit organization in the region serving New York communities since 1973. KCS operates three OAC in Corona, Flushing and Manhattan along with two community pop-up cafes in Flushing and USA. Together, this program have nearly 700 older adults in daily attendance providing meals, social program, and supportive services that help seniors stay healthy and connected. KCS also operates a major home deliver meal program delivering more than 800 meals every day over 220,000 meals annually to homebound seniors across New York City. This includes Korean and Chinese meal prepared by our team as well as kosher halar and regular meals delivered through subcontractors. But these are programs are far more than program. Last year during one of the Friday deliveries, one of our drivers arrived at client's apartment and noticed something was off. The senior had fallen and was lying on the floor behind the locked door. She was barely crying. It was so soft that it could hardly be heard. Our driver immediately called our office and I called 911. Emergency responders had to break the open the door to reach her and take her to the hospital. She lived alone. If my driver had not arrived that day, she likely would have remained on that exact floor for the next 72 hours. Later, her case management supervisor from self-help call and told me, "John, you and your staff literally saved her life." This is why HDM meals are not just nutrition services. They are part of the safety net that protects vulnerable older adults. This is why I urge the city to invest 30 million to strengthen home deliver meals and expanded services. Thank you. >> Thank you. I want to clarify in the previous ch uh panel also it's 27 million. It's easier than 30 million. >> Thank you. >> Okay. >> Hello. Uh my name is Sonia Valentine and I am an advocate for seniors in Bensonhurst and Bath Beach, Brooklyn. As well as being a senior myself, I attend Fio's community center where families and many older adults are served. I use the gym, take arts and crafts classes, participate in mental health group sessions, and have meal there and have meals there, but only on Thursdays or Fridays. On behalf of the 200 older adults, I thank the city council, the speaker, honorable Julie Menon, and our very own Honorable Susan Zang and Honorable Alexa Ailles for the NORC funding allocated for our older adults. However, we as well as other older adults on a wait list would like to have these services every day of the week. These programs and services truly enhance the overall quality of life for me and our very diversified senior population of Latinos, Italians, Asians, Arabs, Russians, and Jewish residents. We respectfully request your support for the NOC initiative to expand the services to five days weekly as we also await the opportunity for the Department of Aging to reopen RFPs for additional CBOS like the Federation of Italian-American Organizations Fio Brooklyn to have a senior center for the ever growing number of southern Brooklyn older adults. Many of our seniors are widowed, single, and lonely. Attending these programs helps them mentally, physically, and emotionally. At Fire Community Center, they make friends, are not lonely, feel better about themselves, and have a reason to get up in the morning. Thank you. Muchas gracias mil. Hello, my name is Christine Se. I'm a senior and member of Federation Italian American Organizations Culture and Community Center. I take advantage of all that it offers. Our program is only two days a week and it is not enough. Five days a week is needed for our physical and mental health. I'm happy to have many new friends here. Sadly, one elderly friend shared that I'm the only person she has spoken to all week. I'm Chinese and due to the diversity of people attending the center, I now appreciate other cultures, traditions and foods. I have taste delicate delicacies of their countries such as lasagna, panil and gas gadilla felt introd introd intro introduces taught us the chacha >> instructor >> instructor Lata and Hora, please continue supporting our centers so older adult have a place to call home five days a week. Thank you. >> Good afternoon, uh, Susan, chair, and committee members. I'm so happy to be here today and be able to add to what my uh friends here have also talked about and I too am here to advocate and continued support for FIO. I am not only a member, I'm also a senior and I'm an avid attendee of uh the funfit uh program that they have for our seniors. Uh for me it's my second home. I think uh Mr. Rizzie uh Sonia and Christine have said much about it. Uh all the programs that are available uh the social services also legal services I have taken advantage of. I am a member so I'm I can go there seven days a week but there are many seniors in the community that are not able to and they look forward to being able to go to the senior designated days. So the two days a week does not really accommodate the the base in the community which is also very diverse and uh allowing the se seniors to connect with one another has a positive a positive outcome not only for the seniors but for our community that we do these things together in one place. So for me as I said FiOS is my second home. I've also have met so many so many friends uh members and and older adults that are there and I look forward I have a place to go to keep the mind active. Thank you so much for your commitment and your consideration to this. Hi, my name is Calman Boo and I'm the development manager at India Home. