You may live in a NORC and not even know it.

NORC is short for Naturally Occurring Retirement Community.  It’s a community of individuals who are growing older together in one place.  Like an apartment building or a neighborhood.  As the population of seniors in New York City continues to grow, it is not uncommon to find that nearly half the residents of a particular building have lived there for a long time, and are now over 60 years old. 

That’s a NORC.

The first NORC Supportive Services Program began in New York City 20 years ago.  The idea caught on slowly, but has now spread throughout the state and the country.  Still, many are not aware it exists.

“A NORC is a shared partnership between residents, their housing entity and health and social services providers,” explains Carol Ban, the NORC Program Coordinator at Isabella.  Supportive Services for Seniors promotes wellness, crisis prevention, and socialization through on-site services provided by caring professionals.

As the lead service agency for the NORC on Fort George Hill that consists of three co-ops, Isabella improves the quality of life for those seniors, most who have lived there, at the top of the very steep hill, for over 40 years.  Grant and government support has helped keep this program alive and is helping Isabella develop a neighborhood NORC in the vicinity of New York Presbyterian Hospital and Isabella’s 169th Street Resource Center.

“A large part of what we do is educate residents about the NORC program,” says Ms. Ban.  Many people think of Isabella as just a nursing home and are apprehensive.  They want to continue to live in their own homes.  “What’s exciting,” says Ban, “is that the NORC allows us to use our expertise to help people stay independent in their own homes.”

Supportive Services for Seniors is available to NORC residents for health screenings and monitoring, home visits by our trained nurse and social worker, social activities like parties and trips, seminars on healthcare, finances and legal matters, and advocacy to receive benefits such as SCRIE (Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption), EPIC (Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage), Medicare and Medicaid. 

For more information about the NORC program, please call 212-342-9364.