by Olivia Young

More than 200 older adults gathered at Lehman College July 23 for state Sen. Gustavo Rivera’s 10th Annual Senior Health Fair and Luncheon.

Greater Riverdale is home to more than 13,000 older adults, according to the New York Academy of Medicine, making up 29 percent of the neighborhood’s population, the highest share in any Bronx neighborhood. The health fair involved about two dozen nonprofits, city agencies and community organizations, including Riverdale Senior Services, all highlighting vital resources for community members.

Some organizations that were present offered information on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps, as well as legal services and housing support.

For local older adults, the event served not only as an opportunity to connect with resources, but as  an opportunity to get out and gather. Robert Ackerson, a former city public school teacher who teaches poetry at the Riverdale Y community center, said he was not personally struggling with access to resources, but that the event is important for those in the community that do need help.

Josephine Vrazzier, who lives in University Heights, has been attending the event since it started. She described it as a “wealth of information,” adding it is “vital for the constituents.”

“People have to be informed,” Vrazzier said. “A lot of people do not know the services that are available for them.”

Rivera said older adults in the Riverdale area and beyond are currently struggling to access affordable housing and healthcare, and often find themselves not only alone, but lonely.

“It’s particularly sensitive when we’re talking about seniors who have fixed incomes, who may not have family members who can be supportive of them, and who may have medical conditions that require an extra amount of care,” Rivera said.

According to the Center for an Urban Future, a thinktank that aims to reduce inequality,  about 64 percent of older adults in the Bronx did not report any retirement income, the highest share citywide. Across all five boroughs, nearly 19 percent of older adults also did not report any social security income.

Concerns around isolation and affordability were echoed by Wilson Guzman, the associate state director for national nonprofit American Association for Retired Persons, which provided resources at the event.

In some instances, not being able to meet the cost of living becomes a health risk, Guzman said. He offered the example of an older adult with an oxygen tank who can’t afford their electricity bill. Other older adults are also cutting their medication in half to make it last longer as the price of prescriptions increases, Guzman said.

“Here we have our older adults who built this city, live in the communities,” Guzman said. “But meanwhile they can’t afford to stay in their communities, and they’re not having the resources to meet their needs.”

The city’s budget also does not adequately provide for older adults’ needs, which has been worsened by inflation, Guzman said. According to a July release from the association, this year’s executive budget included a $12 million investment in home-delivered meals for seniors, but the amount still falls short of the $30 million needed to provide meals seven days a week.

The affordability crisis older adults face is also worsened by technology advances giving way to more convincing scams as well as the rise in caregiving costs, he said. Between 2019 and 2024, the median cost of home care and assisted living increased 50 percent, according to a March report from the association’s public policy institute.

These challenges make events like the senior health fair all the more crucial, Guzman said.

“There’s resources, there’s information, there’s pamphlets and they’re also being fed,” he said. “It’s very important that we’re here today, serving our older adults.”

Keywords

Gustavo Rivera,

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affordable housing,

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aging in place,

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program,

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