NYC's oldest problem is actually
a golden opportunity.

I Love NY is a great slogan. But to people over a certain age, our city shows them no love. Young@Heart NYC is a new platform designed to change that. It will provide online and in-person services, support and empowerment to NY City's 1.7 million seniors, regardless of location, socio-economic situation, level of tech savvy or family circumstances. Young@Heart NYC will invite seniors to participate in a community that moves them from the fringes to the center of things.

1 in 10 New Yorkers is over 60 Years old.

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The concept of Young@Heart is both evolutionary and revolutionary. It provides truly unique original programming and services to the city's seniors and also provides a platform designed to improve delivery and adoption of the city's many existing, but disconnected, underutilized and hard-to-access services.

And that's just the beginning. This isn't just some “Feel bad for for Grandma because she can’t install Zoom" charity mission. To the contrary--while Y@H will offer plenty of ways to help seniors, there will be even more ways for seniors to give back in ways only they can.

Young@Heart will not only support but engage and invigorate one of this City's most important, but too often overlooked populations. And we'll do it in a way that is very different than anything else out there. Take a look.

CONNECTING DOTS and breaking
down walls.

Between city agencies, non-profits and private organizations, there are dozens of services available to NY's senior population. Problem is, you'd have to go to dozens of places to find that out. (If you even knew to look!) Young@Heart fixes that massive problem and provides a host of other original tools, content and connections that benefit our seniors not by making them feel needy, but by making them feel needed.

As per this Center for an Urban Future study, or this one from Scott Stringer's office, lots of people are talking about these issues. We are the first to propose a scaleable, actionable plan to actually do something about them.

Nine Core Modules. Limitless Possibilities.
Online and In-Person.

At launch, the platform will have nine highly interconnected components designed to give seniors and the rest of us New Yorkers a single place to go to get to know what we don't know. To make new discoveries. To connect with family, peers and new people.
To be heard. To learn. To grow. To slow the hands of time. To not just be part of the conversation again, but to lead it.

Wisdom + Experience on Call

The knowledge, wisdom, life and business experience of New York's older adults is a veritable treasure trove. So let's get them talking. Our "Ask Someone Who's Been There and Done That" feature will allow anyone to pose a question or challenge
to the community and harness the collective wisdom of over a million people!

Volunteer Central

Young@Heart NYC will act as a much needed clearinghouse and matchmaker for volunteerism. Participating organizations can post things they need volunteers for, seniors can request direct help with all kinds of things from grocery shopping to just getting out of the house for a bit. And volunteers (including seniors, BTW) can post mini profiles showcasing their skills, interests and availability to help others--young and old.

Learning + Experiences

We will produce all kinds of remarkable original content on everything from music to finances to history. The site will also feature a full community calendar and registration system that will, using AI, gather external events and put them in one place. At the same time (and this is the cool part) any senior can work with us to create and present a Y@H Masterclass of their very own.

The Service Finder

A consolidated, curated portal of all city and private services all in one place, easily searchable and sortable by multiple criteria. With direct pathways to actually access each service from one screen. Behind the scenes, participating agencies and organizations will have access to an innovation portal (like one I built for UNICEF) to share ideas, post partnership opportunities and start working together vs. in silos.

Family Portals + Care Circles

A secure area of the site will allow families to create private portals in which they can share information about the person in their care, create shared calendars, tasks lists, medication schedules, key contact information, estate information and more.

Mind + Body

We will deliver curated and engaging healthy living content by, for and about New Yorkers. A talk from Dr. Oz, Al Roker sharing his weight loss story, a Ted-style talk about brain health from NYU's Dr. Wendy Suzuki, a Yoga class with Gwen Lawrence (who also trains the Yankees.) This is literally feel good content...Real life inspiration from real life New Yorkers. Delivered both online and via our community center and housing partners.

The Tech Marketplace

This is the Geek Squad meets the Genius Bar with deals. Seniors can book a free support call for help with anything tech related. Via meaningful corporate partnerships, Young@Heart will also offer seniors-only freebies (or discounts) on everything from laptops to tablets to cell phones...broadband to streaming music, Masterclasses and podcasts.

Living Legacies

Our online multimedia studio will allow seniors (with or without the help of our volunteers) to create video storybooks, record oral histories, play their music, build Ancestry.com-style family trees and much more. These can be shared privately or with the Young@Heart community.

Nutrition

A curated stream of tips, knowlege, recipes and interactive content will make taking care of one's mind and body fun. Think online cooking classes with Rachel Ray or Mario Batali. A community recipe book anyone can contribute to (Elena's LES pirogi recipe is to die for) and discounted meal kits from Blue Apron and the Catskill Food Hub.

“If elders could bequeath their experience and knowledge of life to children without the children making any mistakes, they would save them from a lifetime of heartaches.”
- Neena H. Brar

Why Now?

First of all, because, as the saying goes, we're not getting any younger. By 2030, one in five New Yorkers will be over 60. How we care for that population and ensure that they are given a vital and vibrant place at the table, and are not just shoved off on an ice float, is a responsibility we all have.

The pandemic has hit NY's seniors especially hard. Besides the ravages of the virus itself, food insecurity, poverty, depression and loneliness are at all-time highs.

This is NYC. We can do better. Much better.
Young@HeartNYC is how.

Why Me?

I have been a writer, UX designer and digital product manager my entire career. My “day job” is all about making cities smarter and more livable. When I say smarter, I’m not talking IOT/Flying cars stuff--I mean ways that can benefit the humans that live in cities right now.

The work I’ve done has run the gamut from walkable cities to improving digital service delivery to community engagement... ensuring transparency to making open data more useful to driving equality in unexpected ways. (Such as reimagining how building code violations are delivered and enforced.)