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. India Home is a leading nonprofit organization dedicated to serving the unique needs of older adults from South Asian and other immigrant communities across New York City. Since our founding in 2007, we have provided culturally appropriate services including congregate meals, case management, mental health programs, and recreational activities to thousands of older adults. Our work ensures that immigrant seniors who are often underserved and isolated have access to the critical resources they need to age with dignity in their communities. Aging services in New York are unprepared to support seniors in the coming years. Community- based aging organizations such as India Home are crucial to supporting older adults. As part of Live on New York, we support the Agestrong $2.3 billion multi-year campaign, including $500 million for older adult centers, $10 million to support natural occurring retirement community in every neighborhood, $90 million for nutritional support, and deeper collaboration between NYC aging and HPD. Older adult New Yorkers rely on critical aging services, including OIC's, because of their convenience and proximity to their neighborhoods. Many of our clients at India Home rely on our centers for their only hot meal of the day, essential case management services, and critical social interaction to combat isolation. The impact of not investing in New York's aging services will fall disproportionately on immigrant seniors who already face systemic barriers to accessing mainstream aging services due to language, cultural, and financial constraints. The agrong approach will ensure that older adults have access to safe and affordable housing and robust community-based services that are essential to healthy, dignified aging. We urge you to commit to a robust increase in funding for older adult services so that New York seniors can age in place of dignity. Thank you for your time and for this valuable opportunity to testify. >> Thank you all. Um I don't need to ask questions because I'm familiar with every single one of you. Um and I appreciate the work KCS has been doing for the community. You know they you can also serve Brooklyn too. Uh, and also I come from an immigrant background. I came here when I was 20 years old without the English. I appreciate the work you guys doing for immigrant seniors. I think it's needed. And my colleague, uh, Council Member Mey has some questions. >> I truly only have one. Um, I didn't put off another meeting so long I got to go. But I want to thank all of you. And even if we get the 30 million, we still have to do the advocacy cuz you could ask for five days a week and if people do not come five days a week, funding and be lost. So what I'm thinking because I always try to do outside the box. soon as I have the meeting with the commissioner, I'm going to see if we could get those vans that if y'all go two days a week at your center and you go two days, come to Brooklyn because we have domino games. We have interact with each other and I and chair, you just said, Mr. Rizzy, why you don't come to Brooklyn? So, I'm I'm looking forward to coming to Brooklyn also. And that's my motto. I'm that. No, he's in Brooklyn, but he serviced only two. >> Oh, sorry. But you haven't said Brooklyn as of yet. So, I would love for y'all to come. >> And that's the only way how we could keep our seniors active. Um, vibrant, always looking fly cuz y'all look beautiful. I said, "Y'all dress up." Thank you. And that's what we have to keep doing. I would look May she ask a question? >> Yes. Ask for five days a week is not for the same people. We ask for five days a week is not for the same people. It's a lot of people on the waiting list. >> Oh. So then we should get the waiting list and get them to come out to different centers. Yes. To make sure that we all >> just because it's a waiting list, we still should have them go to any other senior center. But I feel we need the safety of the transportation and then we get leaders to make sure everybody get back on the bus. I we're going to be talking about this a lot. I thank you all for coming here today. Thank you chair swing. We going to do this. >> Thank you. And uh um before we invite next session uh I want to thank Leon New York and ARP Homeress UCA and a lot of other nonprofits organiz uh OAC's help to organize rally we need advocate for the seniors and the third group third fourth group we have Dr. Mara Mara rehan who >> sabur rashit >> taxon tax janet >> estima. Huh? You come picking. Can you mute your microphone and then we can start from the other side? It's red. Can you Okay. Good. >> Oh, okay. Uh, good afternoon, Chair Zlang and members of the