Advocates of elderly receive award for distinguished service - Joyce Berry, Louis Stokes, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation receive American Association of Homes for the Aging's award

Health Care Financing Review, Spring, 1993

Former U.S. Commissioner of Aging Joyce Berry, Representative Louis Stokes (Democrat-Ohio), and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, all advocates of the elderly, received the American Association of Homes for the Aging's (AAHA) 1993 Distinguished Service in Aging Award at AAHA's Spring Legislative/Management Conference and Exposition in Washington, DC in March.

Presented annually, the AAHA Distinguished Service in Aging Award recognizes outstanding contributions to enhance the well-being of the Nation's elderly. In naming Berry, Stokes, and the Foundation, AAHA cited all three for their deep commitment to improving the lives of the Nation's elderly through public and private-sector programs and policies.

As U.S. Commissioner on Aging, Berry launched a comprehensive national campaign in 1991 that addresses the health, housing, and social service needs of elderly persons. Berry oversaw the National Eldercare Campaign, a multiyear effort to mobilize resources for persons at risk of losing their independence.

Representative Stokes was instrumental in preserving funding for housing for the elderly in the face of constant pressure during the Reagan and Bush administrations to kill such programs. He also played a pivotal role in releasing housing units so that stalled projects might get underway. AAHA noted that Stokes has long been a strong advocate for increased Federal funding for housing for the elderly.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is the Nation's largest foundation devoted to health care. It has awarded over $1 billion to support innovative health and social service projects since it was established in 1972. The foundation has provided leadership on aging issues through funding of research and demonstration projects in long-term care financing, restraint reduction in nursing homes, supportive services in senior housing, and "life care at home," among other projects.

For more information, contact Deborah Cloud at (202) 508-9432.