NCOA and The Henry and Marilyn Taub Foundation Help 5K Pandemic-Impacted NJ Older Adults

Boost Your Budget® Week connects older New Jersey residents to billions in crucial benefits

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Apr 12, 2021, 10:48 ET

ARLINGTON, Va., April 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Council on Aging (NCOA), the national voice for every person's right to age well, is joining forces with The Henry and Marilyn Taub Foundation to celebrate Boost Your Budget Week from April 12-16, 2021. The outreach campaign and direct support efforts will connect almost 5,000 struggling older adults in Bergen and Passaic counties to billions in federal, state, and local benefits to help them age with health and financial security.

The National Council on Aging and the Taub Foundation are partnering to help thousands of older adults in New Jersey access billions of dollars to pay for food, medicine, utilities and more. They can check eligibility at a free and confidential website: BenefitsCheckUp.org or BuscaBeneficios.org

"Before the pandemic, many older adults, especially women and people of color, had to cut the amount of food on their tables and the medicine in their cupboards just to keep a roof over their heads," said NCOA President and CEO Ramsey Alwin. "The pandemic has made things even worse. This is not acceptable in the richest country in the world. Boost Your Budget Week is a coordinated effort with the Taub Foundation to help vulnerable older adults in New Jersey find the resources they need. We believe aging well is something every American deserves—regardless of gender, color, sexuality, income, or zip code. We are proud to partner with the Taub Foundation, a longtime NCOA supporter, in this effort."

An estimated 47,000 Medicare beneficiaries in Bergen and Passaic counties have incomes below 150% of the federal poverty level. Enrollment in key federal programs can improve their economic security. The campaign drives these older adults and caregivers to use NCOA's free online screening tool available in both English and Spanish—BenefitsCheckUp.org and BuscaBeneficios.org. Visitors enter basic information and receive a personalized report of programs they may be eligible for to help pay for food, medicine, utilities, and other daily needs. The tool screens for more than 2,500 benefits, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly Food Stamps), the Medicare Low-Income Subsidy, Medicare Savings Programs, and tax relief. Since 2001, 9.4 million people have used BenefitsCheckUp^® to find over $39.5 billion in benefits.

The Taub Foundation partnership with NCOA will help improve the lives nearly 5,000 economically insecure older adults living in Bergen and Passaic counties through in-person help at community-based centers. These centers will focus on assisting seniors who are homebound and/or socially isolated.

"Every year billions of dollars in benefits go unclaimed because eligible older adults do not apply—mostly because they are unaware that these benefits exist and that they qualify for them," said Julia Stoumbos, Program Director at the Taub Foundation. "Every person in New Jersey has the right to age in their community with dignity and economic security—and having access to benefits can make all the difference, even more so during a global pandemic."

To start a free benefits screening, visit www.ncoa.org/Boost.

About NCOA 
The National Council on Aging (NCOA) is the national voice for every person's right to age well. We believe that how we age should not be determined by gender, color, sexuality, income, or zip code. Working with thousands of national and local partners, we provide resources, tools, best practices, and advocacy to ensure every person can age with health and financial security. Founded in 1950, we are the oldest national organization focused on older adults. Learn more at www.ncoa.org and @NCOAging. 

About the Taub Foundation
Henry Taub, and his wife Marilyn, started The Henry and Marilyn Taub Foundation in 1967 as a means of giving back to their community. Henry was the founder of Automatic Payrolls, now called ADP, one of the largest providers of business outsourcing solutions, serving businesses in over 125 countries. The Henry and Marilyn Taub Foundation makes grants to pre-selected organizations working in early childhood, aging in place, and medical research. We also fund institutions with historic ties to the Taub family. A continuing focus of the Foundation is on local communities in New Jersey's Bergen and Passaic counties, in areas with the greatest needs, including Henry's hometown of Paterson. In addition, the Foundation makes grants in Israel through existing partnerships.

SOURCE National Council on Aging