Brooklyn is home to more than 350,000 residents over the age of 65 (13.5% of the total population), making them a significant and crucial part of what makes Brooklyn Brooklyn. And yet, few resources are dedicated to ensuring that they are able to thrive and live out their days where and how they choose. In 2019, following the launch of our Brooklyn Elders Fund, we joined the Age-Friendly Brooklyn Task Force to identify a core set of strategies for improving the lives of older Brooklynites based upon a broader set of recommendations set out in a New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM) report. Of the report’s 33 aging-in-place recommendations, the task force prioritized 10 suggestions that would have the widest and most timely impact on our older community members.

The Age-Friendly Brooklyn Task Force report, published last Fall, summarizes the findings of this work and the suggestions put forth. These are starting points that can be  adopted and adapted to develop truly equitable solutions to the inequities experienced by older adults. Key recommendations prioritize older residents’ physical safety and mobility (e.g. well-maintained sidewalks and well lit areas), digital access to news and current events, ability to get culturally-competent mentally health care, opportunities for employment and volunteering, and increased integration within in the community (e.g. “Adopt-An-Older-Adult-Center” programs). We strongly believe that implementing these strategies will improve the health and quality of life of our older Brookynites for years to come.

Part of ensuring that these recommendations are implemented sustainably is to support organizations who are already doing this work. Through our Brooklyn Elders Fund, we’ve proudly supported over 30 local organizations to date, selecting them in partnership with our older adult advisory council who worked with us to evaluate grant proposals, conduct site visits, and ultimately recommend which organizations would receive funding. 

These grants include 14 made earlier this summer totalling over $1.4M to:

• Access Justice Brooklyn

• Asian American Federation

• Bloom Again Brooklyn

• Breaking Ground

• Bridge Street Development Corporation

• Brooklyn Community Pride Center

• CABS Home Attendants Service, Inc.

• Caring Kind

• Council of People Organization

• The Doula Program

• GRIOT Circle

• Height and Hills

• Release Aging People in Prison

• YWCA of Brooklyn

We are proud to have been part of Age-Friendly Brooklyn Task Force’s trusted local leaders to provide insight into how to make Brooklyn a truly age-friendly place to live and thrive. Brooklyn’s intergenerational communities are one of our borough’s many strengths and we look forward to deepening our commitment to supporting work that bolsters these unique and valuable bonds.