Executive Summary
We’re excited to present our latest impact report and to highlight the success of the ongoing partnership between Citymeals on Wheels and Life Story Club. Since our last report, we’ve expanded to reach more older New Yorkers in need of community, connection, and nutritious meals.
Citymeals’ food delivery paired with the social component of our weekly clubs provide a strong safety net of support for older New Yorkers facing isolation and loneliness. Our coordinated referral process allows us to provide a more holistic level of care
The physical and mental benefits experienced by our members illustrate what’s possible when services meet the whole person not just physical needs but emotional and social Pairing storytelling with meal delivery creates connection, joy, and dignity.
We’ll be hosting a summer bash in July to celebrate our successful partnership, and to recognize the progress we’ve made together We’re grateful and eager to continue this work with the Citymeals team
Progress & Expansion
Since our last impact report, we have seen consistent growth and conversion through our coordinated referral process
Expansion Over the Last Quarter:
118totalmembersserved
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4newpartners: BayRidgeCenter&BayRidgeConnects CarterBurdenNetwork
EncoreCommunityServices
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Our Impact By the Numbers
SurveyData
100%
of members surveyed in the last 6 months report feeling a sense of community
of members report an improved mood
89% 59% 88 feel supported report a decrease in loneliness Net Promoter Score (NPS)
Equivalent to a satisfaction score of 94%
About the Data:
Over the last three months, members surveyed saw an increase in their mood and sense of community, as well as in their general well-being and social drivers of health
Life Story Club also saw a significant improvement in our NPS score, which is indicative of especially strong loyalty and satisfaction Results are from a survey administered in July 2025
The consistent improvement is encouraging and illustrates the benefit our weekly meetings are having on our members We’ll continue to conduct regular surveys to track and monitor how the program is benefiting older New Yorkers
From Our Members
We’re proud of the growing membership of Life Story Club and want to share profiles of some of our new members and the impact that Life Story Club has had on their lives.
Meet Antonella Wileizcko Sunnyside Life
Story Club
“Today I was talking to a person who was 100 It makes me feel younger than I am”
Antonella is 70 and lives with her beloved tabby Pepino in midtown She grew up on Long Island and built a career as a production assistant and as an Xray technician to help pay the bills, but when Antonella turned 40, she felt compelled to address an identity crisis that had been brewing for years.
“I remember seeing stories about the first transsexual, Christine Jorgensen,” she recalls, “And I’m like, this could be me.” Antonella, who was assigned male at birth, took a job at Lee’s Mardi Gras, a boutique in the Meatpacking District serving transvestites, drag queens, and transgender individuals “I’m like, I need to work here to see where I fit in And I realized that I’m trans, and that’s that”
Her family stuck with her through her transition, but when her mother died everything changed Antonella and her older sister were named coexecutors of their mother’s will, and her siblings turned against her The grief and stress combined with a metabolic disorder were too much, and Antonella suffered a stroke She retired on disability at the age of 56
These days, she has no difficulty keeping busy She lives 10 minutes from Central Park and often hangs out with “the meadow people,” a group of musicians who gather informally in Sheep Meadow She has another close friend nearby, but most of her social circle is younger, so she was excited when Citymeals reached out about joining Life Story Club.
“It’s a very safe space, and everyone’s accepted, so I’m greatly appreciative of that.” Antonella recently attended an in-person gathering and instantly bonded with Ina. “I felt like she was an old friend. I just felt a great connection with her, and I would not have ever known her had it not been for Life Story Club.”
Meet Rafael Maldonado
Spanish Language Life Story Club
Rafael came to New York from Puerto Rico when he was in his early 20s His family had a history of a hereditary disease that causes gradual vision loss, and he left his hometown in search of treatment “I arrived in New York on a Monday and on Wednesday they operated on me ”
Rafael started multiple businesses throughout his life, but when he lost his vision in his 50s, he had to leave it all behind. This caused him to sink into a depression. It wasn’t until his 16-year-old daughter found a special wristwatch for him that he began to pull himself out of his funk. With his daughter’s encouragement, Rafael went on to take classes at the Catholic Guild for the Blind and at Baruch College
“I learned in those moments that being pessimistic brings unhappiness and failure in life” Ever since, Rafael has made it his life’s work to inspire other people to persevere through their own challenges. “If I can contribute even a little bit of my life, that helps me to motivate myself even more.”
When Rafael was contacted about joining the Spanish language Life Story Club, he thought the call ‘came from heaven.’ He appreciates the fact that so many of the participants have overcome crises of their own, and that everyone is welcome, ‘no matter the physical or emotional condition they are in.’
Rafael has paved the way for other club members to open up about their own vulnerabilities by discussing his blindness, and he is currently offering guidance to two of the women who are losing their sight “If I have helped them to move forward, my life has not been a failure”
Rafael says that Life Story Club has filled a void in his life “I hope we can have 500 people in a year!”
