Washington Heights

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Washington Heights Inwood Council on Aging
(WHICOA)
May, 2005
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Dancing Birthdays
100th birthday celebration! -now 104 years
young
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New Friends Activities
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Demographics

• Seniors over age 65 comprise 13 of the
  population
• 70 of residents are Latino
• 54 Dominican- 88,300
• 38.9 Foreign born, not citizens
• 48.7 non- high school graduate
• 30 Uninsured
• 33 Medicaid

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WHICOA Mission Statement

• to encourage the expansion and insure the
  coordination of services to the elderly in order
  to improve the way of life of the elderly
  citizens of Washington Heights Inwood.

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History

• WHICOA has been the inter-agency planning and
  advocacy organization for aging services
  providers and related organizations in Northern
  Manhattan for over 32 years (founded in 1972).
• WHICOA is composed of over 50 local
  community-based organizations and service
  providers.

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Organizational Strength

• The strength of the coalition lies in its years
  of continuity and the close working relationships
  among its members.
• 9 open general membership meetings per year.
• Executive Committee, Senior Center Directors,
  Case Managers and other committees meet monthly.
• Outstanding history of advocacy for changes in
  public policy at the city, state and federal
  level.

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Current Issues Facing our Seniors

• NYC-DFTAs Frozen Meals
• Accessible Transportation
• Affordable Housing
• Safety
• NYC Dept. of Health has ranked WH Inwood in the
  bottom 10 out of 40 neighborhoods for access to
  care in NYC.
• Federal Entitlements
• Medicare Medicaid
• Social Security
• Rising Cost of Prescription Drugs

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(No Transcript)
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WHICOA Accomplishments

• 1978-Washington Heights-Inwood Services and
  Transportation program (WHIST)
• Provides 30,000 one-way trips per year
• 1983-The Meals-on-Wheels program. (STAR Senior
  Center).
• Provides 55,000 meals yearly 250 clients each
  week
• 1984-Mental Health for Homebound Elderly Program
• 1994-Annual Legislative Breakfast
• community leaders residents, cbos, elected
  officials
• 2004 theme was The New Medicare Winners
  Losers.
• Congressman Charles Rangel - keynote

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Program Partnership Example

• 1988- Community Caregiving
• 6 day-week bilingual respite/activity program for
  Alzheimer's clients
• social adult day program serving 120 seniors and
  their families annually.
• Columbia U officials participated in planning and
  start-up of program.
• Positive prior research results were included in
  program design
• Negative no institutional funding available

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Funding Partnerships Examples

• Grant application to CMS- Medicare Drug Discount
  Outreach and Training
• 2004-Bilingual Medicare Outreach, Education and
  Enrollment initiative
• 5K grant from the Cruise Industry Charitable
  Foundation
• 1K grant from the Dorothy Rose Albert E.
  Blumberg Fund
• Grant application to NCI- Cancer Education and
  outreach
• Grant application to NIH Stroke Health
  Education
• WHICOA Community Resources Directory

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WHICOA Community Resources Directory 5th
Edition
WHICOA, along with CALME NYPH, has published
10,000 copies per edition of the bilingual
Community Resource Directory. Bilingual tool
used by community seniors and others to
assist local residents in obtaining services
within our community.
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Student Partnership Examples

• 1995-The Washington Heights and Inwood Student
  Project 5 WHICOA community service agencies in
  partnership with Yeshiva University
• to help increase services to seniors
• introduce social work students to gerontology.
• 1999-WHICOA sponsors Medical, Nursing,
  Occupational Physical Therapy, Dental students
  from Columbia University Medical Center at local
  senior centers.
• Over 200 healthcare students have participated in
  this rotation.

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Bilingual Health Education Recruitment
Lectures for Seniors
In conjunction with the Columbia Center for the
Active Life of Minority Elders (CALME) over 200
health lectures since 1999
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Bilingual Health Education Materials
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Health Screenings
Medical, Dental, Nursing, Physical Therapy and
Social Work students serving our seniors
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Health Screenings
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2004 Research Information Day at Isabella
Geriatric Center
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Seniors at Research Day
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Rita Palter, age 90, at Research Information
Day!