Committee on Aging. My name is Sabora Rashid and I've lived on the Lower East Side for over two decades. I came to the Center for Well-being and Happiness hoping to interact, connect, and share my talent and skills with others. I was pleasantly surprised with what I found. The center has given me the chance to give back as well as receive. Through the arts and movement programs, I found a place where I could strengthen my physical well-being, prevent social isolation, connect with other mature adults in a safe space, surrounded by people who truly acknowledge, honor, and respect one another. I've had the privilege of teaching a writing class there, sitting with neighbors, helping them to find their words and tell their stories through movement classes like yoga and tai chi. I've also been able to maintain my own mobility and positivity through these uncertain times. Community brings people face to face, sharing what we know, sharing joy, affirming our worth as adults. able to learn new skills, elders with wisdom to share intergenerationally. For older adults on the Lower East Side, this place is a lifeline for longtime residents who've watched our neighborhood change around us. The Center for Well-being and Happiness is one of the few spaces that still belongs to us, where we are welcomed, valued, and nurtured. The city council support makes all of this possible. We are requesting $30,000, preferably more, to keep these programs free and accessible for older adults who need them most. Please invest in the Center for Well-Being and Happiness so we can keep creating, connecting, and thriving. Thank you very much. All right. Good afternoon, chair and members of the New York City Council. My name is Aaron Tax and I work for SAGE, the nation's largest and oldest organization dedicated to improving the lives of LGBTQ plus older people. Since our founding in 1978, Sage has worked tirelessly to advocate for policies and programs that empower LGBTQ plus elders, ensuring they can age with dignity, security, and support. We've remained at the forefront of combating social isolation, housing insecurity, and healthcare disparities among LGBT older people. LGBT older people are often invisible, disconnected from services, and severely isolated without traditional familial supports. They are far more likely to live alone and less likely to rely on adult children or other family members for informal caregiving. Because of these thin support networks, LGBTQ plus older people need to rely on more community service providers for care as they age. Yet, they're often distrustful of mainstream providers because of a history of discrimination and mistreatment. The services, community, and support systems provided by SAGE are designed to address these gaps and serve as a lifeline for LGBTQ plus elders in New York City. With an anti-LGBTQ plus administration in Washington, many LGBT older people face heightened fear and uncertainty about their rights, health care, and overall well-being. For thousands, SAGE is a lifeline to critical services, advocacy, and a supportive community, ensuring they do not face these challenges alone. In light of the climate and the needs, Sage requests the restoration of our New York City Council funding at FI26 levels along with additional support to sustain and enhance our vital services. Thank you. >> Good afternoon. My name is Janette Estima and I'm the director of policy and advocacy at City Meals on Wheels. Thank you for the opportunity to testify. City Meals addresses food insecurity for homebound older New Yorkers in three ways. By funding weekend meals for the city's homed delivered meals program, serving as an emergency food responder, and providing additional food to those who need more than the one meal they receive a day. In fiscal year 25, we provided 2.3 million meals to 22,000 older adults across all five bureaus and all of our programs. As you know, there is deep hunger among older adults who participate in congregate and homed delivered meals. While these programs are critical anti-hunger interventions, they do not go far enough for people who cannot get to a grocery store or a food pantry for the two other meals that they need. That's why we developed two innovative costefficient programs for the most food insecure meal recipients. Our breakfast box provides enough food for a second daily meal and our mobile groceries program provides enough food for 14 additional meals. These programs serve 2600 homebound older New Yorkers and we're grateful to the council for their support which has allowed us to increase the amount and types of food that we offer through these programs and to reach more people. We respectfully request a renewal of the funding we received from the council for these various programs through uh various initiatives. And we also ask the council to pass intro280 with adequate funding. Um and to include cost increases for um home delivered meals and congregate meals at $90 million total. And um we also ask that there be an increase in the community food connection to a baseline of $100 million. Thank you. Good afternoon uh chair drung