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PSS Honors 2024 Event Toasts Local Leaders Making a Difference in the Lives of the City's Older Adults

NEW YORK , March 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- PSS (www.pssusa.org), a multi-service nonprofit agency that has served older New Yorkers and their families for more than 60 years, today named three champions in the field of aging whose work will be celebrated at its annual PSS Honors event at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in Manhattan on Thursday evening, May 9:

• The 29^th annual Maggie Kuhn Award, given to a person who has dedicated their life to advocating for older people, goes to Rosanne Leipzig, MD, PhD, the Gerald and May Ellen Ritter Professor and Vice Chair-Emerita of the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at Mount Sinai's Icahn School of Medicine.  Established in 1995, the Award is named for Margaret Kuhn, an American social activist central to the founding of the Gray Panthers in the early 1970s. 
• The eighth annual Circle of Care Award, for excellence in dementia treatment, salutes CaringKind for breaking new ground in Alzheimer's caregiving. The organization partners with PSS's Circle of Care program, which provides assistance and respite to family caregivers. CaringKind President and CEO Eleonora Tornatore-Mikesh will accept on behalf of the agency.
• NYC's Department for the Aging receives the fifth annual Impact Award for leadership in positive aging, particularly its Silver Corps program that provides training to older workers to help them enter or re-enter the workforce and its multimedia PSA campaign promoting the vibrancy of NYC's older adult centers. The award stems from the PSS "Coming of Age" program, which inspires people 50 and older to live with passion and purpose. Lorraine Cortes-Vazquez, NYC Aging's Commissioner, will accept the award.

New to this year's Honors evening will be a panel discussion among awardees on issues surrounding the aging process. Richard Eisenberg, distinguished journalist, author and winner of the 2022 PSS Impact award, will moderate.

"PSS is proud to recognize these extraordinary professionals in our shared mission to support New Yorkers managing the transitions of growing older," said PSS Executive Director Rimas Jasin. "We look forward to continuing this work and deepening our offerings in partnership with them."

The honorees:

Maggie Kuhn Award—Dr. Rosanne Leipzig is an internationally recognized leader in Geriatrics and Evidence-Based Medicine, and has received numerous awards for her work including the American College of Physicians Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Foundation Award, a Joy McCann Scholar award recognizing her expertise in mentoring and medical education, and In 2016, the Jacobi Medallion, one of the highest honors from the Mount Sinai Health System. Her career has focused on improving the quality and safety of care for older adults as a practicing (and Board-Certified) geriatrician and palliative medicine specialist, and a nationally and internationally recognized medical educator and mentor.  She is the editor-in-chief of Focus on Healthy Aging, Mount Sinai's monthly newsletter for consumers, and past chair of the Geriatrics Working Group of the United States Preventive Services Task Force and the American Board of Internal Medicine's Subspecialty Board on Geriatric Medicine. Her most recent book, "Honest Aging: An Insider's Guide to the Second half of Life," was published in January 2023 by Johns Hopkins University Press.

Circle of Care Award—CaringKind is a leader in Alzheimer's and dementia caregiving. With more than 40 years of experience, they work directly with community partners to develop the information, tools and training to support individuals and families affected by dementia. The mission of CaringKind is to create, deliver, and promote comprehensive and compassionate care and support services for individuals and families affected by Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, and to eliminate Alzheimer's disease through the advancement of research. They achieve this mission by providing programs and services for individuals with dementia, their family and professional caregivers; increasing public awareness; collaborating with research centers; and informing public policy through advocacy. Eleonora Tornatore-Mikesh has led CaringKind as its president and CEO since 2020.

Impact Award—With an overarching mission to eliminate ageism and ensure the dignity and quality of life of approximately 1.775 million older New Yorkers, the NYC Department for the Aging is deeply committed to helping older adults age in their homes and creating a community-care approach that reflects a model age-inclusive city. It accomplishes these goals by partnering with hundreds of community-based organizations to provide services through older adult centers, naturally occurring retirement communities, case-management and home-care agencies, home-delivered meal programs, mental health and friendly visiting programs, and much more in each borough.

NYC Aging also has an Older Adult Employment Services Unit, Caregiver Resource Center, Elderly Crime Victims Resource Center, Grandparent Resource Center, Foster Grandparent Program, Bill Payer Program, and Volunteer Resource Center. Lorraine Cortes-Vasquez has served as Commissioner since 2019.

About PSS:

PSS was founded in 1962 as Presbyterian Senior Services by volunteers to serve older members of their church community. Today, PSS is a multi-service nonprofit 501(c)(3) agency whose mission is to strengthen the capacity of older New Yorkers, their families, and communities to thrive. PSS has more than 90 dedicated staff and over 200 committed volunteers and interns serving all five boroughs. With an $11+ million annual budget, the organization serves the community through: ten community centers for older adults offering daily activities, nutrition and exercise, and free technology instruction and onsite social workers. It also operates a residence in Corona, Queens. PSS Circle of Care supports families caring for someone who is frail, chronically ill or has Alzheimer's disease or other dementia with caregiver and kinship family support programs. PSS Life! University is the  community education program; and Coming of Age inspires adults 50+ to live with passion and purpose. PSS also provides social work on demand services through NY Connects in Brooklyn. Visit pssusa.org

Media Contact: Laurie Petersen, lpetersen@pssusa.org

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SOURCE PSS