Dear Friend,
Selecting issues is critical to the long-term success of the Gray Panthers NYC. Of the key advocacy areas that concern us, in 2021 we focused on working as an agent of change in the area of improvement of Long-Term Care.
Given the staggering COVID 19 death tolls in Nursing Homes and Long-Term Care residential facilities, the GP NYC team organized and produced a Day of Remembrance to honor the 200,000 nursing home residents that succumbed to COVID 19. This one-hour
documentary, which aired on May 20, 2021, has been viewed by over 1,000 people and
can be viewed on YouTube. In addition, it served as a model for the Canadian Palliative
Care Network, which produced its own program.
Thanks to the support of our partners, The Riverside Church of New York and Ronald
Fatoullah & Associates, we achieved our goal to offer Americans the opportunity to cry
and to grieve for our horrendous loss due to the pandemic. Subsequently, the conversation
has continued with our successful Transformation Tuesday programs, which focus
on important aspects of advocacy for nursing home reform. They are recorded and
available on our YouTube channel. Our documentary has received the Award of Recognition
from the Impact Docs Award Film Festival as well as additional accolades.
During this year, we have been the spark for change through partnerships to establish advocacy coalitions to improve long term care, serving as inspiration for similar documentaries, highlighting the need for intergenerational advocacy.
As an accredited institution with the United Nations, Gray Panthers continues to speak
up on behalf of Older Persons. This year we were active in advocacy efforts at this year’s
High Level Political Forum on the progress of the Sustainable Development Goals. Hosted
an important session on why protection of the Human Rights of Older Persons is essential.
New alliances have been forged in 2021 with Gray Panther chapters across the nation, as
well as with organizations such as Age Wave under the leadership of long-term Gray Panther
Ken Dychtwald.
We are grateful to our interns for their efforts in keeping the GPNYC flame alive. As a grass roots volunteer organization, they are the lifeblood that moves the needle. Let us look forward to a 2022 with further progress in conquering the pandemic and working together to improve quality of life for those in Long-Term Care.
Jack Kupferman, President
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