and members of committee. My name is Rhan U. I'm a center director of homerest community service Ol Center center and part of my residents come from um chair's uh um district. I'm honored to speak today because this works extremely personal to me. Every day I meet older adults come to my center not only for service but also comfort, friendship and support. They trust us and they feel belong here. To them our center is the one place where they can feel seen, feel heard and less alone. For nearly 30 years, Homerest has served older adults in South Brooklyn, especially AAPI older adults. Many of them are low-inccome with limited English. Older adults are are in our community are facing isolation, rising cost and barriers to basic services. Some need accessing benefits. Some needs um some are lonely and need a safe welcoming place where they can talk to others and feel part of community. Others need regular meals and programs that support their well-beings. This is what our center provide. We offer daily meals, workshops and case management to benefit to um access benefits connect to health skills and affordable housing. We also build community through activities like taigi, dancing, art and crafts community chat room and technology class to make sure our adults older adults stay active and connected and supported. From July 2024 to June 2025, we supported more than 100,000 older adults. When funding is not enough is not actually budget issue. Behind every budget number is someone who needs support, who need dignity, who need community. That's why as a member of Leon NY, we support a $2.3 billion investment in older New Yorkers, $500 millions for expanded nutrition services, 1 billion for expanded affordable housing, and 800 million for committee services. Homegrass is also a proud member of 18% and growing campaign lead by CACF and we urge the council support is key uh priority including 7.5 million for the AI AAPI community support initiative, 10 million for communities of color nonprofit stabilization fund and 4.5 million for access health initiative. Thank you so much for your commitment and leadership for the older New Yorker. Thank you. >> Hello, my name is Dr. Cynthia Mau. I'm the executive director of Visiting Neighbors. We've had 54 years of serving seniors in New York City. We are so thankful for the city council. You guys are our heroes because you advocate for a population that without you uh what would we do? And our seniors need us just as much as we need you. We provide health management, health advocacy, health and wellness programs, physical, mental, and emotional, friendly visiting, shop, and escort, the therapeutic walking, which by the way was a program that came out of the pandemic. Uh we were working throughout the pandemic because our seniors would have otherwise been completely cut off. our volunteers and our staff went into the offices the entire time and did some crazy things in order to survive and help our people uh including go to 99 cent stores and buying plastic shower curtains. And we had a amazing crew of volunteers who made masks for us because our seniors otherwise would be all of all alone. And our population is from 60 to centinarian plus. Uh our eldest is 107. We have 33 clients that are over a hundred. This is a population that is aging, guys. We are getting older. Over 10 years ago, we h 10 12 years ago, our average age of senior coming in was 58. It's now 89. Um, however, we're seeing in this last year a younger group of seniors coming in who have either have illness like cancer or they're had it, you know, they fell and they need temporarily temporary help. And then later we turn them into volunteers and then when they're ready they become seniors. We actually have second and third generation clients that have been with us and we had a senior who said you know you took such good care of my mom and now I need help and that's why we're you know we want to continue to be here and we wouldn't be if you guys did not support us. Um the population we serve is diverse and 98% of our clients can neither pay for help nor private services nor eligible for Medicare. And when a client is with us, they're usually with us for the rest of this life. They are not like in and out as in a school program, they are with us and we see them age through that process and as their years go by, things happen and more happens and we need to be there to support them. Um last year we provided direct services to over 875 seniors and guidance to 1700 individuals including caregivers who are frustrated and just needed to have some guidance or vent. And we are going to continue to help seniors deal with the myriad of program uh issues that they face through our programs. And our volunteers are absolutely amazing. We really do believe they represent the absolute best of New York City. When people often say, "Well, New Yorkers in a hurry." Uh, we are. We're always in a hurry, but we're kind and we care. And I can tell you right now, we have people from age 14 to 93 who volunteer who really do care about their their neighbor. So, we're asking please continue