HISTORY

The New York Foundation for Eldercare (NYFE), founded in 1966, is dedicated to helping seniors enjoy healthier, safer, more productive and dignified lives. NYFE funds programs designed to improve the quality of medical, psychiatric and nursing care for older seniors, with a special focus on the frail elderly.

An early and prominent leader of the Foundation was Margaret Tietz, a well-known, much beloved and influential person in the social work field, first in her native Germany and then in the United States after the Second World War. Tietz championed social causes and served on the Boards of several well-established social welfare organizations.

In 1971, the Foundation, then-known as The New York Foundation for Nursing Homes, built a nursing home in Jamaica Hills, Queens. This facility was re-named in her honor in 1975 as The Margaret Tietz Center for Nursing Care. Then and today, it is recognized for its personal and compassionate care of its residents and as a special home for Holocaust survivors and Nazi persecutees.

Throughout its history, NYFE has focused on initiatives that educate seniors and improve their quality of life, through specialized medical services, technical support and direct health care.

Grantees have included: The Blue Card, Visiting Nurse Service of NY Hospice and Palliative Care Veterans Program, cultural programs at NORCs, Margaret Tietz Nursing and Rehabilitation Center and Montefiore Medical Center.

One grant of note was funded by the Leo and Julia Forchheimer Foundation in 1982 and 1992; it established fellowships in geriatric medicine, and funded a unique collaborative geriatric psychiatry program involving professionals from the Montefiore Medical Center and what is now called the Margaret Tietz Nursing and Rehabilitation center in Queens. More than 100 Program Fellows have rotated through the program over its 35+year history, and many of them are now leaders in geriatrics.

From 2003-2007, the Foundation was known as The Margaret Tietz Center Foundation reflecting the close association of the Foundation and the nursing home. The name was changed to the New York Foundation for Eldercare in 2007, when the Foundation was no longer directly affiliated with the nursing home. Current and recent grantees are listed here.

Join our Email list!