Project FIND
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Mission Statement
Project FIND provides senior New Yorkers with the services and supports they need to live enriched, independent lives on Manhattan’s West Side. Our affordable housing is home for over 600 low- and moderate-income seniors while our stimulating senior centers provide recreation, counseling, and nutritious meals to thousands of New Yorkers – including some who are homeless. Our goal is to nurture our seniors’ creative gifts, their desire to be relevant and engaged in life, while being mindful that extra help is sometimes a necessity. Please come visit our programs and get involved
About This Cause
Project FIND’s mission is to provide low- and moderate-income and homeless seniors with the services and support they need to enrich their lives and live independently. Today Project FIND operates three supportive housing residences that are home to about 600 people and four seniors centers with over 3,000 members. Our members and residents range from the healthy and active to the frail and homebound to the homeless. For all of these men and women, Project FIND is a critical resource, providing housing, meals, and programs that help individuals navigate the challenges of aging by encouraging community engagement and healthy living. How we began: In 1967, the National Council on Aging established Project FIND as part of a federal demonstration project designed to develop a national picture of the elderly poor. More than 50,000 senior citizens responded to questionnaires created for the program, which was the first major effort in the United States to study the lives of low-income older adults, identify their greatest needs, and investigate the resources available to them. FIND stands for Friendless, Isolated, Needy, and Disabled: this was the dire picture of the elderly poor that developed as a result of the National Council on Aging’s survey. In 1969, when the demonstration project ended, a group of dedicated, grassroots community activists joined Project FIND’s leaders and founded and incorporated FIND Aid for the Aged, Inc. Project FIND in New York City is the only one of the original 13 demonstration programs that survives. At our four Senior Centers we provide thousands of older adults on Manhattan's West Side with a great variety of activities, all designed with the goal of healthy aging. Center members are encouraged to be physically active, and we offer them many ways to keep moving: classes in yoga, strength training, salsa, tai chi, martial arts, qigong and walking clubs. Some of our seniors are frail and recovering from strokes or surgery. Others are very fit. In addition to general fitness classes, we offer activities such as gardening, knitting, and art classes that help maintain and improve fine motor coordination. Brain aerobics, chess, computer classes, writing circles, and discussion groups keep people mentally active. Many older Americans live alone, yet the benefits of socially engaging with other people are well known. People find companionship in our classes, meals, and activities such as parties, movies, board games, and sing-alongs. Access to regular nutritious meals is another core service. Roughly 215,000 breakfasts, lunches and dinners are served annually at our four centers. Services are available to anyone 60 years of age, and meal and activities contributions are voluntary. Our three supportive housing residences provide safe, permanent, affordable housing to people who were formerly homeless or living in sub-standard quarters. Social services are integrated into every aspect of our programs. Many of the people who live in our residences have persistent and serious medical problems. Although people can be as young as 55 to qualify for housing at our residential buildings, the actual age distribution is skewed towards seniors between the ages of 73 and 85. Negotiating medical care and interpreting medical information are a constant fact of life for older adults. After a serious ailment, a resident may require the help of health aides to continue living in one of our buildings. Social workers on-site at our residences and centers provide counseling, case management and other support. Homeless seniors have access to showers in our Woodstock Senior Center, and are encouraged to participate in our activities and start the process of finding housing assistance.