to support programs like us and us um so that we can continue to be here not only for our existing clients but for the clients at years to come. I gave you a packet also just to show you not only do we do lifesaving things like um being able to help people get to and from doctor's appointments, being there to listen to if they have a diagnosis that they're scared about and encouraging them to get second opinions. We do sweet things, too, like having school children make up Valentine's cards. And you say, "What's what's the big deal?" Well, the seniors, when that's all they get, find this card and it makes their day, it's really sweet. So, there's a sample there of cards just to say the the thank yous that the seniors are getting and they're just delightful. And some of them create pen pals with the students. And also, we have a talent show coming up. So you guys are welcome to come out and see seniors strut their stuff for New York City audience. All of our services are free because our clients don't have it. They don't have even the dollar. They really don't. And we're we're going to help and do whatever we can. And thank you for your support. >> Thank you. Thank you so much. I I don't have questions. I'm familiar with most of you guys. So thank you. >> Thank you. Next group. The first one was Tacia Smith, Hugh Rose Evans, Elizabeth Lee, >> Kevin, >> Kevini. Thank you. You can begin. Thank you. >> Good afternoon. My name is Ustacea Smith. I'm from Westside Federation for Senior and Supportive Housing, serving 2500 low-income older adults in our housing and 1,500 in our three older adult centers. Thank you to Chair Wang and the entire committee for the opportunity to testify. As the council noted, older adults make approximately 20% of the population. Yet, when New York City allocates less than half of 1% of the total budget towards them, we are neglecting the people who made our city what it is today. If we want older New Yorkers to survive and thrive, we must increase the budget for older adult services. We need to dramatically scale up the available housing for older adults. Older adults are the fastest growing age group of people becoming homeless and there were 520,000 people on wait list for housing at last count. We opened a new residence in the Bronx in 2025 and out of the 25 apartments that were available through Housing Connect, we had well over 45,000 applicants, the majority of whom were extremely lowincome. In our three older adult centers where we provide meals to participants, we are beyond stretch due to the rising cost of food. There's not been an increase in funding since 2019, but the cost of fresh produce, dairy, and meat in the past six years has risen substantially. We cannot continue to provide the same quality of meals with the same budget. We're forced to either reduce quality or take money from other places where it's also needed. Compounding this situation is the fact that we're seeing a dramatic increase in the number of seniors coming to our centers for meals given the rising food insecurity. We are also seeing them come in hungrier because they have not eaten since the last time they were there. This is why we encourage the city to support all of the astrong demands including creating 10,000 Sarah units per year uh including 20 million in preservation of HUD 202 housing in the budget, adding 60 million for congregate meals rates increase and the 27 million for homed delivered meals weekend program. Older adults must be included in the equation when we talk about making New York City an affordable place to live. Thank you. Hello and thank you for the opportunity to speak today. My name is Hugh Rose Evans and I'm speaking on behalf of the American LGBTQ Museum in support of its FY27 City Council discretionary funding request. The museum provides educational and public programming exploring the achievements and lived experiences of LGBT people in all five buraus of New York City. Here at the museum, we see LGBTQ elders as the very heart of our community. They act as the true protectors of queer history, and we are ultimately responsible to them for protecting and stewarding their stories for future generations. We recognize that as a brand new organization, we need to make increased investments in our aging communities to gain their trust and build affinity for our museum. This year, the American LGBTQ Museum is requesting $250,000 in New York City Council discretionary funding. We recognize this request is more than the museum has sought before, but it represents the scale of our expanding scope of services, especially to aging individuals. In March 2025, we launched the Queer Legacies Project in partnership with SAGE USA and the Feminist Institute, hosting a series of four archiving and oral history workshops at Sage's Edie Windsor Center in Chelsea. Provided at no cost, these workshops teach LGBTQ elders how to archive their personal photos, articles, recordings, and achievements for public memory. The program was an incredible success, welcoming over 125 registrants. And this month, we're proud to say that we're successfully continuing the project, having launched our first session of Queer Legacy's project at Sage Center Harlem yesterday. In FY27, we will bring the project to Sage Center Bronx in November 2026 and to communities in Brooklyn and Queens in 2027. This project is just one of more than 50 public programs we produce annually, and these services are essential to building trust and fim familiarity with our museum, but we need your help to maintain the momentum of the museum's growth. We are humbly asking committee members to advocate for the museum to your fellow colleagues, helping us to increase our LGBTQ community services funding to 250,000 in FY27. Together, we can build a museum that honors the memories of all LGBTQ elders. Thank you for your time. