Posted:

In “Do or Die Bed-Stuy,” Age-friendly Ambassadors are on the move to make the neighborhood a happier, healthier place for everyone.

Sundra Franklin’s New York story began nearly 40 years ago in Harlem. Like so many young African Americans from the south, she arrived in NYC and went uptown to the neighborhood once known as “Black Mecca.” But ultimately, it was Brooklyn that won her heart.

“I came to Brooklyn in 1980 because of the trees,” says Franklin, a Mississippi native, who found the borough’s quiet, green, brownstone-lined blocks slightly reminiscent of home. Now 68 and retired from a career in a nonprofit organization, she adds: “I’ve decided to spend a couple of years giving back to my community.”

Age-friendly in Action

For Franklin that means being there for her neighbors—old and young—whether it’s providing much-needed resources or inspiring local children and teens. “When Stefani Zinerman, Chief of Staff for City Council Member Robert Cornegy [The Bedford Stuyvesant partner for the Academy’s Age-friendly New York initiative] calls, our Age-friendly Ambassador group gets together and we go out to events, food pantries—wherever older people come out in number,” Franklin says.

Franklin and other member of the Ambassador Benefits Screening sub-committee set up their tables, layout their materials and invite neighborhood elders to chat about what they need and what’s available for them. They offer information and help people apply for rent stabilization, free cell phone services, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) and Access-A-Ride and Medicare, if needed.

After dozens of events, and many conversations, Franklin has found that in her community—like so many in New York City, one of the greatest needs among older adults is safe, affordable housing.

“They need available housing and rent control—that’s a major issue for them,” Franklin explains. “Some also need phones or HEAP, but most are looking for rent-stabilized housing. Bedford Stuyvesant has become tremendously expensive and it’s driving people out.”  

Helping people age-in-place, Franklin realizes, is about a lot more than financial relief, it’s about connection and community. “We have people who have lived here forever,
she says. “They go to church here, shop here, this is where their friends are—it’s where they know people. They are like me: This is my community and I feel safe and comfortable here.

On my street, for instance, there’s Miss Desmond, she’s 95. She dresses beautifully every day, gets on her bus and goes to her senior center. There’s Mr. P., who is in his 70s. We sit on the stoop and talk. Mrs. Summers who is about 89, but still busy with church and Sunday school and Miss Rosa and her sister down the street. On a summer night, we’re all here, outside together.”

Because the initiative works, in part, to assist people in staying in their homes—a better option for mental and physical health—Franklin says, “I think Age-friendly New York is one of the most valuable networks or activities that has developed for this and other communities. It’s just so important for us to have a voice, remain engaged and stay a part of life in our communities to remain healthy. As Ambassadors, we go anywhere older people go, but we also have intergenerational and social events."

Reaching Across Generations

Mentoring, sharing wisdom and tradition, and just enjoying young people is a favorite Ambassador activity. “Every Monday, there are Ambassadors that read to first graders and last year, we held a high-tea and invited young people so that they could sit and talk with their elder neighbors. Last year, we began organizing to create a Rites-of-Passage program to help them move into adulthood successfully.”

The Ambassador group works hard for the community but, Franklin says, “We haven’t forgotten how to have fun. We eat out, swim in the summer at the Dekalb and Marcy Avenue pool [during Senior Splash] and, most important, we make some very good friends.”

Read the newly released Aging In Place Guide for Building Owners: Recommended Age-friendly BuildingUpgradesto create safer housing for older residents.

Learn more about the Age-friendly New York City, a partnership between the Academy, the Mayor’s office and the New York City Council.