2014 Annual Report to the Community Adding to * LifeSELFHELP COMMUNITY SERVICES, INC. ourYears & SCS FOUNDATION, INC. MISSION CONTENTS Selfhelp is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to 2 Executive Letter 28 Financial Statements maintaining the independence and dignity of seniors and 6 Social Care is Good Medicine 32 Highlights from an Extraordinary Year at-risk populations through a spectrum of housing, home 10 Keeping People Healthy at Home 34 Founders Society health care, and social services and will lead in applying 14 Much More Than “Housing” 35 Providing Support new methods and technologies to address changing 18 Providing Comfort and Dignity to 41 Working Together needs of its community. Selfhelp will continue to serve Holocaust Survivors 44 Contact Information as the “last surviving relative” to its historic constituency, 22 High-Tech, High-Touch, and Highly Effective 45 Officers, Directors, and victims of Nazi persecution. 26 Overview of Programs and Services Management Staff In the end it’s not * the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years. Abraham Lincoln SELFHELP COMMUNITY SERVICES, INC. & SCS FOUNDATION, INC. 2014 ANNUAL REPORT Since its founding nearly eighty years ago by refugees from Nazi Germany, Selfhelp has used “social care”—social services and case management—to assist hundreds of thousands of older adults and others at risk of losing their independence. Even in today’s sophisticated age of medical advances, a simple fact remains true: High-quality social care is just as vital as health care for ensuring healthy aging and independent living. We could not add years to our lives without the constant advances made in medicine and in disease management. But without evolving social care and access to vital and vibrant enrichment programs, it would be nearly impossible to Add Life to our Years. 1 DEAR FRIENDS Much has been written of late about New policies are now affecting care • The active ballroom dancer at a the value of “social care,” the extensive for the elderly, and we are leading by senior center, and the homebound services that Selfhelp has provided example and drawing on our strengths participant in the Virtual Senior since its founding nearly 80 years as we adapt. In the past year, New York Center, both have networks of friends ago. Both research and practice are State began to transform health care who keep them connected to others. demonstrating that social care can be by recognizing the vital role that social This is in contrast to more socially vital for healthy aging and for physical services play in keeping people healthy. isolated older adults, who, studies show, well-being. The theme of this year’s We are proud to report that Selfhelp won can be at increased risk for depression, Annual Report, “Adding Life to our Years,” three major awards through the State’s heavy drinking, poor nutrition, falls, focuses on the importance of high new Balancing Incentives Program serious illness, and dementia. quality social care and its benefit to (BIP), which directs Medicaid dollars to clients throughout Selfhelp’s programs. demonstrations of new methods for low- • The aging couple in a gentrifying income individuals to obtain community- neighborhood can stay in the home At the heart of our service delivery based care. Likewise, Selfhelp has been where they raised their children due * system is our longstanding commitment meeting with medical partners as part of to assistance from both a Selfhelp to the Holocaust survivor community. the State’s new Delivery System Reform home care worker and skilled social We continue to provide specialized Incentive Payment program (DSRIP), worker who obtain a rent cap, so they care to this historic constituency, while where collaborations with social service can remain surrounded by their most using the lessons they have taught us to providers are key to the state and federal precious memories. benefit our full population of 20,000 goal of reducing avoidable hospital use clients. Our diverse services—from case by 25 percent over the next five years. • The Holocaust survivor who endured management to affordable housing to Auschwitz now tells his story to a new home health care to recreation and It is not through error or good fortune generation of high school students, education at senior centers—all share that we now find ourselves at the who ensure that his experiences are common themes. We know that services forefront of the transformation of health remembered by bringing his words to and caring must be tailored to each care. Selfhelp has operated for decades life onstage. person’s needs. And, we know that on the principle that social services while physical health is vital, we must are not just an end to themselves, but Opportunities like these are daily address the entire person in order to an essential way to help older adults to “adding life to the years” of 20,000 truly be of