Contact: Colleen Roche (212) 788-2958, Nydia Negron (212) 788-9364 or Helene Wolff (212) 442-1111
"More and more grandparents are doing 'double duty' not only as grandparents but also as parents for a second time," said Mayor Giuliani. "And this, while in many instances is done out of necessity, is also a labor of love."
"What children need most are the essentials that grandparents provide in abundance. They give unconditional love, kindness, patience, humor, comfort, lessons in life. And, most importantly, cookies.
"An estimated 3.2 million children in this nation live with a grandparent," the Mayor added. "New York City has taken the lead--with the support of both the public and private sectors--in reaching out to these grandparents to help them cope with the day-to-day stresses of raising a second family."
Mayor Giuliani also announced that the Department for the Aging's Grandparent Resource Center has received a $25,000 grant from the Travelers Foundation and another $25,000 from New York Community Trust. These private sector contributions will help the Center to continue its services and to further develop the programs that are so crucial to the grandparents.
"This is a well-deserved tribute to the devoted grandparents who have given their children and their children's children unconditional love," said Deputy Mayor Ninfa Segarra. "We are very grateful to the foundations and groups that support the Grandparent Resource Center. The center constitutes a successful public-private partnership that is vital to the center's existence."
Commissioner Stupp said, "The Department for the Aging's Grandparent Resource Center, the only municipal program of its kind, has become a national model, offering guidance to grandparents who have suddenly become parents again. Some of the unique problems they face, like not having the legal authority to grant permission for medical treatment for their grandchildren or enroll them in school, can only be addressed by cutting the red tape that restricts their care."
The Resource Center was established in 1994 as a public-private partnership to offer guidance and assistance to our City's grandparents who are presently raising 24,000 children. The Center's services include an information hotline, referrals, conferences on grandparenting, legal and financial assistance, skipped generation workshops, support groups and activities for grandparents and grandchildren to share.
The Brookdale Foundation has also awarded a grant to the Center to reprint a guidance manual titled "For Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: A Series of Workshops to Help You Cope".
Grandparents raising grandchildren who would like information on grandparent support groups, resources for assistance and other services, may call the New York City Department for the Aging Grandparent Resource Center, at 212-442-1094.