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. My name is Elizabeth Lee, senior director at Vision Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired, a nonprofit that has served New Yorkers with vision loss for nearly 100 years. Last year alone, Vision supported over 8,000 New Yorkers with more than 2,000 adults aged 16 and older. Our mission is to help visually impaired and blind individuals live independently and remain active in their communities. Vision loss is a disability multiplier. Older adults with vision loss face significantly higher risk of socialization, depression, cognitive decline, falls, hospitalization, loss of independence. Many older adult centers and community programs are not designed to accommodate the needs of participants who are blind and visually impaired. In New York City alone, an estimated 84,000 older adults over the age of 65 are living with blindness and with many more experiencing significant vision loss. Along with New York City Aging, we have been able to provide um services for older adults who are blind and visually impaired with our older adult center and Chelsea and our caregiver support group. But we serve all through the five bureaus because of our unique um specialty. Visions provides accessible health and wellness programming, assistive technology, um support groups, meals, and community based and inhome services. However, significant gaps remain when you combine age, vision loss, and limited income. Isolation health risks increase dramatically. Um, with early identification, access to vision rehab services, many older adults can maintain independence and safely age in place. Um, so as the city and council considers the FY27 budget, we respectfully urge investment in the following priorities. First, dedicated funding for vision rehab services within aging programs, including as accessible training that allows older adults to safely navigate their homes and communities. Second, improve accessible transportation um options. Third, integration of vision screening and vision um rehab referrals within older adult centers, NORCs and case management systems so that we can identify vision loss early and it could be addressed. Fourth, continue investment adaptive technology access um and teaching older adults adaptive technology and lastly intergenerational programming as well. So, thank you again for allowing me to testify. >> Uh hello everybody, my name is Kevin Kovsky, director of public policy at Live on New York. Um, I'm going to skip some of the intro cuz I feel like a lot of that was covered really well by every organization that's been here and I'll go into some of the needs. So, the first need is actually um part of our $2.3 billion a strong New York City campaign. We're not asking for all that this year. It's a 5-year campaign. We're just trying to get to it. Uh, we've estimated uh anywhere from $500 million to $1 billion to get all of the centers in the city up to a state of good repair. Last year, the $5 million investment was the first major investment in infrastructure in over a decade. It has changed the way people are looking at their centers. So, we're so grateful for that. In programs less than I mean in repairs less than $100,000, we currently have $16 million worth of ready to go projects. So, if you want to give us $16 million, I don't think we'd say no to that. So, that if you know $5 million is great, 10 million is great, but whatever you guys are going to give us, it's going to change everything. But, we do think that with a need so high with $5 million, it would take a hundred years to get there. So, we really want to try to push the mayor as well to try to put money into that to get the system going. Next, um, $90 million for nutritional support broken down into 60 million for congregate meals at OAC. And we added it to 30 million because there was actually an increase in how much each meal costs from $15 to $16. So, we're still looking into that number, but the number that we have now would be 30 million to fully fund Council Member Lee's 7-day a week bill. Um, as much money as we can get for that, it would be great. We're also pushing with UNH for $10 million for a NORC in every neighborhood. We've seen that there are neighborhoods that don't have senior centers. NORcs are quicker to get up and running. We still need the centers, but it's a way to make sure people are getting services and $10 million is not a big lift for the city government. We think it's very reasonable and very possible to get that funding. And the last one is much deeper collaboration between NYC aging and HPD. We need to be getting more people on screen. 