Beginning October 17, 2022, Legal Counsel for the Elderly’s Self-Help Office will be providing paralegal services to District residents aged 60 and older at Iona’s Tenleytown office (4125 Albemarle St NW).

Services are available by appointment only and can be made by calling the Legal Counsel for the Elderly’s hotline at (202) 434-2120. Appointments can also be made at other locations throughout the District.

Services available include:

• Applying for public benefits
• Help with utility assistance programs
• Referrals to social service agencies
• Assistance completing legal forms
• Addressing credit issues
• Help with student loan issues
• Information on requests for vital records
• Assistance filing a small claims complaint
• and more!

Judy Levy, Coordinator for Iona Senior Services and DC’s Coalition on Long-Term Care, and Claudia Schlosberg, member of Iona’s Board of Directors, were honored with DC Appleseed’s Community Service Award in October.

The DC Appleseed Center for Law & Justice is a nonprofit dedicated to making the District of Columbia a better place to live and work. According to Jeffrey L. Handwerker, who presented the Arnold and Porter Community Service Award, “Claudia Schlosberg and Judy Levy have been essential in helping to make the District government support the direct care healthcare workforce. They have educated stakeholders, sent letters, made phone calls, organized meetings, made connections, and, quite simply, banged the drum the loudest in getting the Nurse Education Enhancement Act passed in the most recent DC budget.”

The Nurse Education Enhancement Act of 2021 was passed by the DC Council in August 2021 and provides $5.8 million over the next three years to support training and education for certified nursing assistants, home health aides, and medication assistants. Participants are eligible for free tuition and a monthly stipend. After two years of employment in one of these fields, students can continue their nursing education at the University of the District of Columbia for free.

According to the DC Coalition on Long-Term Care, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on the home healthcare workforce. Seventy-three percent of home health and home support agencies reported that more home health aides are leaving the workforce or not reporting to work since the pandemic began. Over half of agencies say they do not currently have enough home health aides to staff all their clients at every shift. (Read the findings here.)

“The Coalition’s focus on the healthcare workforce has never wavered since it was established in 1995,” says Levy. “Today we are faced with shortages including direct care workers. The Nurse Education Enhancement Act is one part of this effort. We are also focused on job quality such as benefits and salary because we believe that quality jobs mean quality care.”

“Investing in workforce development today is essential to the mission of Iona Senior Services and to our ability to meet the needs of a growing population of District seniors who need assistance and support to live independently in the community,” adds Scholsberg.

Congratulations, Judy and Claudia! Watch them accept the award by watching the video below. (Starts at 59:51)

I’ve always had a passion for helping others.  As a student at All Saints Catholic High School in Washington, D.C., I joined the Community Service Club and remember the rewarding feeling I felt as I volunteered at local nonprofits like Martha’s Table, S.O.M.E., Saint Ann’s Infant Home, and Catholic Charities. In college, I continued to follow this passion as a Big Sister with Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Central Maryland. All these experiences were life changing for me. I realized I could make a difference in the lives of individuals and children who needed encouragement and a helping hand.

Ultimately, I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Social Work, and I chose to start my career in Micro Social Work. This type of social work is the kind most people are familiar with, wherein a case manager works with individuals and families to connect them to resources, services, and programs within the community. I enjoyed working with clients in Baltimore, Prince George’s County, and Washington, D.C.  However, during my time as a case manager, I found myself asking the same question over and over: How can these programs and policies become more effective to truly meet the needs of clients?

Eventually, I realized I wanted my career to go in a different direction. I saw that there needed to be more Macro Social Workers at the decision-making table—people who were active participants in the development of social and human services programs and policies. Too many of these are created without consulting the expertise of professionals who work in those systems every day and who understand the real needs of individuals and families. I realized I wanted to get involved in the legislative process for social justice issues and policy reforms. As a result, I returned to graduate school at Howard University to pursue a Master’s of Social Work degree in Macro Social Work.

So, what is Macro Social Work exactly? Macro-level social work addresses the challenge of alleviating societal problems to improve the quality of life locally, nationally, and internationally (socialworkguide.org). Macro Social Workers look at the “big picture.” These social workers work to confront issues at the systems level. They work in regional and federal government agencies, universities, human rights organizations, and nonprofits. The roles of Macro Social Workers vary and may include advocacy, community organizing, program development, and policymaking.

As a Macro Social Work Intern at Iona Senior Services, I’ve had the opportunity to assist with Iona’s online Aging Solo program. Aging Solo is a program created by Dr. Deb Rubenstein, Iona’s Director of Client Services, to educate and help older adults to be proactive about issues related to aging. Aging Solo promotes self-determination and helps older adults choose how they want to live out their later years.

