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QUESTION
What initiatives are available for aging New Yorkers, and what challenges do they face?
2:09:00
·
4 min
A variety of initiatives are discussed to enhance care for aging New Yorkers, though challenges such as casework backlogs and limited legal assistance in housing courts persist.
- A current casework backlog of 776 exists, though some services are still provided.
- Age-friendly initiatives are progressing, with efforts to move from age-friendly to age-inclusive policies.
- A pilot program is in place to provide legal assistance for older adults facing housing issues, although there is a shortage of lawyers for them.
- Scratch cooking at senior centers, exemplified by Lenox Hill, is highlighted as a success, yet expansion is limited.
- Despite mixed feelings about plant-based options, nutritional standards are evolving to include these options.
Gale Brewer
2:09:00
Crash Cooking, where maybe you discussed this earlier, but what was the cut of anything in casework?
2:09:06
And what's the the backlog.
2:09:11
And I guess your cabinet equals age friendly, but I wanted to know what you know, what you're doing on age friendly, but maybe that's the cabinet.
2:09:19
And then the biggest issue we hear about are no lawyers for those older adults ending up in housing court.
2:09:24
Are you monitoring that?
Lorraine Cortes-Vasquez
2:09:27
Yes.
2:09:28
So let me just take the What else?
2:09:30
Right.
Gale Brewer
2:09:30
Scratch cooking, casework, age friendly, and lawyers for
Lorraine Cortes-Vasquez
2:09:35
case management, we said that there is a 776 waitlist right now, and it's for the full assessment.
2:09:44
That doesn't mean that they're not receiving some serve businesses.
2:09:47
Right?
2:09:48
The other one was age friendly.
2:09:50
Age friendly, we've been working very close with age friendly and using age inclusive.
2:09:56
As a matter of fact, we were having a meeting of the commission of age friendly on in March.
2:10:04
And the goal is always to take it from age friendly, which has been phenomenal and put New York in the lead.
2:10:12
In terms of structural differences, age inclusive goes now to bring it to a policy level.
Gale Brewer
2:10:17
Okay.
Lorraine Cortes-Vasquez
2:10:17
So we never we never abandon the age friendly work.
2:10:20
All we've done is advance it and move it to policy, which is what the role of the cabinet is.
2:10:25
Right?
Gale Brewer
2:10:25
Mhmm.
Lorraine Cortes-Vasquez
2:10:26
But the age friendly commission is still intact, and we will continue working and getting them to start looking at from an age inclusive perspective.
Gale Brewer
2:10:37
I've been to some meetings about it.
2:10:38
The JC,
Lorraine Cortes-Vasquez
2:10:38
you were in a lot of those meetings.
Gale Brewer
2:10:40
Yes.
2:10:40
Many of them.
2:10:41
Hundreds of them.
2:10:42
Right.
2:10:42
Lawyers for tenants for older adults.
Lorraine Cortes-Vasquez
2:10:46
We have a test program, you know, where we work with older individuals that have been identified by the court as having some housing issues, and we have 5 staff people who work with those individuals to work with them on their housing and and and and meet.
Gale Brewer
2:11:05
Okay.
2:11:06
I'm just saying there's a death of support.
2:11:09
So maybe that's what you're doing, but I can tell you there are just tons of older adults who do not have lawyers going to correct.
2:11:15
And it's a big problem.
2:11:16
Scratch cooking.
2:11:17
Only Lenox Hill.
2:11:18
Where is everybody else?
2:11:21
Lenox Hill has Scratch Cooking.
2:11:23
Lenox Hill.
Lorraine Cortes-Vasquez
2:11:24
Right.
2:11:25
Cooking.
2:11:25
No one.
Gale Brewer
2:11:26
Food is good.
Lorraine Cortes-Vasquez
2:11:28
Tell me about Lenox.
Gale Brewer
2:11:29
Lenox Hill has Scratch Cooking.
Jose Mercado
2:11:30
Yeah.