I have significant experience working with local government, non profits, NGOs and with Public-Private Partnerships.

I have seen what works and what doesn't....where good ideas get bogged down in buracracy and, why sometimes the best intentioned programs never actually get to the people they are intended to help.

In my spare time, I’ve been a tireless advocate for NYC and always look for ways to make a difference: volunteering, mentoring, doing pro bono work and participating in things like Beta NYC and Bloomberg’s What Works Cities Initiative.

I am the grandson of an NYPD Detective (75th Precinct) and the son of a man who had the guts to leave his comfortable job with the TA and start his own business. My partner’s grandfather was a Tugboat Captain in NY Harbor. (Our son Lars is named after him.) I was born on Long Island, but as long as I can remember, the City was calling to me.

As soon as I figured out how to cut school and hop on the LIRR, I was here. NYC is where my partner and I are raising our two wonderful--and way cooler than their suburban cousins--kids. (Both are NYC public school students, BTW.)

THIS IS PERSONAL TO ME.

My partner’s mother worked for the Health Department for over 20 years. At age 70, she was forced to retire. We saw first hand how that was the beginning of the end for her. For someone who faced obstacles head-on all her life--caring and supporting her own mother, marrying later in life, having kids later, getting divorced, going back into the workforce after not working for 15 years, and then being forced to stop working--she lost herself and all sense of purpose. If she had access to our platform, she would have lived a longer, happier, more fulfilling life.

LET'S DO THIS.

As amazing as New York City is, we feel it can be even better. And this platform will do that by helping everyone live their best life at any age. Where ever-curious, like-minded New Yorkers connect, keep active and stay healthy.

NYC needs this and I have the experience and the grit to make it happen.

With your help, we can be unstoppable.

And why we should do this together.

Clearly we don’t have to explain the value of history to The Kaplan family. Or the wisdom that time brings. Or the power of community. You are living those things with The Foundation's work every day. For what we are looking to build, there are many natural ways to collaborate and even amplify some of your existing efforts. We look forward to what we are sure will be a very fruitful collaboration.

Something's broken New York.
Let's fix it. Isn't that what we do?

52% of NY's seniors reported significant quality of life issues in 2019.
65% of single elderly households living in NYC rent stabilized units pay more than half of their income on rent.
136,000 NYC older adults are homebound.
40% of NYC seniors have no immediate family here.
Many services go undelivered because they are dependent on in-person visits or have over-complicated enrollment processes.
There is massive redundancy (and waste) across city agencies and nonprofits serving our audience.
NYC has no centralized hub for volunteering.
Physical community and senior centers can only serve limited populations. (Even before COVID forced them to close.)

What we can get done
in year one.

Enroll 100,000 seniors in the platform.
Record and publish 5,000 living histories.
Offer Y@H Programming live at 25 Senior/Community Centers across the city.
Increase program adoption and success measurements across city agencies by 20%.
Facilitate 200 active Mentor - Mentee relationships between Y@H members and the public.
Hand deliver tablets pre-loaded with Y@H content and resources to 1,000 seniors.
Book and deliver 5,000 volunteer service hours--to and from seniors!

NYC's oldest problem is actually
a golden opportunity.

1 in 10 New Yorkers is over 60 Years old.

Stat 3

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Stat 4

Stat 5

CONNECTING DOTS and breaking
down walls.

Nine Core Modules. Limitless Possibilities.
Online and In-Person.

Wisdom + Experience on Call

Volunteer Central

Learning + Experiences

The Service Finder

Family Portals + Care Circles

Mind + Body

The Tech Marketplace

Living Legacies

Nutrition

“If elders could bequeath their experience and knowledge of life to children without the children making any mistakes, they would save them from a lifetime of heartaches.”
- Neena H. Brar

Why Now?

Why Me?

THIS IS PERSONAL TO ME.

LET'S DO THIS.

And why we should do this together.

Something's broken New York.
Let's fix it. Isn't that what we do?

What we can get done
in year one.

“Elders pass away, leaving a hollow in our present for the past we'll never ever know.”
- Nitya Prakash

Let's do this.

NYC's oldest problem is actually a golden opportunity.

1 in 10 New Yorkers is over 60 Years old.

Stat 3

Stat 3

Stat 4

Stat 5

CONNECTING DOTS and breaking down walls.

Nine Core Modules. Limitless Possibilities.Online and In-Person.

Wisdom + Experience on Call

Volunteer Central

Learning + Experiences

The Service Finder

Family Portals + Care Circles

Mind + Body

The Tech Marketplace

Living Legacies

Nutrition

“If elders could bequeath their experience and knowledge of life to children without the children making any mistakes, they would save them from a lifetime of heartaches.” - Neena H. Brar

Why Now?

Why Me?

THIS IS PERSONAL TO ME.

LET'S DO THIS.

And why we should do this together.

Something's broken New York. Let's fix it. Isn't that what we do?

What we can get done in year one.

“Elders pass away, leaving a hollow in our present for the past we'll never ever know.” - Nitya Prakash

Let's do this.

NYC's oldest problem is actually
a golden opportunity.

CONNECTING DOTS and breaking
down walls.

Nine Core Modules. Limitless Possibilities.
Online and In-Person.

“If elders could bequeath their experience and knowledge of life to children without the children making any mistakes, they would save them from a lifetime of heartaches.”
- Neena H. Brar

Something's broken New York.
Let's fix it. Isn't that what we do?

What we can get done
in year one.

“Elders pass away, leaving a hollow in our present for the past we'll never ever know.”
- Nitya Prakash