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Alliance Alert: The devastating cuts to social services proposed by the Trump administration represent a direct threat to the health, safety, and dignity of older adults across ���������� State. As highlighted in this powerful article, programs like Medicaid, SNAP, LIHEAP, and supportive housing are lifelines for hundreds of thousands of low-income seniors. These are not luxuries—they are essential tools that allow people to live independently, avoid institutionalization, and age with dignity.

At a time when ����������’s aging population is rapidly growing—and poverty among older adults is surging—federal disinvestment will push more seniors into crisis. It will also increase costs to the state, as lack of access to affordable food, housing, and healthcare drives up emergency room visits, hospitalizations, and nursing home admissions.

We must reject the false choice between tax cuts for the wealthy and survival for our elders. The Alliance joins advocates and organizations across ���������� in demanding that Congress expand support for the programs that keep our communities healthy and whole. We also call on state leaders to prepare now to fill the gaps, invest in supportive aging services, and ensure that no senior is left behind.

We will have key discussions and workshops on aging, food insecurity, housing, and the how to approach looming funding cuts at our upcoming Annual Conference this September.

Unbreakable! Harnessing Our Power, Building Our Resilience, Inspiring Hope and Courage
Alliance for Rights and Recovery 43^rd Annual Conference
Villa Roma Resort and Conference Center | September 29-October 1, 2025
Register Today

Together, we will organize, educate, and act to defend the rights and wellbeing of older ����������ers.

Trump’s Assault on Social Services Is Taking Aim at ����������’s Elderly
By Jie Jenny Zou | ���������� Focus | August 6, 2025

Retirement isn’t working out as Sherlea Dony planned.

Last year, a scam decimated the 74-year-old’s savings from decades of working as an American Sign Language interpreter and a copy editor.

“I didn’t have to worry a lot about my future until this past year,” said Dony, who lives in Rochester with her cat, Peaches. “I’m worried for myself and my friends. I could see myself potentially on the street.”

Like many struggling seniors, Dony relies on a variety of social services to stay afloat. Medicaid helps pay for her Medicare premiums and reduces her medical bills. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) covers some of her groceries. This summer, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) paid for a new air conditioner in Dony’s rental apartment, while federal block grants support her senior center and the nonprofit that helps her apply for benefits.

Federal support for all these programs is now under threat by Congressional Republicans, jeopardizing a delicate network of lifeline support for the state’s growing aging population.

In July, lawmakers enacted over  as part of a fast-track measure to guarantee tax breaks for America’s wealthiest. In September, they will return to Washington to deal what could be a fatal blow to long-running programs like LIHEAP as part of President Donald Trump’s agenda to .

����������’s affordability crisis has hit seniors hard. Nearly one of every five ����������ers is now 65 or older, and the number of them in poverty has surged by  over the past decade. More than half of the seniors in Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse reported having no retirement income in 2022. Those numbers were even worse across ���������� City’s boroughs — home to over 1.3 million seniors.

To combat this trend, the Center for an Urban Future, a nonprofit think tank, recommended state leaders boost the same programs now at risk of being scaled back or eliminated at the federal level. Those include , ,  and .

Ann Marie Cook, president of Lifespan of Greater Rochester, which helps Dony and others apply for benefits, pointed to the recent closures of  due to financial challenges. The settings provided meals, housekeeping, transportation, and personal care, allowing residents to live fairly independently. Nonprofit providers across the state have  to stay in business, and the federal cuts are likely to lead to .

Cook said displaced residents could wind up hospitalized or in nursing homes at a much higher cost to the state. “I fear it may be the tip of the iceberg.”

“I could see myself potentially on the street.”
—Sherlea Dony

“It’s so much cheaper to provide these services to help people remain in their communities than [to pay for] the crisis situations that could happen if this funding goes away or is reduced,” she said.

Joe Stelling, associate state director of advocacy at AARP NY, said his organization is encouraging lawmakers at the state and federal levels to ensure funding for critical services.

“It’s very far from a done deal,” he said.

“A Bad Dream”
Life for Kim Hinson and her two grandsons in Staten Island is already too expensive.

“It’s getting tight,” said the 69-year-old who used to work for ���������� City’s Housing Authority until an on-the-job injury rendered her disabled and ushered in a host of chronic health challenges.

In addition to managing her diabetes and treatment for early-stage breast cancer, Hinson is also the primary caregiver for her teenaged grandsons, one of whom struggles with a learning disability. It’s estimated that  in ���������� are the primary caregivers for their grandchildren — a .

She and her grandsons are enrolled in SNAP, Medicaid and LIHEAP. But Hinson said it’s still not enough to keep pace with skyrocketing utility rates and rising inflation. “The rich get richer and the poor get poorer,” she said of Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill Act.”

Food costs have been a particular challenge. Hinson said she is no longer physically capable to wait in lines at food pantries to supplement what SNAP benefits won’t cover. As a result, she and other community members are now trying to see if the local senior center will set up a delivery system for senior meal boxes.

Seniors who live with their grandchildren are  to report difficulty covering household food costs. Seniors of color also report higher levels of food insecurity overall compared to white seniors.

Earlier this year, the Trump Administration abruptly cancelled shipments to food banks across the country, amounting to a loss of  in ���������� state. Officials have also proposed eliminating a  that provides meal boxes to 36,000 low-income seniors aged 60 and older in .

���������� leaders haven’t provided details on how they plan to deal with  to Medicaid and SNAP. The changes to SNAP will freeze monthly benefits for all enrolled households and shift a portion of the financial responsibility to states for the first time in the program’s history, which dates back to 1964. Lawmakers will need to decide whether the state will cover the decreased federal support for SNAP — or slash monthly benefits for recipients.

Both Hinson and Dony aren’t just concerned about program cuts. They also worry about the impact of policy changes to eligibility, renewal, and overall administration.

Hinson said that she was having trouble accessing  for her grandchildren. Children who receive SNAP are usually automatically enrolled in the state program, which provides additional food assistance during the summer months when school is not in session and children miss out on school lunches.

Dony likened staying enrolled in her current benefit programs to a full-time job, requiring constant paperwork. She said her SNAP benefits were recently discontinued due to administrative errors, and she’s currently waiting for a fair hearing to be scheduled.

“I’m grateful for the programs, but they really test your wits,” she said.

Senior advocates like Cook said the new federal changes will mean more administrative paperwork for everyone involved with fewer resources. Federal staffing across several agencies has been reduced or, in the cases of programs like LIHEAP, eliminated entirely.

“Our agency exists in large part because these rules are so complicated,” she said of Lifespan. “There’s no way the average person can navigate these systems without help.”

“I really am not a hateful person, but I really hate our government right now,” said Dony. “It’s like a bad dream that I can’t get out, that we can’t get out of.”