Mrs. R is an 85-year-old Russian-speaking Holocaust survivor who was born in Simferopol, Crimea. During World War II, she was relocated several times by the Germans, ending up in Kazakhstan.
၌ 1995, after losing her husband, Mrs. R ကို. immigrated to New York to live with her younger sister. A widow with three children who are not local, Mrs. R lives alone and sustains herself on a very limited income through Social Security and SNAP benefits.
Like many who experience trauma, Mrs. R ကို. continues to feel the after-effects of her tumultuous childhood. When she was an in-person witness to the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City, memories of death and destruction from her youth re-emerged, requiring ongoing treatment and medication for PTSD. When COVID-19 shut the world down, Mrs. R ကို. was safe and well-cared for, with hot meals delivered to her daily, but the pandemic’s disruptions sparked PTSD symptoms, like panic attacks and severe anxiety. When Russia invaded Ukraine, Mrs. R ကို. struggled with her PTSD once again. As a result of developing dementia, a consequence of severe chronic PTSD and aging, Mrs. R reverted to only speaking her native language, Russian.
Through the Y’s Hudson လူထုစီမံကိန်း: အိမ်တွင်လုံခြုံသည်, Mrs. R ကို. works with a social worker and our recently hired Russian-speaking staff on a regular basis to ensure she has the support she needs as she ages in place. ဖြည့်စွက်ကာ, she found comfort in a new Y program that provides trauma-informed care and culturally sensitive programming for Russian-speaking Holocaust survivors.
While Mrs. R’s life experiences are unique, her circumstances are not. Upper Manhattan is home to thousands of older adults who need a language-sensitive entry point to the continuum of care like the one we’ve been able to give to Mrs. R ကို.
Your generosity helps make all this happen and so much more. Please make a gift today to ensure older adults can age in place while maintaining their health, ဘေးကင်းရေး, and dignity.
