McKenzie recounts history of OACs in NYCHA facilities
McKenzie says NYC Aging has managed OACs in NYCHA facilities since the agency's founding. The first OAC in the nation, William Hodson Older Adult Center, is at Daniel Webster Houses. Additional OACs came from NYCHA to NYC Aging during the Bloomberg administration and again in 2018-2019, with no centers closed.
NYC Aging has managed OACs located at NYCHA facilities since the founding of our agency and the establishment of centers through the Older Americans Act.
As you know, the nation's first OAC, William Hodson Older Adult Center in the Bronx, is located at Daniel Webster Houses and serves the older adult population in that complex as well as the surrounding community.
While NYC Aging always has had some OACs in NYCHA sites, newly added OACs came from NYCHA to NYC Aging in two distinct tranches.
First, during the Bloomberg administration, NYC Aging took on a number of centers, which NYCHA was no longer able to run independently and fold.
those into our current network based on a range of factors, including size, space, and capacity, as well as budgetary needs for our agency.
Then in 2018 through 2019, NYC Aging assumed oversight over all remaining older adult centers still managed by NYCHA.
A similar situation occurred with other NYCHA social programs for children, where the Department of Youth and Community Development took on new programs as well.
It is noteworthy that during these transitions from NYCHA to NYC Aging, not one center was closed.