A victory at the gym Senior Living
I am so proud of my building for being the first in the city to win equitable access to a gym built originally only for market-rate tenants.
Our whiz bang of a board president, Jean Green Dorsey, fought for us because virtually all of the rent-stabilized tenants are senior citizens and certainly could use what the gym offers. The case was brought on the grounds of excluding senior citizens from the gym, and justice prevailed.
But more than the exclusion of seniors is the fact that it’s morally wrong to exclude half of a building’s tenants from a facility because they don’t pay market rates. We were always willing to pay the going rate for gym usage. This is like the “poor door” that some buildings have for rent-stabilized tenants, which hopefully will go the way of the no-access gym. Rent-stabilized tenants deserve to be treated with the same dignity and fairness as anyone else who lives in a building. Most of us are seniors and have lived here for decades, raised our children here, and watched the neighborhood change from not so hot to upscale. Onward and upward in the fight for equal treatment.
The Altman Foundation and The New York Community Trust have awarded major grants to Service Program for Older People (SPOP) to launch a new partnership with Mount Sinai Visiting Doctors. SPOP now offers psychotherapy and physical and behavioral health care to people 55 and older in their clinic at 302 West 91st Street. Though I wrote about SPOP in a previous column, this is a new initiative, which involves partnering with Mount Sinai Visiting Doctors to provide behavioral health treatment to homebound seniors who are receiving in-home medical care from Mount Sinai Hospital. Dr. Cameron Hernandez, Medical Director of Mount Sinai’s Ambulatory Care, says “we are thrilled to partner with SPOP….we share a common goal of providing excellent home-based care to New Yorkers.” Though SPOP already has a program of home visits to frail clients, this new partnership will mean that nearly half of all appointments will take place either in the home or at a neighborhood senior center. You can reach SPOP at 212-787-7120.
Partners in Care is part of the Visiting Nurse Service of New York. It provides certified home home aides and nurses in the home and is accredited by the Community Health Accreditation Program and is accredited by the Community Health Accreditation Program (CHAP) and licensed by the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH).
Partners in Care makes compatibility a top priority, ensuring that home health aides, and other home care professionals, are matched to your loved ones needs. They provide home health aides, round-the-clock care at home or at a nursing facility, medical help at home, respite care if you need a breather, and other services. s a leading provider of private, at-home care, Partners in Care is often featured in the news. Call 1-888-735-8913
On another note, you know you’re old when the women’s group you’ve been in for over eight years spends most of its time talking about medical issues. We’re always being reminded by one or another of us to sign up for a Life Alert. You know, the kind you see on TV where the woman says “Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up,” and she presses a button and help miraculously arrives. Well it’s true, it does. There are several companies providing this service besides Life Alert. Look at consumersadvocate.org for more, or ask your local hospital. This conversation always gives me that “yes, I really am elderly” shock. I don’t think I am ready for an alert, though my cohorts don’t agree. Even though I have a partner, I am home alone fairly often. But no, not yet. I’m not nearly ready. Wouldn’t that really mean I’m an old person? Still, it’s good information to have. Maybe someday I’ll give in. Someday….