Suffolk Legislator Stern Gives Update On Senior Citizens' Task Force

Photo of Strongin, Stern

Myron Strongin (left) of the Brookhaven Retired Employees Association welcomes Suffolk County Legislator Steven Stern.

Sponsored by the Brookhaven Retired Employees Association (BREA), Suffolk County Legislator Steven Stern, Chair of the Veterans and Seniors Committee, visited BNL on Thursday, January 17, to give an update on the progress of the County-Wide Senior Citizen Task Force that he has established. The Task Force, which involves all ten townships, has been gathering data and is now exploring ideas for solutions to issues important to seniors, such as affordable housing, accessible transportation, and health care.

Ideas being investigated include better ways to bring services to seniors in their own homes, which is less costly and preferable to moving the seniors to long-term care facilities. Improving the network of public transportation, especially between towns, is another important goal. Home-health care could be easier to obtain if more personnel were available: creative ways are being considered to encourage more home-health aides to get trained and qualified, and their time more efficiently shared among the seniors they visit.

The County's plans to use county-owned land for affordable housing, for seniors and also for young people, was another topic discussed. Stern explained that Suffolk has a strong open space policy and that the plan is to strike a balance between needed affordable housing and equally important open space. Stern also announced that a Veterans' Facility would be opening in Riverhead in a matter of months, so that veterans from the east end of the county would not have to travel so far for health care.

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