Trump’s Assault on Social Services Is Taking Aim at New York’s Elderly

Retirement isn’t working out as Sherlea Dony planned.

Last year, a scam decimated the 74-year-old’s savings from decades of working as an American Sign Language interpreter and a copy editor.

“I didn’t have to worry a lot about my future until this past year,” said Dony, who lives in Rochester with her cat, Peaches. “I’m worried for myself and my friends. I could see myself potentially on the street.”

Like many struggling seniors, Dony relies on a variety of social services to stay afloat. Medicaid helps pay for her Medicare premiums and reduces her medical bills. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) covers some of her groceries. This summer, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) paid for a new air conditioner in Dony’s rental apartment, while federal block grants support her senior center and the nonprofit that helps her apply for benefits.

Federal support for all these programs is now under threat by Congressional Republicans, jeopardizing a delicate network of lifeline support for the state’s growing aging population.

In July, lawmakers enacted over $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and SNAP as part of a fast-track measure to guarantee tax breaks for America’s wealthiest. In September, they will return to Washington to deal what could be a fatal blow to long-running programs like LIHEAP as part of President Donald Trump’s agenda to root out government waste and fraud.

New York’s affordability crisis has hit seniors hard. Nearly one of every five New Yorkers is now 65 or older, and the number of them in poverty has surged by nearly 50 percent over the past decade. More than half of the seniors in Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse reported having no retirement income in 2022. Those numbers were even worse across New York City’s boroughs — home to over 1.3 million seniors.

To combat this trend, the Center for an Urban Future, a nonprofit think tank, recommended state leaders boost the same programs now at risk of being scaled back or eliminated at the federal level. Those include home-delivered meals, utility assistance, workforce development and supportive housing.

Ann Marie Cook, president of Lifespan of Greater Rochester, which helps Dony and others apply for benefits, pointed to the recent closures of several supportive housing buildings for Rochester seniors due to financial challenges. The settings provided meals, housekeeping, transportation, and personal care, allowing residents to live fairly independently. Nonprofit providers across the state have struggled to stay in business, and the federal cuts are likely to lead to more closures.

Cook said displaced residents could wind up hospitalized or in nursing homes at a much higher cost to the state. “I fear it may be the tip of the iceberg.”

“It’s so much cheaper to provide these services to help people remain in their communities than [to pay for] the crisis situations that could happen if this funding goes away or is reduced,” she said.

Joe Stelling, associate state director of advocacy at AARP NY, said his organization is encouraging lawmakers at the state and federal levels to ensure funding for critical services.

“It’s very far from a done deal,” he said.

“A Bad Dream”

Life for Kim Hinson and her two grandsons in Staten Island is already too expensive.

“It’s getting tight,” said the 69-year-old who used to work for New York City’s Housing Authority until an on-the-job injury rendered her disabled and ushered in a host of chronic health challenges.

In addition to managing her diabetes and treatment for early-stage breast cancer, Hinson is also the primary caregiver for her teenaged grandsons, one of whom struggles with a learning disability. It’s estimated that over 130,000 grandparents in New York are the primary caregivers for their grandchildren — a growing national trend.

She and her grandsons are enrolled in SNAP, Medicaid and LIHEAP. But Hinson said it’s still not enough to keep pace with skyrocketing utility rates and rising inflation. “The rich get richer and the poor get poorer,” she said of Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill Act.”

Food costs have been a particular challenge. Hinson said she is no longer physically capable to wait in lines at food pantries to supplement what SNAP benefits won’t cover. As a result, she and other community members are now trying to see if the local senior center will set up a delivery system for senior meal boxes.

Seniors who live with their grandchildren are much more likely to report difficulty covering household food costs. Seniors of color also report higher levels of food insecurity overall compared to white seniors.

Earlier this year, the Trump Administration abruptly cancelled shipments to food banks across the country, amounting to a loss of 16 million pounds of food in New York state. Officials have also proposed eliminating a program that provides meal boxes to 36,000 low-income seniors aged 60 and older in New York City and Long Island.

New York leaders haven’t provided details on how they plan to deal with forthcoming federal cuts to Medicaid and SNAP. The changes to SNAP will freeze monthly benefits for all enrolled households and shift a portion of the financial responsibility to states for the first time in the program’s history, which dates back to 1964. Lawmakers will need to decide whether the state will cover the decreased federal support for SNAP — or slash monthly benefits for recipients.