The Agency on Aging South Central recently hosted its Annual Breakfast 2025, bringing together professionals, advocates, and community partners dedicated to supporting older adults across the region. The event featured Joanne McGloin, MDiv, MS, MBA, retired Yale School of Medicine administrator and current Mary Wade Board Chair, as the keynote speaker. Drawing on more than five decades of experience, McGloin focused on the themes of frailty, vulnerability, and creativity in aging.

McGloin challenged outdated definitions of frailty, reflecting on her early work with the New York City Department for the Aging. She shared stories from the Mentally Frail Elderly Project, which provided bilingual social services to displaced and aging Eastern European residents of Manhattan’s Lower East Side. These experiences illustrated that vulnerability is often a complex mix of physical, emotional, and cultural factors, requiring innovative, localized solutions.

Highlighting the importance of longevity and resilience, McGloin emphasized that longer life is a cultural achievement, not a crisis. She noted that the majority of older adults are doing well, while service providers must focus on supporting those who are marginalized or vulnerable due to health, isolation, or financial challenges. Creativity and tailored approaches, she said, are essential to meet these diverse needs.

McGloin also celebrated pioneering initiatives that have transformed elder care. She highlighted programs such as On Lok/PACE, The Towers, local village-to-village networks, and trailblazing advocates including Dr. Mary Tinetti, Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus, and Reverend Ed Dobihal, whose work demonstrates the power of innovative, compassionate solutions in aging services.

Concluding her address, McGloin urged attendees to collaborate and share ideas, emphasizing that solutions emerge from collective creativity. The breakfast closed with renewed energy and discussion among participants, reflecting her message that the aging network of South Central Connecticut is well-equipped to meet current and future challenges through ingenuity, dedication, and community-focused action.