Lorraine Cortes-Vazquez on where she gets her ‘juice’ supporting older New Yorkers

The U.S. population is aging rapidly, with 82 million Americans, or 27% expected to be 65 or older by 2050. City & State’s upcoming Aging New York Summit will gather decision-makers and government to address current planning around how older New Yorkers are cared for, and how the state’s aging population can care for themselves.

Keynoting the event is Lorraine Cortez-Vasquez, commissioner of the New York City Department of Aging. City & State sat down with Cortez-Vazquez to learn where she gets her drive for the job and to tease topics that will be discussed at the upcoming summit. 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

By Kelly Grace Price

If you don't mind, commissioner, let's just jump right into it. First, please introduce yourself to our readers, as if they've never heard of you or the New York City Department of the Aging. Give us the quick elevator pitch. What you do and who you are?

My name is Lorraine Cortez Vasquez. I have the honor and the distinction of serving as New York City's commissioner on aging for those of you who know aging. I've been the commissioner now for 6 1/2 years, and I came in the other administration and have stayed through most of this administration. We are responsible for all services for New Yorkers 60 and over. Our goal is primarily to make sure people can thrive in this city and also build and live in those communities that they helped found and build. By that we mean giving them wraparound services to prevent institutionalization for as long as possible. You know, every older adult prefers to be living at home, and, more importantly, their health standing is better if they live in the community, rather than in institutions.

What are the largest issues facing aging people in New York City and state today?

I would say that there are three principal issues facing many New Yorkers, but in particular older New Yorkers. One of them is affordability, you know, making sure that you can continue living in the city and in the state. So affordability, which is why we believe community care is so important so that we can support your staying in the city and provide you with some services, so that you don't have to either move out of state or going into an institution. 

The second is obviously housing, especially in New York City. So it's making sure that we have the support, so that you can stay in the apartment that you have currently and look for opportunities for you elsewhere.

And the 3rd is ageism. You know, ageism is one of the biggest things seniors face. We as a society did a lot of work in science to make us live longer, and then we're not really committed to supporting our older adults as we should. We marginalize older adults and ageism is one of the biggest factors that prevents older adults from getting economic opportunities and other opportunities in this city. So our job is to make sure that we educate people not only on how to thrive in this city, but also educate families and neighbors on how to combat ageism.

How have you managed to stay optimistic in a field where many people burn out working in social services, sometimes after a handful of years? Where do you get your juice?

You know where I get it from. I get it from seniors. Being one myself and being a caregiver, I know what the opportunities are. I also know what the challenges are, and our older adults are so resilient. Look at baby boomers, we changed society and we're going to change the way people look at ageism. I have total confidence in that. 

And the other thing that I have total confidence in is that if you want to be, if you want to grow old, you want to grow old gracefully. I'm going to make you an ally, so that we have an age-inclusive society.  What keeps me optimistic is that you can't hide or escape ageism. The only other thing is death, and I don't think many of us want that. So that keeps me optimistic, and in reminding people what the opportunities are and what the societal obligation is also.

I love that: “If you want to grow old gracefully, I'm going to make you my ally.” That's wonderful. Let's dive into the summit. I was looking at the schedule. What are you excited about? What panel are you going to really pay attention to?

So, I was thrilled because I've been after City & State to include more ageism and this summit is the full circle. You're taking your platform, City and State, and really using it to launch and educate not only stakeholders but elected officials, all of the advocates for lifting their voice and their work and giving us an opportunity to talk about the insidious ways that ageism shows up. And so I am so grateful, and looking forward to all of the conversations, [especially] about workforce. You know, older adults have a lot to contribute. As the younger population starts decreasing, employers are going to rely more and more on older adults. And you know we want not only to educate employers, but to support older adults in their quest for that second and 3rd chapter in their career. 

This summit is going to finally put a pin on the fact that you do not have to pit one generation against the other; that we have a responsibility to support these aging workers and, to make it an age-inclusive, city and state. 

Caregiving is another area. One out of every nine New Yorkers is facing caregiving as a crisis. Employers have to look at the impact of caregiving on their employees. Legislative bodies need to see that we need to support caregivers because there is no way that government could pay for this invisible labor force. So we need to figure out ways to support all those caregivers who are providing those millions and millions of hours of caregiving to our citizens.

What are some reasons to meet and discuss issues facing aging people? 

I want to add to that these programs like Social Security were originally designed when people lived until about 85. And so when you retired at 62, 67, you had 15-18 years left, and you planned for that. Well, right now you're living to 92, 96. And that's another eight to ten years to your retirement. So it's that conversation that we all have to reckon with. What do we do now that people are living 30 years beyond retirement? What do we need to do as employers? What do we need to do as legislators? What do we need to do as advocates? Because imagine yourself. You know, you're going to be planning, not as my mother did for 15 years of retirement. You're going to have to plan for 30 years of retirement. What does that mean? How do our policies need to change? That's the conversation that I'm excited that we all will be having, because we need to look at aging today. But we also need to look at aging 10 and 15 years from now. The population is shifting. We're estimated 25% to 27% of the population. Soon, five years from now will be over 65. That is something that we all have to start thinking about and planning for. 

What do you view your greatest challenges will be in the upcoming year?

Oh, gosh! Do you have an hour? Our greatest challenges? One of the greatest challenges is going to be the federal cuts, because we hear about what they will be. But if these federal cuts on Medicaid come through, and some of the assaults on social security are realized that is the greatest thing that keeps me up every night. How do we then work with this growing population with now diminished resources? Especially when we know that they're going to need more resources, particularly the resources that are being targeted. 

Social security is not an entitlement. Social security is a right. You've worked all your life and contributed towards Social Security. Your employer contributed to social security. This is our money we invested and we allowed the government to invest for us. 

So all of those are the things that keep me up at night, and those are the things that also keep me invigorated, and with the vigor to fight. I’m excited about sharing all this on Thursday. See you there.