47% of people is not a good enough number. We've spoken to DOF. We've spoken to HBD. There's a lot of really creative ways where we don't have to spend an extra dollar and we can double that number. There's anou between the state and the city that prevents the city from using certain data to get people to apply in a targeted way. There's lots of things that are just matters of policy that we can fix. But honestly, when it comes to housing, we're asking for a full billion dollars to get Sarah developed. There's 200 million of that is to improve scree and another 200 million is to fix HUD 202 buildings. So, we'd love to continue that conversation. We're also so grateful, Council Member Dwang that you're such a great advocate for this and we're really excited to work with you on this moving forward. Thank you guys for organizing the rally and thank you guys for waiting and let the senior go first. Thank you. And then we have next group Muhammad Raie and John Halt left. Okay. So only John John Holt. >> Thank you. >> Hi, good afternoon chair. I'm John Holtz. I'm the director of the senior law project at volunteers of legal service. For over 40 years, Balls has partnered with community- based organizations and the private bar to provide free legal services to New Yorkers who otherwise cannot afford or access representation. Our five core projects serve small business owners, individuals accessing benefits, immigrant young people, incarcerated mothers, and older adults in every burrow. The V senior law project provides low-income older adults free legal services to plan for death and incapacity through the execution of life planning documents, including last wills and testaments, powers of attorney, living wills, and healthcare proxies. For our clients, these documents are vital tools to help ensure that their wishes and preferences are honored. And without them, many would find themselves unable to safely remain in their communities, forcing them into costly institutionalization or overly restrictive protective arrangements like article 81 guardianship. Every day, we see barriers that lead potential clients to miss the window of opportunity where advanced planning can be a viable preventative tool. To combat this, the Senior Law Project partners with older adult centers and other community-based organizations all over the city to provide older adults and the professionals who work with them education on the importance of advanced planning and clear direction on how to timely reach our program. In the present moment, many New Yorkers are afraid to present for services due to the policies of the federal government. And we need to continue to seek ways of building trust and community among the fastest growing demographic of older adults in our city, immigrants. We also see that even when older adults do access systems, there is not always clear identification of their interconnected needs, and responses are often siloed to address the presenting symptoms and not the root causes of the problem. The senior law project respectively calls on the council to continue to support and prioritize programs that reach aging New Yorkers in their homes and communities to provide holistic services that are responsive to their diverse financial, medical social legal cultural and linguistic needs and to ensure that legal service organizations like VS have the resources they need to continue to provide assistance that promotes autonomous decision-making and closes the justice gap for older adults. Thank you. >> Thank you so much for waiting. Thank you. How many case you guys provide every year? Like how many? >> So we we measure our cases uh by individual documents in the senior law project. Uh last fiscal year we uh executed over a thousand legal documents for older adults and there were several hundred individual unique clients that we served. >> Thank you. >> Now we move to Zoom. >> How many people? >> Two. Just one. two people. Uh we now move to the virtual testimony. Please wait for your name to be called to testify and uh uh please select unmute when you prompt. First Mamarado re rias starting time. >> Hello members of the committee of on aging. My name is Mamerta Reyes. I am very active member and volunteer at the older adults center at sunnisside community service. I go to the center for the atmosphere. I meet my friends. The staff are friendly and if I need anything or have a problem, they are there to help me. It is my second home. What would I do in my apartment all alone? They helped me a lot to get snap free and my medical insurance. I even got help to get a pantry food. I am grateful for having my Sunnyside Community Center. I live in Jackson Heights. I live in Jackson Height but travel because that's how much I need it. Thank you for the opportunity to share my concerns of the need of older adults in New