Faith Leaders to Help Spread Age-Friendly Message

     Age-Friendly Teaneck is partnering with religious leaders to identify and assist vulnerable older adults who might be living increasingly homebound lives.
     Age-Friendly Teaneck’s leadership team met recently with representatives from several congregations to discuss

how to better serve the needs of their older members.
     “We know as people get older, they can begin to feel more isolated and cut off from their community,” said Age-Friendly Teaneck Project Director Elizabeth Davis. “But we also know that the community ties that remain strongest are to their houses of worship.” Many churches, synagogues, temples, and mosques help congregants in need, from arranging rides to religious services to visiting those who are ill.
     Age-Friendly Teaneck would like to bolster those efforts by providing information about local resources and connecting older adults to services that can help them continue to live – and worship – in the community they’ve long called home.
     “It is important that older people in Teaneck can get the information and help they need to be able to stay in the community,” said Reverend Dr. Marilyn M. Harris, pastor of First Baptist Church of Teaneck and a member of Age-Friendly Teaneck’s steering committee. “Clergy and other religious leaders can play a big role in making sure older Teaneck residents aren’t struggling or going without the help they need.”
     Please email [email protected] if you would like your religious community to become part of the Age-Friendly Teaneck movement, or if you’d like to learn more.

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