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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Eustacia Smith, Director of Advocacy at West Side Federation for Senior and Supportive Housing
5:24:06
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160 sec
Eustacia Smith, representing the West Side Federation for Senior and Supportive Housing, testifies about the critical need for increased funding for older adult services in New York City. She emphasizes the importance of their services in keeping older adults stably housed and the challenges they face due to flat budgets and rising costs.
- Smith highlights a real-world example of broken refrigerators at their Red Oak center, illustrating the dire need for funding for repairs and equipment.
- She calls for a significant increase in city funding, including $78 million for nutritional support, $44 million for expanded case management, and a $5 million emergency repair fund for older adult centers.
- Smith stresses the growing older adult population in NYC and the disproportionately low funding for their services, urging the city to scale up investments in older adult services.
Eustacia Smith
5:24:06
Good afternoon.
5:24:07
Thanks Chair Brennan, Chair Hudson, and the committee for the opportunity to testify.
5:24:11
I'm Eustacea Smith and I'm the Director of Advocacy for West Side Federation for Senior and Supportive Housing.
5:24:16
We've provided housing and services for older adults in New York City for nearly fifty years.
5:24:20
We also run three older adult centers serving over 1,300 older New Yorkers, providing them with nutritional support, socialization, education and connection to services.
5:24:29
Our participants are able to remain stably housed in the community because we're able to provide them with a range of services that keep them from falling into emergencies that would displace them.
5:24:40
Our services are sometimes life and death essential but we can't keep them going without increased funding.
5:24:48
Our budget has stayed flat while the cost of food and other operating expenses has gone up dramatically.
5:24:53
We have no wiggle room.
5:24:55
Each increase in cost means we have to cut something else essential.
5:24:59
Is it the meals that keep our elders from wasting?
5:25:01
Is it the case manager who makes sure people can access their benefits?
5:25:05
Truthfully, cutting any of it is dangerous.
5:25:08
Here's a real world example from our center at the Red Oak on 100 And Sixth Street where we serve 150 meals per day.
5:25:14
Right now our refrigerators are broken.
5:25:16
It's the third time this year.
5:25:18
We don't have the budget to fix them nor to get new fridges we really need.
5:25:22
It's nearly impossible to prepare meals without working refrigerators.
5:25:26
Our staff has spent many, many hours figuring out how to work around the broken refrigerators to still get the meals out.
5:25:33
That's time when they should be providing services but can't.
5:25:36
Why do those meals matter?
5:25:38
For some participants, the meal at our center may be their only meal of the day.
5:25:42
Why do the case managers matter?
5:25:44
Case managers play a critical role in keeping older adults housed in the community even as their needs change over time.
5:25:52
It prevents people from losing housing.
5:25:54
It reduces hospitalizations and limits the need for nursing home care.
5:25:58
It's humane.
5:25:58
It keeps communities whole and it keeps public costs down.
5:26:02
Older adults are the fastest growing group of people experiencing homelessness.
5:26:07
They're also a fast growing New York City population set to grow by 25% by 02/1940, yet city funding for older adults is disproportionately low.
5:26:16
We call on our city to scale up investment in older adult services, implementing new funding of $78,000,000 for nutritional support with $57,000,000 to meet the rising cost of food and $21,000,000 to provide additional meal services.
5:26:29
44,000,000 for expanded case management, dollars 5,000,000 5 year emergency repair discretionary fund for older adult centers that need small scale repairs or equipment replacements, and all of the recommendations that are part of the Age Strong New York City campaign organized by Live On.
5:26:46
Thank you.