Supporting Our Community

VillageCare is dedicated to serving the long-term care

and health needs of its community. This dates from
the organization’s earliest days in the mid-1970s when
it emerged as a not-for-profit caregiver that “rescued”
a failed proprietary nursing home and established the
foundation for today’s comprehensive array of servic-
es for older adults and persons living with HIV/AIDS.

The programs of VillageCare are operated for chari-

table purposes, serving individuals with low incomes
who have high levels of need. Through prudent rein-
vestment of VillageCare’s resources, the organization
is able to pursue services and activities that serve a
community benefit and respond to special needs.

Annually, VillageCare fulfills a social accountability vi-

sion that extends beyond those areas of need where
reimbursement for staffing costs and services are
available. These social accountability undertakings,
which include serving the uninsured and promoting
access to care, extend the organization’s community
service mission.

While VillageCare receives significant resources from

government programs that support the health needs
of the poor and those with limited incomes – par-
ticularly in terms of chronic care and long-term care
services – the organization recognizes that there are
community needs that are unmet. Through a variety
of community benefit endeavors, VillageCare helps
close these gaps.

VillageCare
154 Christopher Street
New York, New York 10014
212.337.5600
www.villagecare.org
20 09 Community Bene f i t ( No n - R e i m bur s e d Ex p enses)

Home Care
(Charity Care)
$801,247 Community benefits total
does not include bad debt.
VillageCare at 46 & Ten For 2009, bad debt totaled
$378,795 $1,248,000 across all
VillageCare programs.

Senior Information Center

$273,760

Red Hook Community Center

$147,658
Case Management
(Medicaid Shortfall)
$98,000
Other
$157,764
Village Nursing Home 2009 Total: $4,957,469
(Medicaid Shortfall)
Source: VillageCare Finance Office
$3.1 million

What is “Community Benefit?”

VillageCare each year provides numerous services for which the organization is not reimbursed. We identify
these services and activities using the guidance of our financial auditors and we follow accepted standards in
health care, along with the recommendations of the Internal Revenue Service. A shortfall is the difference be-
tween the costs of providing services and the reimbursement that is received.

Community Benefi t A ct i v i t i e s
Improving Access to Care
VillageCare has long recognized that there are many
individuals who aren’t necessarily fully aware of the
various long-term care, health care and health-related
services that are available, or of entitlement and other
programs that can improve access to such programs.
To address this, VillageCare operates two storefront
community centers that offer assistance.
The Senior Information Center on W. 26th Street in Man-
hattan offers seniors a place to get help, information
and advice about a variety of age-specific concerns,
including government benefits, medical issues and ag-
ing, long-term care, living well and other needs.
The Center operates a Prime Time Club with free mem-
bership for older adults and benefits.
In Brooklyn, VillageCare’s Red Hook Community Cen-
ter is a welcoming and receptive place that provides
residents of this needy community with information
and help in accessing community and government pro-
grams that are available. Many of those using the Red
Hook Center’s services are poor, black women with
considerable needs, including gaining access to HIV
services.
The two centers serve as many as 6,000 individuals
each year.
Charity Care Advocacy

Providing care and services for vulnerable populations

and for persons who aren’t qualified for government
entitlement—but who are nonetheless lacking in re-
sources of their own—is a significant initiative. Vil-
lageCare’s Certified Home Health Agency, for example,
covers a sizeable expense each year to provide care
for the uninsured, and the VillageCare Health Center in
Chelsea uses a sliding scale, based on federal poverty
guidelines, in order to make services more accessible
to the unininsured.

VillageCare’s Community Case Management program

provides pro bono services to persons living with HIV/
AIDS who do not meet the eligibility criteria, do not
have Medicaid coverage and are in a crisis situation
needing immediate attention.

Senior Housing Subsidies

VillageCare engages in a variety activities seeking to in-

VillageCare operates a senior living and assisted living
residence in midtown that offers an array of services
both for those living independently and those requir-
ing varying levels of assistance. During 2009, this resi-
dence – VillageCare at 46 & Ten – provided subsidies
to support residents in the state-regulated Enriched
Housing program. VillageCare also provided rent help
for two independent living residents whose personal
funds had been exhausted and who were awaiting ap-
proval for admission to the Medicaid Assisted Living
Program at 46 & Ten.
fluence the decisions of policymakers at the city, state
and federal levels regarding government support for
programs serving the poor and uninsured, and promot-
ing access to care for seniors and persons living with
HIV/AIDS. This includes directly engaging policymak-
ers in discussions about the scope and future of servic-
es, and working closely with other community groups
advocating for support. A number of VillageCare staff
volunteer to participate in community advocacy activi-
ties during the year, including annually forming a team
for the New York City AIDSWalk, which raises funds
for HIV care. In 2009, Rivington House partnered with
Beth Israel Hospital to coordinate a candlelight vigil on
World AIDS Day.
Medicaid Shortfall
While the Medicaid program provides access to needed
health care and long-term care for the nation’s poor,
its reimbursement to providers does not always ade-
quately cover the costs associated with providing qual-
ity care. This is particularly true in congregate care set-
tings such as Village Nursing Home, where each year
VillageCare must cover the additional costs of provid-
ing care and services above what the state’s Medicaid
program pays.
Enhancing AIDS Care
VillageCare’s AIDS Day Treatment Program, which pro-
vides adult day health care services for those living with
HIV, offers social therapeutic recreational activities,
peer training and internships, which are unreimbursed
services. These services enable individuals to develop
vocational and leadership skills, and provide structure
recreation activities that encourage peer support and
conversation, helping individuals deal with isolation,
depression and other issues.
Educating and Supporting the Community
VillageCare uses its expertise and facilities to provide
augmented services for special populations and care-
givers, and to advance medical and health care knowl-
edge. Numerous activities in this area take place dur-
ing the year, including:
 A yearly community education conference on
health education for HIV clinicians and others in
the New York-New Jersey area. There were more
than 100 participants in the 2009 conference held
at Rivington House on end-of-life issues impacting
AIDS patients.
 Village Nursing Home takes on students from the
Manhattan Occupational Training Center. This
partnership program gives students the opportuni-
ty to improve social skills, communication and time
management, as well as develop work skills.
 In a student clinical rotation offering, the Adult Day
Health Center staff provide clinical observations
and supervision to nursing and social work stu-
dents in order to provide educational enhancement
and improve sensitivity and exposure to the senior
population and to patients with disabilities.
 Case Management staff facilitates a support group
for HIV-positive men who have sex with men.
 An Alzheimer’s disease support group meets twice
monthly at Village Nursing Home, open to family
and friends of residents at the facility and to mem-
bers of the community. The sessions are facilitated
by a nursing home social worker and the director of
therapeutic recreation.
 In collaboration with Continuum Hospice, Riving-
ton hosted a “hospice hospitality day” in 2009 to
raise awareness about hospice entitlement, to pro-
vide information about the hospice service and to
provide a forum for questions and answers.