Fifteen percent of our caregivers are over 80!
For years, TFC has provided critical legal and social services to grandparent caregivers. Sadly, The Family Center, and therefore hundreds of grandparents in the city, has been affected by recent budget cuts to grandparent services. Despite the rising trend of grandparent caregivers in New York City*, the 2010 budget has failed to address the needs of this population.
TFC’s major funding to serve caregivers through the Department for the Aging has recently expired, and will not be renewed. This means that we will have to refer current clients elsewhere, and cannot take on any new caregiver clients. And an even greater problem? They’ve got nowhere to go!
The headlines are real. NYC’s budget is in crisis – and services for the elderly have been hit particularly hard. Recent funding allocations from the Department for the Aging have left no discreet program in New York City that directly serves residents over the age of 60, let alone who are solely responsible for the care of minor children. Our agency does just that, and we need your help keep our work going!
Please help us continue to serve caregivers in New York City, who are being unfairly affected by volatile public support.
Many children cared for by grandparents and served by The Family Center have lost parents to terminal illness such as HIV/AIDS and cancer. Our legal services ensure that guardianship is attained by grandparents, and our social workers counsel families through the transition- helping grandparents face the many hardships of parenting the second time around (particularly while living below the poverty line, and often, while grieving the loss of their own child).
*According to the 2000 Census, in New York State, there are 297,239 children living in grandparent-headed households. Of the children living in households headed by grandparents or by other relatives in New York, 165,493 are living there without either parent present. These numbers will most certainly rise with 2010 Census numbers – will you help us support this vulnerable population?