service. thrive. A few examples: Selfhelp clients at 26 locations 2 throughout the boroughs and Nassau County. And while these vibrant and vital seniors continue to thrive, we are It is not through also creating new programs which are more specifically targeted to promoting their good health. In addition to the broad range of exercise programs that error or good we have offered for years, we now deliver wellness coaching, nutrition discussions, and classes in managing chronic health conditions. We continue to provide home health aides for those who need fortune that we extra assistance in the home, and we have expanded our services to help seniors manage discharge instructions find ourselves at after returning home from the hospital. As health care partners turn more to social care agencies such as ours, we are also enhancing how we measure the forefront of outcomes to communicate our impact on client health. You will see just a few of these new outcome measurements in the the transformation following pages. Looking ahead, a number of new initiatives are planned for the coming year. We are continuing to integrate of health care. Selfhelp’s health care and social service programs into a powerful continuum 3 of services. We are developing a new On behalf of all those we serve, we are affordable apartment building for deeply grateful to the entire Selfhelp seniors in the Bronx—our tenth—and family for your loyal support, your we expect to begin construction on commitment to our work, and your faith our eleventh building in Brooklyn and trust. Our sincerest thanks. in 2015. And, we are expanding our outcome measurements by launching an agency-wide Quality Scorecard to track our success and make improvements where needed. Raymond V.J. Schrag President Finally, in honor of the more than Board of Directors 60,000 Holocaust survivors who remain in New York City, we are working with UJA-Federation of New York and the Defiant Requiem Foundation to mount an encore presentation of Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezín, Dennis Baum a moving theatrical tribute to the Chairman courageous performance of Verdi’s SCS Foundation Board Requiem Mass by Jewish prisoners at Theresienstadt Detention Camp. They used Verdi’s Requiem Mass to express, in a spirit of defiance, the words they could not say directly to their Nazi captors. All proceeds from the performance will go to Stuart C. Kaplan serve Holocaust survivors in need. Chief Executive Officer 4 * The data is in: Vital Social Care is Good Medicine 5 SOCIAL CARE IS GOOD MEDICINE * Countries that Not Just Having Fun In an international study of 30 countries, Yale public health researchers found spend more that spending more on social services is strongly associated with better health outcomes. Despite allocating more money to health care than any other country on social services in the Organisation for Economic Co- operation and Development (OECD), the United States ranks 25 out of 30 in life expectancy. Other OECD countries have better spend, on average, twice as much on social services as they do on health care, while the United States spends slightly less on social services compared to health. health outcomes. Selfhelp’s longstanding social service programs illustrate beautifully how spending on “social care” translates directly into improved health outcomes. Our recreation, education, and wellness Bradley EH, Elkins BR, Herrin J, et al. (29 March 2011). Health and social services expenditures: associations programs keep clients learning and with health outcomes. BMJ Quality and Safety Online. engaged—and excited about what will happen next. 6 $1,200,000 800,000 A Potpourri of Learning Paying for Essentials Research shows that learning new skills The low-income seniors whom Selfhelp helps keep active minds sharp—and serves are often past working age. engagement and learning flourish at Without an income stream, many lack Selfhelp. Immigrants bond with each other the funds for healthy food, medical care, as they learn English as a Second Language. or even a home. 400,000 Senior centers energize mind and body For these reasons, many Selfhelp with gardening, opera singing, calligraphy, programs assist seniors in applying for, jewelry making, and much more. and advocating for, the government- At Computer Learning Centers in our funded entitlements and benefits for senior centers and housing, 21st century which they are eligible. seniors learn to Photoshop, email, Skype The impact of these benefits is more 0 with their grandchildren, and use the than just financial. The Supplemental Internet to research health, nutrition, Food Housing Tax Income Medical Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Utilities Credits Support and anything that strikes their fancy. One helps seniors purchase the food they 107-year-old housing resident Skypes need to keep their bodies healthy and frequently with her daughter who lives in strong.