In weekly webinars, we facilitated discussions with older adults about advanced healthcare planning, end of life planning, wills, how to create a support network, aging in place, senior housing options, money management, and additional topics. One of my assigned tasks was conducting outreach among faith communities throughout Washington, D.C., with a focus on Wards 7 and 8.

Historically, Wards 7 and 8 have been underserved in the city when it comes to healthcare, mental health services, education, and food security. These resource gaps are especially devastating for older adults who are aging alone with limited resources. Research shows that racial disparities still exist today in terms of access to quality treatment and services for older African Americans and other minorities, especially in healthcare, mental health services, housing, food security, advanced health care planning, and hospice care.

When the Aging Solo class began, we had over 40 older adults from diverse racial, socioeconomic, and cultural backgrounds. Iona wanted every participant to see themselves reflected in the Aging Solo curriculum. The course helped participants prioritize next steps needed in order to successfully age on their own.

Testimonials after the course showed that it was life changing for participants. One stated, “I want to try to make decisions for myself before I can’t.” Another said, “You can start a little at a time, but just get started.” Most participants reported an increase in confidence in their ability to engage in activities that are important to as they grow older, maintaining a social network, knowledge of services to help if they have difficulty performing daily activities, readiness to talk to financial decision-makers about how they want their finances managed, and having friends and/or family to support them as they age.

The Aging Solo curriculum is vitally important for Black older adults living in Wards 7 and 8, as well as those nationwide who may not have access to or knowledge about their options as they get older. This curriculum provides that access at an affordable price (Aging Solo is offered on a sliding scale based on income). Aging Solo shares valuable local, regional, and national resources and includes the experiences of Black older adults who are aging on their own.

My experience as an African American middle-aged social work intern at Iona Senior Services has been a unique and extraordinary one due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This internship journey has also been educational and insightful in that I am aging as well. As I enter the next chapter in my life, my purpose as a Macro Social Worker is clearer than ever before as I witness the health disparities and lack of equal access to COVID-19 treatment and vaccinations for older adults and individuals who come from underserved, marginalized, and oppressed communities.

As social workers, we cannot afford to sit on the sidelines. We must be active participants at policy and legislative tables on local, state, and federal levels in order to ensure that fair and just policies and programming are available for older adults of color. Where do I see myself in 10 years? Sitting at the table with agency directors, policymakers, and local politicians—just as I’ve witnessed with Iona Senior Services’ leaders and staff. We must fight for these priorities because ALL older adults deserve them.

By Angela Mitchener

For the last two years, I have trekked down to the Kellogg Conference Hotel at Gallaudet University to attend the DC’s Office of Tenant Advocate’s (OTA) Summit.

The FREE Summit is a day-long, city-wide  event of workshops and clinics to teach DC renters how to be their own  advocates.

Now you can skip the trip – and learn your renter rights in the comfort of your home.

Videotaped sessions with captions are available online from both the 10th and 11th- Annual Summits.

Topics include:

• DC Renter’s Rights 10
• 2018 Eviction Procedures: What You Need to Know
• Preparing for Emergencies
• Burdened with High Utility Costs…Take Control and Act
• Meeting the Housing Needs of Veterans
• What’s in the Hopper? Rental Housing Hot Topics

Visit the Office of the Tenant Advocate webpage to access these videos.

Other Resources for DC Renters:

Whether you’re renting an apartment, condo, co-op, or room(s) in a house, all DC renters will benefit from the 2013 Washington DC Tenant Survival Guide, Eighth Edition, written by Georgetown Law’s Harrison Institute.

The Guide is a comprehensive primer written for the non-lawyer. It covers  leases, DC rent control, repairs, housing code violations, security deposits, and evictions.

The Coalition for Non-Profit Housing has an online copy available in both English and Spanish. Follow the hyperlink or click on the button below to access.

Washington, D.C. Tenant Survival Guide, eighth edition

Need more information or have a question about a renter issue? Contact an OTA caseworker.

OTA Stakeholders

Stay informed by joining the OTA stakeholder mailing list with notices on the upcoming 2019 September Summit and legislative updates. Contact Stephen Dudek, OTA Education and Outreach Coordinator, Attorney-Advisor, Office of the Tenant Advocate at (202) 719-6560 or stephen.dudek@dc.gov.

Do you know other DC renter resources? Let us know in the comments!

By Barbara B. Cline

Barbara B. Cline, CPA, is a former auditor and non-profit executive. She is a SERVEDC Commissioner, where she works on the emergency planning task force. She lives with her husband, who has some physical challenges, in an apartment in NW, DC.  Barbara is a fair housing and disability rights advocate and writes articles on housing issues — including rent-control, an often unknown and misunderstood type of affordable DC housing, for both Iona and the Forest Hills Connection.