6 Nonprofits Helping Older Brooklynites Thrive

May 15, 2025

Two senior adults, a joyful bald man and a smiling woman in a gray beanie, sit at a table holding brochures, surrounded by people in a seminar room. — Brooklyn Org Elders Convening, JCC of Greater Coney Island.

Two elderly women sit at a table, smiling and engaged in conversation with others in a brightly lit room. — Courtesy of GRIOT Circle

This Older Americans Month, Brooklyn Org is celebrating the community builders, caregivers, and changemakers in our borough to “flip the script on aging.” Roughly 1 in 6 Brooklynites is over the age of 65 — and Brooklyn is home to the second largest population of older adults across the state, making up 15.6% of the borough’s population.

From delivering fresh flowers to homebound elders to organizing for the release of aging people in prison, Brooklyn Org works with partners across the borough to support older adults in our communities in creative and critical ways.

Here are six of our partner organizations that provide care, build community, and honor the dignity and power of older adults to create more connection between generations of Brooklynites, and how they’re doing it:

1. Age Friendly Central Brooklyn

Supports healthy aging and addresses isolation among older adults in Central Brooklyn, including a large community of Black elders, with cultural and social outings, scam-prevention and health education workshops, advocating for safe public transit options, and physical fitness activities like dance and yoga.

Six older adults pose with raised fists next to an "Age Friendly Bedford-Stuyvesant & Crown Heights" banner in a brightly lit indoor space. — Courtesy of Age Friendly Central Brooklyn

2. GRIOT Circle

Builds community for LGBTQ+ older adults of color with a welcoming space, culturally sensitive services, and member-centered programs that address physical and mental health, create opportunities to socialize, and provide life-affirming caregiving assistance.

3. Project Guardianship

Combats social isolation and loneliness by giving older adults recycled flower arrangements and fosters community dialogue through weekly floral wellness workshops for children and businesses.

4. BloomAgainBklyn

Combats social isolation and loneliness by giving older adults recycled flower arrangements and fosters community dialogue through weekly floral wellness workshops for children and businesses.

An elderly woman sitting and smiling while holding a colorful bouquet of flowers; another person’s arm helps arrange the bouquet. Bookshelves are visible in the background. — Courtesy of BloomAgainBklyn

5. Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ)

Organizes Jewish communities to advocate for housing justice, migrant rights, caregiver support, and to challenge systemic racism through grassroots campaigns, political education, direct action, and strategic partnerships.

6. Release Aging People in Prison

Works to end mass incarceration and promote social justice by championing a grassroots campaign that proposes legislation for the release of aging people in prison and those serving long sentences.

A crowd of people stand on the steps of a government building holding banners that read things like "Free Our Elders Parole Justice Now" — RAPP advocating at the New York State Capitol building. Courtesy RAPP.

As Brooklyn’s older adult population grows, so does the need for sustained, community-based support. These six organizations represent just a glimpse of the many Brooklyn Org grantee partners working to ensure older adults can age with dignity, connection, and care.

Supporting this work is part of our larger commitment to building a more just and inclusive Brooklyn — for every generation.