York City. I first want to ask for support of older adult centers for all their services but especially for more money for food and all expenses related for meals. Seven years and counting and they don't get an increase. How expensive is a food now? We need money to keep the center running with good food. The center prepares fresh food every day, letting me enjoy my day with exercise, games, dancing, and singing and knowing new knowledge about anything and keeping me busy by accept accepting me as a volunteer. I feel great when I help. I also love when we can go to the shows, trips, supermarkets and just for walks sometimes. This is why you need to give more money to all their adult centers so that others like me can live. >> Your time has expired. I am not. >> Um, you unmuted it. >> Oh, sorry. She's been muted. I'm so sorry. We didn't know. >> It's It's unmuted now. >> Boom. They didn't hear you. They didn't hear you. You need >> only the last part did not hear. >> How did it get muted? Okay. Do you want to Can she start over again? I'm so sorry. >> You only need to start the last last few sentence. The other the rest is fine. >> Okay. I also love when we go to shows, trips, supermarket, and just for walks. Sometimes it is being together and not alone that matter most. This is why you need to give more money to all older and adult center so that others like me can live a healthy and dignified life. It even helps my family because they have peace of mind that I'm not alone in my apartment and that I can enjoy my day and get help at any time. Where can I where else can I get this? You must help us keep our center open and we need more money please. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Next one we have Emily writes. >> Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Chair Susan Schwang and members of the New York City Council Committee on Aging for giving us this opportunity to submit testimony. I'm I'm Emily Rios, the managing director of community services at Asian-Americans for Equality, also known as AFY. AFY is a 52year-old organization which advances racial, social, and economic justice for all regardless of background. were guided by our experiences as Asian-Americans and our commitment to civil rights. Um, Asian seniors are New York City's fastest growing yet poorest elderly population with 42% living in or near poverty facing intense language barriers and social isolation. Reports from the Asian-American Federation highlight that almost 67% of lowincome Asian seniors are immigrants with many struggling to access services. 25% of Asian seniors live in poverty and high percentages have limited English proficiency, a combination that makes accessing services difficult and leads to greater isolation. Now on average every year AFY serves about 14,000 uh community members and we operate out of uh three locations and um based on our daily interactions uh we observe some key needs that I would like to share with you. Um, and we asked that this committee and the city council support our elderly population based on our recommendations. New York is grappling with a severe shortage of affordable housing and seniors who live on fixed incomes cannot compete in this competitive housing market. Many of our clients must turn to vouchers or resort to living in unsafe and overcrowded housing. One question we consistently get is the availability of affordable senior housing in the neighborhood. In recent history, our city has >> Your time has expired. >> Can I continue? >> Yes, please wrap up in 15 seconds. Thank you. >> Okay. Um, so so senior housing. Um the other thing I want to bring up is how vulnerable the com the elderly community is on uh with financial exploitation. Um we see that there are a lot of helping organizations that are charging our seniors for application support for um or legal or or fake legal assistance. And um I wanted to bring that to your attention with uh because that is such a vulnerable population to be exploited and scammed. Um and I think the the final thing is um uh sub the conditions of many older adults who are living in substandard apartments that are exposed to fire and health hazards. um and the uh lack of information that seniors have on their tenant rights. Um many of the seniors that we work with are often afraid to ask for repairs because they're worried their landlord is going to well either their landlord uses intimidating tactics or that their landlord is going to penalize them in some way. Um, I know I'm conscious of time and I really appreciate this opportunity, but I really wanted to flag some of those things that are reoccurring cases that we're seeing in our office. >> Thank you. Thank you. Um, thank you to everyone who have testified. If there's anyone pres present in the Zoom or in the room that has not had the opportunity to testify, please raise your hand. Seeing no one else, I would like to note that the written testimony which will be reviewed in full by committee staff may be submit to the uh to the record up to 72 hours after the closing of this hearing by email it to testim testimony at console.nyc.com.