Iona’s CEO Testifies Before City Council

Iona’s CEO, Joon Bang, spoke at the budget hearing for the DC Department of Aging and Community Living (DACL) before the DC City Council on Monday, April 22, 2024. He urged the Council to reinstate funding and provide ongoing support for Iona’s Dementia Navigators and Money Management programs. Read Joon’s full testimony below. You can also view the video here.

Councilmember Anita Bonds Chairperson Committee on Executive Administration and Labor Budget Hearing of the Committee on the Department of Aging and Community Living

Monday, April 22, 2024

Good morning, Madam Chair Bonds, Council member Frumin, members and staff of the Committee. Thank you for your commitment to DC’s older adults and aging community. I’m Joon Bang, CEO of Iona Senior Services, for almost 50 years, Iona has been a lifeline to older adults and caregivers across the District. Today, we serve older adults and their family caregivers across the City with our Adult Day Health Centers in Congress Heights (Ward 8) and Tenleytown (Ward 3), we provide citywide programs like Dementia Navigators and Money Management, along with 8 satellite locations to provide meals, engaging activities, social services, as well as, a virtual platform for lifelong learning through Around Town DC  to meet the diverse needs of our aging population. We help older adults with opportunities to age well and overcome food insecurity, loneliness, language barriers, homelessness, and provide care for individuals and their families impacted by dementia and other difficult challenges.

Through our partnership with the DC Office on Aging and Community Living, Iona first became the Ward 3 Senior Service Lead Agency in 1982 and forty-one years later in 2023, Iona was given the privilege of not only continuing our role as the Ward 3 Lead Agency, but becoming the Ward 2 Senior Service Lead Agency as well. I am grateful for the partnership of Director Hines and the hard-working staff at DACL and at Iona. In just the past 7 months, we have served over 30,000 meals to over a thousand food insecure and often isolated older adults across Wards 2 & 3 since October. We’ve expanded our services with the Oasis drop-in center to provide older adults experiencing homelessness with daily meals, education and socialization opportunities, while receiving support to find housing. Iona also now serves the Asian Pacific Islander older adults living in the District with language barriers through our API Senior Center.

Each of the thousands of people we serve have incredible life stories and we are honored to walk with them on their life and aging journey. I want to share with you the the story.  Mr. Smith (using a pseudonym to protect his identity), almost 80 now, immigrated to the US from the Middle East, found a job as a hospitality worker in the District, and made a new home in an apartment in Glover Park in 1981. Throughout the four decades he met his wife, developed a community of lifelong friends and like all of us traversed the good and the hard of life. When his wife was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, he took on additional responsibilities as a caregiver. When you meet him, you can feel his zest for life, he carries a joyful spirit despite some of life’s difficult curveballs. What is also remarkable is that he lived in the same home in Glover Park for forty years until last year when his apartment was severely damaged in a storm and became unlivable for months.  He was on the verge of going to the shelter while trying to manage his declining health due to chronic conditions until Iona’s social worker began working with him to find health services and a new place to call home. Mr. Smith could never have navigated the application process, the signing of the lease, the move, find medical attention while navigating all aspects of this difficult life transition alone. Like Mr. Smith, more than 74% of the District’s 84,000 older adults are living alone and many require continued care and support to age safely in their communities.

I share Mr. Smith’s story with you to highlight the important work of Iona’s social workers and case managers. As you already know, in FY22, the decision to remove funding for case management and home delivered meals from lead agencies resulted in a substantial decrease in lead agency grant budgets which has a direct impact on our ability to provide the individualized support and care for many older adults aging alone in the District.

Iona’s Ward 3 lead agency grant has seen a significant decrease of over 50% coming into FY24.  Ward 3 is still home to the largest older adult population in the District and I respectfully request the Council to support Iona in restoring our Ward 3 Lead Agency budget levels to that of 2019-2023. In addition, we need your continued support for Iona’s Dementia Navigators and Money Management programs as they are the only community-based comprehensive subsidized dementia care management and navigation for the District. We’ve uploaded client profiles onto our website for public view of our work at www.Iona.org and attached to this testimony. They highlight the important work of Iona’s Dementia Navigators and the diverse clients served throughout all 8 wards of the District.

I thank you for your leadership in the city and the opportunity to testify.

Sincerely,

Joon Bang

CEO, Iona Senior Services