Older New Yorkers are the backbone of volunteerism in the state, frequently working to help communities via a network of services for the aging.
According to the New York State Office of the Aging, nearly one million people age 55 or older contribute approximately 495 million hours of voluntary service to their communities annually. This translates into an annual economic output of $13.8 billion.
Greg Olsen, acting director of the New York State Office for the Aging, discussed this network of senior services with Capital Tonight.
“It’s the little engine that could,” Olsen said. “We touch 1.4 million people a year and we provide a variety of services.”
Most people are familiar with home-delivered meals, but the Office for the Aging also provides over 20 core services in every community across the state through a network of 59 County Offices for the Aging and 1,200 vendors comprised of community organizations.
Olsen listed the kinds of services the office helps to provide.
“Personal care, case management, transportation. We help individuals with their benefits. We help caregivers who might be caring for a spouse or an adult child that’s caring for an older parent,” Olsen said.
COVID-19 has shined a bright light on how critical these services are, especially to homebound seniors.
“We had a stay-at-home order for people over the age of 75. A lot of the community outlets and senior centers and congregate sites and social adult day programs closed down, so we had to shift our business model immediately," Olsen explained. “And the network deserves a lot of credit for doing that, overnight, to provide services in the home.”
Olsen said without older adults, we would not have a local, state or national economy.
“In New York state, $481 billion or 65% of all household income is generated by 45-plus. They own their homes, they’re supporting the local tax base, supporting local businesses, supporting Medicaid, supporting the schools,” he said.
When it comes to the state budget, Olsen said he wants a stronger connection between healthcare and social determents. In other words, if a person goes into rehab, where do they go after that?
“They go back home. And what do you need to be successful at home [after surgery?] Services in the home and the community are going to help you succeed,” he said.