2:11:30
The Best Scratch Cooking.
Lorraine Cortes-Vasquez
2:11:32
Oh, you're talking about their their their their kids and Yes.
2:11:35
Yes.
Gale Brewer
2:11:35
I'm sorry.
2:11:36
I called Scratch Cooking.
2:11:37
I don't know what the real term is,
Lorraine Cortes-Vasquez
2:11:38
but Right.
Gale Brewer
2:11:40
So what I'm saying is we want other centers to have scratch cooking.
2:11:44
So I'm wondering this whatever you call it.
2:11:46
I call it better food.
Lorraine Cortes-Vasquez
2:11:48
Right.
Gale Brewer
2:11:48
But I'm just wondering and also there's a
Lorraine Cortes-Vasquez
2:11:51
I I
Gale Brewer
2:11:51
I didn't know it was something that you're focused on?
Lorraine Cortes-Vasquez
2:11:54
Yes.
2:11:54
We do.
2:11:55
Our policies right now are and LendingTree has a model Yeah.
Gale Brewer
2:12:00
They do.
2:12:00
This is international model.
2:12:02
Model.
2:12:03
National model.
2:12:04
Yes.
Lorraine Cortes-Vasquez
2:12:05
A teaching kitchen.
2:12:06
And as a matter of fact, many of our programs provide are part of that training program and participate in that.
2:12:12
What we have done is our nutritional standards now include having plant based.
Gale Brewer
2:12:18
I know everybody hates him.
2:12:19
Just so you know.
Lorraine Cortes-Vasquez
2:12:19
Oh, that everybody doesn't hate him.
Gale Brewer
2:12:21
They do hate him.
Lorraine Cortes-Vasquez
2:12:21
He hates him all the time.
2:12:23
Everybody there's is different is different.
2:12:26
Different approaches.
Gale Brewer
2:12:27
They don't like it.
2:12:28
Commissioner.
2:12:30
I'm I was gonna bring that up.
Lorraine Cortes-Vasquez
2:12:31
I I thank you.
2:12:33
I'm not gonna argue with you
Gale Brewer
2:12:34
right now.
2:12:34
You could like it because you have to, but the rest of the world hates it.
Lorraine Cortes-Vasquez
2:12:38
I can tell you that we have seen an uptake and an interest in it.
Crystal Hudson
2:12:44
I I
Gale Brewer
2:12:44
do not know.
2:12:45
Weight of
Lorraine Cortes-Vasquez
2:12:45
our nutritional pro as part of our nutritional.
Gale Brewer
2:12:48
Okay.
2:12:49
Alright.
2:12:50
I'm just letting you know that's not the popular program, but scratch cooking is, and maybe if you make something decent with scratch cooking, that's plant based.
2:12:58
I don't But what I'm saying
Lorraine Cortes-Vasquez
2:13:00
is it's cooking if
Gale Brewer
2:13:01
I was used to start from you have a kitchen and you have to cook there as opposed
Lorraine Cortes-Vasquez
2:13:04
to Right.
2:13:05
And and and many of our programs do that, but scratch kitchen.
2:13:08
If I understand it correctly and you know Lenox so much better than I would, I I would never presume to argue with you about Lenox Hill.
2:13:17
But I understand that they also have a way of reutilizing foods over and over again so that they could have max among use of beer food and have minimal waste, which is why they call a scratch kitchen, if I remember correctly.
2:13:31
No.
2:13:32
But it is something that could all learn from, and we have many of our programs participating in that training.
Gale Brewer
2:13:38
Okay.
2:13:38
Thank you.
Crystal Hudson
2:13:39
Thank you.
2:13:40
Thank you, council member.
2:13:41
Thank you again, commissioner and Jose.
Lorraine Cortes-Vasquez
2:13:43
Thank you.
Crystal Hudson
2:13:45
Appreciate your time.
2:13:46
And I will turn it over to committee council to start our public testimony.