New York faces a historic demographic shift. According to a recent report from state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, New York City’s 65-and-older population reached 1.43 million in 2023 – a 53% increase from 2000, growing almost 17 times faster than the city’s total population. In Manhattan and Queens, nearly 20% of residents are over 65 years old. Statewide, nearly 3.5 million residents are now over the age of 65, the largest share in New York’s history.
New York’s health care system is caught in a paradox. We face an ongoing workforce shortage, specifically in senior care, while largely failing to provide career pathways into health care for young adults from underserved communities.
Launched by The New Jewish Home in 2014, the SkillSpring Young Adult Program creates pathways for economic mobility for underserved individuals to enter the workforce
NEW YORK, NY (January 23, 2025)—SkillSpring, a workforce training program created by The New Jewish Home (TNJH) celebrated the graduation of its young adult cohorts on Wednesday. Since its inception, SkillSpring has trained over a thousand individuals, fulfilling critical staffing needs in skilled nursing facilities throughout New York City.
When Jewish Home board member Daniel Bernstein agreed to mentor teens in the SkillSpring program, he approached the opportunity wholeheartedly. He’s delighted by the strong bonds he has built with his motivated mentees, who are on their way to becoming health care leaders.
SkillSpring is a proven workforce development solution that has propelled 1,100+ NYC high school students and young adults (ages 18–27) to pursue rewarding careers in healthcare at no cost. Click here to learn more.
The SkillSpring program, initiated in 2006 by The New Jewish Home in New York to address workforce shortages in long-term care, is expanding its reach to assist in-state competitors. Originally designed to offer a career path in nursing for financially insecure young adults, the program has successfully expanded to other facilities in the state, including a recent pilot program at the Isabella Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing Care in Washington Heights. This pilot program graduated 14 students who are expected to pursue careers as certified nursing assistants. By the start of 2023, over 150 SkillSpring alumni had been hired, with more than 90% either employed or pursuing higher education.
On December 19, The New Jewish Home hosted a ceremony at its Manhattan Campus honoring the first graduating class of SkillSpring Young Adult Program participants at Metropolitan Jewish Health’s (MJHS) Isabella Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing Care in Washington Heights, along with graduates from the program’s Hebrew Home at Riverdale by RiverSpring Living’s class in the Bronx.
Meet Yolaury Hernandez, RN, a successful graduate of The New Jewish Home’s innovative healthcare workforce training program. Participating in SkillSpring propelled Yolaury to embark on a rewarding career caring for others.
