Special Events
Regional Townhalls
Each year, the National Hispanic Council on Aging (NHCOA) brings together members of the older adult population, along with elected officials, social advocates, and service providers for town halls held across the country. These town halls create linguistically and culturally safe spaces for those present to discuss solutions to issues such as economic insecurity, pressing policy issues, caregiving, hunger and unaffordable housing, access to healthcare, and other pressing issues. All solutions and recommendations discussed during these town halls are presented at a national level through NHCOA’s, annual “State of Hispanic Older Adults Report,” a publication that is released annually on Capitol Hill during the fall. These town halls are held in locations with large Latino communities. In 2020 and 2021, in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, these town halls were/are held virtually.
Capitol Hill Briefing & Advocacy Day
Every year, NHCOA travels to different regions of the country to take the pulse of the Hispanic older adults and presents the Annual Status of Hispanic Older Adults Report, a data and testimonial-driven status report with policy recommendations that captures the hardships and challenges arising from the lack of policies, programs, and strategies to address the aging and diversification of our U.S population. Starting in 2014, each year, NHCOA hosts a Capitol Hill briefing to launch the report, and an Advocacy Day during which members of NHCOA and our Leaders Network conduct visits with Congressional members and staffers to advocate on behalf of the needs of Hispanic older adults across the country. These intergenerational leaders represent seniors, family members, caregivers, professionals, and community advocates from across the country.
Annual Awards Ceremony
Each year, NHCOA hosts its Annual Awards Ceremony to celebrate and recognize leaders in the field of aging, to promote our programs, celebrate our culture and raise funds to continue our mission of improving the lives of Hispanic older adults, their families and caregivers. Our Awards Ceremony creates a safe space for us to celebrate our shared commitment to Hispanic families and aging issues and to acknowledge the trailblazers who are paving the way in these areas. This event is NHCOA’s largest fundraising event of the year. Our Awards Ceremony serves the following purposes:
To celebrate a shared commitment to serving Hispanic older adults, working on aging issues, and the trailblazers who are paving the way in field of aging. NHCOA will recognize individuals whose legacy and work improves the lives of older adults, particularly, Hispanic older adults in the United States.
To engage in a celebration of the diversity of our cultures through food, music and dance.
To raise funds to support NHCOA programing for the following year. This ensure that NHCOA can continue the challenging work that benefits the lives of so many Hispanic older adults, their families and caregivers.
For sponsorship opportunities, please contact us at (202) 347-9733 or nhcoa@nhcoa.org
NHCOA Roundtables
Cultivating conversations around aging, ageism, and caregiving are of the utmost importance for us at NHCOA. To that end, NHCOA hosts roundtable events that bring together professionals, experts, and those with a vested interest in the well-being of older adults to reframe, reexamine, and evaluate the topics that are deeply important to us. Our Caregiving Thought Leaders Roundtables brought together organizations and experts in the field of aging to discuss the realities of family caregivers, especially among diverse communities. It’s vital to engage in cross-cultural discussions about aging, and for the past few years, NHCOA has been hosting roundtables reframing aging and ageism across the United States and Latin America. Roundtables enable us at NHCOA to gather a wide spectrum of views that aid us in developing strategies to help and educate caregivers, reframe conceptions of aging, combat ageism, and more.
NHCOA Trainings
Currently, NHCOA offers two trainings to help empower and educate Hispanics/Latinos and their families: The Empowerment and Civic Engagement (ECET) and Caring for the Caregiver trainings. The ECET enables Hispanic older adults, their families, caregivers, and grassroots leaders to become their best advocates by demystifying public policy and educating these groups on the policies and programs that impact them on the local, state, and federal levels. The ECET provides participants with the tools to advocate for themselves and strengthen their collective voices. Meanwhile, the Caring for the Caregiver training is designed to help ingratiate caregivers into their role of caring for another while also providing them with the resources to care for and love themselves. Latinos make up approximately 21% of family caregivers in the U.S., and it is a role that comes with a lot of love and pride. However, it is a commitment that often comes at the price of the caregiver’s own mental and emotional wellbeing. The Caring for the Caregiver training thus focuses not only on being an effective caregiver, but also managing their own self-care. Both trainings are operated in a linguistically and culturally-appropriate manner.
