New Creative Ways We Care

Mrs. B. came to us in arrears with ConEd, Verizon and rent, depressed and speaking almost in a whisper of her life of hard work and hard-won independence, working in the clothing industry. She felt she had always been a generous person, even giving a good portion of her life savings to a church in Pennsylvania where she lived at the time,  knowing that she would long be part of their caring community.

Mrs. L. was 102 years old and had lived in the same apartment for 50 years, for part of that raising her grand-daughter. When the building scheduled renovations to her apartment, she was placed in a temporary unit, and her grand-daughter went along.

Ms. R  is a 63-year-old recent widow. Originally from the Dominican Republic, Ms. R spent most of her adult life in New York City. For most of her life, Ms. R lived in a rent-stabilized apartment in Washington Heights with her husband from Mexico. When her husband passed away Ms. R. became depressed and did not follow through on paying her bills—as her husband had always taken care of this.

Ms. V. was a young woman when she immigrated from Eastern Europe to New York City’s Washington Heights community in the late 1960s.  She married an American citizen, worked as a private duty nurse, and had two children. But when her husband suddenly left her, she raised her two children alone, supporting them single-handedly through college.

Mr. G is an 80-year old immigrant from the Dominican Republic who came to New York City over three decades ago and worked most of his adult life as a delivery man and a factory worker.  In 2000, Mr. G had to stop working due to vision loss.

Mr. C is the primary caregiver for his mother, who was diagnosed with dementia several years ago. Mr C had been a nurse before a physical disability prevented him from working a few years ago.