Thanksgiving Episode — Caring for Our City: Aging, Community, and Dignity with Jeremy Kaplan

In this special Thanksgiving episode of The NYC Workforce Drop, NYCETC CEO Gregory J Morris sits down with Jeremy Kaplan, Executive Director of Encore Community Services, for a warm, funny, and moving conversation about what it means to grow older and to never have to do it alone. From barefoot Florida Thanksgivings and anxiety-inducing “what are you thankful for?” rituals to New York City chosen family traditions, Greg and Jeremy explore how holidays crystallize our deepest fears and hopes about togetherness, aging, and belonging. Jeremy traces his journey from classroom teacher and school founder to head of one of New York City’s largest older adult–serving nonprofits, rooted in the basement of St. Malachy’s “Actors’ Chapel” in the theater district. He shares Encore’s origin story, from a few dozen hot meals to a multi-site hub that now feeds, houses, and connects thousands of older New Yorkers, and breaks down what “community care” really looks like on the ground. Together, Greg and Jeremy zoom out from the holiday table to the systems that shape how we age. They grapple with loneliness as a public health crisis, ageism in hiring, and why older adults are both disproportionately poor and a vastly underestimated economic engine. Along the way, they spotlight NYC Aging’s chronic underfunding, the Human Services Council’s Just Pay campaign, and the paradox of a human services workforce paid poverty wages to fight poverty itself. As listeners prep turkeys, mac and cheese, or a pernil for chosen family, this episode doubles as a love letter to older New Yorkers and a call to action: to value caregiving, invest in human services, and build a city where nobody has to spend the holidays, or any day, in the shadows. Topics: Thanksgiving, family, and chosen family; aging, loneliness, and community care; Encore Community Services and Times Square’s theater roots; older adults as an economic engine; ageism and second-act careers; community schools and wraparound services; LGBTQ+ elders, dignity, and home-based care; human services workforce, Just Pay, and wage justice; NYC Aging and city budget priorities; building a New York where no one ages alone.Published by: New York City Employment and Training Coalition (NYCETC)Produced by: Manhattan Neighborhood Network