Rose Barnaby-Jones Heights and Hills Life Story Club
“I was born in Kingston, Jamaica, but because I was being a pain in my mom’s butt, she sent me to the country I was beating up the kids If you hit my brother, I’m gonna fight you!”
Rose is now almost 73, but she still has the same fiery temperament that got her shipped off to her grandmother’s for two years at the age of nine. When she was 19, with two kids of her own, her mother moved all eight children and four grandchildren to New York. The 13 of them lived together in a one-bedroom apartment in Canarsie.
Rose worked various jobs, but found a career when she passed the test to become one of the first women to drive a New York City bus The male drivers made life as difficult as possible for her, but Rose’s stubbornness served her well She drove a bus until she injured her knee on the job and had to retire
Rose’s proudest accomplishments are her four children, all of whom have worked in education. While she visits her grandchildren every week, she spends most of her time alone gardening or crocheting or cooking for neighbors and relatives. She found out about Life Story Club through Citymeals, and on Wednesdays she prepares a snack and sits in her car for the call
After a lifetime of combustible relationships, she appreciates the lack of judgment “It lets everybody come together, and we never put each other down The people in the Life [Story] Club don’t know me personally, so I can talk and they don’t discriminate [against] me” Far from it Everyone looks forward to Rose’s mouthwatering descriptions of the Jamaican dishes she prepares for her family and her colorful stories of taking justice into her own hands
Strengthening Our Referral Pipeline & Community Partnerships
Referral Process
Citymeals’ community-based partners have referred 178 older New Yorkers to Life Story Club and we maintain a 66% conversion rate This conversion rate is considered high for communitybased services
Over the last six months, we’ve refined the referral process to be more efficient and targeted, focusing on home-bound adults who are often more likely to experience isolation and loneliness. This strategy has led to faster and more streamlined referrals and we expect to see an increase in our conversion rate as we continue to improve the process and identify more older New Yorkers in need of support.
Partners
Much like our successful partnership with Citymeals’ case managers, we find that social workers and health care case managers from partner organizations play a vital role in our growth, connecting vulnerable older adults with a Life Story Club near them
We recently completed a case manager survey to better understand how we can continue to foster this mutually beneficial partnership.
Case Manager Survey Results & Testimonials:
MissionAlignment: 473outof5,indicatingstrongalignmentbetweenLifeStoryClub andpartneragencies’missions
ProgramUniqueness:416outof5,showingthatmostrespondentsseeLifeStoryClub asadistinctoffering
PresentationEffectiveness:45outof5,suggestingthecasemanagerpresentation wasgenerallyclearandusefulforunderstandingreferrals
LikelihoodtoRecommend: 895outof10,anespeciallystrongratingthatsupports ourNPSscoreof88
These are especially encouraging results and we plan to continue to expand to connect and partner with more case managers who provide health and social support services to older New Yorkers across the city
“Thank you so much for continuing to partner with us and supporting our clients—it has had a huge impact on them.”
Tiffany Mennella-Velez, Case Management Director, Heights and Hills
“This program was an amazing experience for my clients. They look forward to joining every week.”
Yolanda Alvarez, Case Manager University Settlement
Community Partnerships
Equally important to our outreach efforts are our relationships with a growing number of community-based organizations, whose support reinforces trust within the communities we serve
Our current partners include:
Community in Action: In-Person Gatherings
One clear observation over the last year has been that Life Story Club members enjoy in-person gatherings While the virtual nature of our weekly meetings is what makes them accessible, our quarterly in-person events strengthen the connection between all of our members That’s why we hosted several in-person events over the summer
May Event: Jahn’s Since 1897
“I feel like I belong. There is no barrier around what to say or when to stop talking. It lifts our spirits. It makes us feel less alone.”
Ragaa Mussalli Life Story Club member
July Event: Summer Bash at Tacombi
This event celebrated year one of the Citymeals-Life Story Club pilot program and focuses on recruiting for year two.
Life Story Library & Storytelling Reach
A key goal and mission of Life Story Club is to change the cultural view and stereotypes around aging Our Life Story Library reframes and redefines aging, celebrating our members’ stories as examples of the wisdom and experience they hold
By memorializing their stories, we empower our members and reinforce the value of older adults’ experiences For many, the experience of recording a story that they can share with others makes them feel seen and celebrated
10 newstoriessincethe lastimpactreport
34 numberoftimes storypageshave beenshared
Check out one of our Life Story Library pages here:
100 totallistens andcounting
Conclusion & Continued Collaboration
Life Story Club is deeply grateful for the successful partnership with Citymeals Our complementary services provide a holistic level of care for older New Yorkers and the dedication of the Citymeals’ team members and case managers allows this program to be successful
We’re honored to work with your organization and to build a support network for older New Yorkers where one does not exist Through our coordination, we are providing whole-person health care and charting a new path that can be replicated across the country
Knowing the challenges on the horizon both financially and demographically we’re also focused on our fundraising efforts to support the progress we’ve made together We believe that we are stronger together and look forward to our continued partnership as we build into 2026 Thank you for your continued support and collaboration!