LeadingAge NY and Members Testify at State Housing Budget Hearing

(March 4, 2025) At last week’s Joint Legislative Budget Hearing on Housing, Eustacia Smith of West Side Federation for Senior and Supportive Housing (WSFSSH) and Annalyse Komoroske Denio of LeadingAge NY (on behalf of Stuart Kaplan of Selfhelp Community Services) called on the State to fund Resident Assistants in affordable independent senior housing in this year’s State budget.

LeadingAge NY also submitted written testimony in support of the Resident Assistant program and urging the State to explore the need for increased investment in low- and middle-income senior housing development.

Resident Assistants would be available on site and on resident request to help older adults living in affordable senior housing communities connect with the existing programs and services they need to remain independent for as long as possible. Although rigorous research – including a NY-based study of Selfhelp’s longstanding Resident Assistant program – has proven the positive outcomes of this model for low-income older adults and potential Medicaid and Medicare savings, most affordable senior housing communities have little or no avenue outside of charitable donation to fund such a position in their buildings.

Members are encouraged to use these materials to contact their State legislators to vocalize their support for the creation of, and investment in, a Resident Assistant program in this year’s State budget, helping to bring Resident Assistants to more affordable senior housing properties across the state.

Watch the full Housing budget hearing here and the testimony of WSFSSH and LeadingAge NY (on behalf of Selfhelp Community Services) here.

Contact: Annalyse Komoroske Denio, akomoroskedenio@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8866