Brian Ellicott-Cook
2:23:43
Good afternoon Chair Hudson and members of the New York City Committee on Aging.
2:23:46
My name is Brian Ellicott Cook and I serve as the director of government relations at SAGE, the nation's largest and oldest organization dedicated to improving the lives of LGBTQ plus older adults.
2:23:56
Since our founding in 1978, SAGE has worked tirelessly to advocate for policies and programs that empower LGBT elders, ensuring that they age with dignity, security, support.
2:24:07
Every year we serve over 5,000 older adults.
2:24:10
And New York City has long failed to prioritize the programs and services that help our older adults remain in their communities as they age.
2:24:16
Unfortunately, the long standing underinvestment has led to the tipping point of our city now facing the prospect of an additional hundred and $2,000,000 proposed cut by the mayor that could close 60 older adult centers and slash vital services across the board.
2:24:30
These cuts are at a time when older adults already make up one in five New Yorkers and the number of project is projected to grow by 25% by 2040.
2:24:38
Over the decades, the city has intentionally underfunded and undervalued older adult programs making it nearly impossible for the providers to meet the growing need.
2:24:46
These budget cuts would only accelerate the crisis by forcing more centers to close and reducing core services at a time when we demand that continues to rise.
2:24:56
If these cuts move forward, more and more older adults, including LGBTQ plus elders who are already disproportionately undervalued, would have to navigate more holes in the ever weakening safety net.
2:25:08
I submitted over 100 plus letters from older adults at our SAGE centers telling you how these impact their lives, the joy that the centers bring them, and what the centers mean for them to be able to age with dignity, respect, and honor.
2:25:21
We are actively living in an administration that is against the LGBT community and hostile and political climate where many older adults are heightened by fear and uncertainty of their rights.
2:25:32
The Older Adult Act, also directly with some of the executive orders, does target TGNB older adults.
2:25:39
And that's something we're worried about with funding is how that worrying can affect our funding as well, not just for SAGE, but for anyone in coalition with us.
2:25:50
LGBT elders are often invisible, disconnected from services, and severely isolated without traditional biological supports.
2:25:57
They are far more likely to live alone and less likely to rely on adult children or other family members for informal caregiving.
2:26:04
In fact, twenty five percent of SAGE constituents have reported not having those structures and that SAGE is their emergency contact people.
2:26:13
You can read more about all of our proposed renewals for our funding, including the little over $1,000,000 we get for the initiative around older adult services for LGBT plus older adults.
2:26:24
And we did ask for an enhancement because at this time we were finding that Know Your Rights for both our constituents and our staff around immigration and TGMB people is important, as well as our continued services for our Sage Vets program because we know we are seeing an uptick in PTSD from our veterans around all the vitriol language around veterans and TGMV veterans specifically.
