Originally Published: Rolling Out
Client: Hannan Center

Vincent Tilford brings a unique perspective to aging advocacy. As President and CEO of Detroit’s Hannan Center, he leads Michigan’s oldest aging services organization while considering himself part of the demographic he serves. At 64, Tilford is redefining what it means to grow older in America, challenging misconceptions and celebrating the contributions of seniors through innovative programs and community initiatives.

Under his leadership, Hannan Center has grown its endowment by more than 20% while serving over 1,500 seniors annually through programs including dementia care, creative arts and financial empowerment workshops. As the organization celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, Tilford is focused on changing the narrative around aging in Detroit and beyond.

What does it mean to lead an organization that has been serving Detroit for so long?

We believe that Hannan is the oldest aging services organization in Michigan. We were started during a time before the social safety net existed. Social Security didn’t begin until 10 years after Hannan was founded, and Medicare/Medicaid didn’t begin until 50 years after.

Hannan has always been here for seniors, recognizing that older people needed this kind of support long before we began looking at that federally. It’s really vital that an organization like Hannan exists, and there ought to be more organizations that focus on older adult issues. I cannot emphasize, particularly in today’s climate, just how valuable and important this is going to be to seniors moving forward.

How have you expanded services while maintaining the original mission?

Our original mission was to preserve the dignity and enhance the quality of life of older adults. Originally we focused on helping seniors to age in place. We wanted to create a senior living center where seniors could live without worrying about where their next meal would come from, but that didn’t happen the way we hoped.

For the first 50 years, we focused on aging in place by providing Social Security-like pensions, helping with health care and making certain their needs were met. Where we are today is where we were when we first started. We’re focused on aging in place again, helping seniors with choices that matter most to them, whether it’s where they live, being around their network or staying connected to the people that matter most.

How does housing justice connect to elder equity?

Housing, where seniors live, really does matter. In terms of isolation, you want seniors to be around networks that can help them thrive and prosper. You want them in safe conditions, whether it’s safe from an environmental standpoint or from a crime standpoint.

We’re often targeted by scams and fraud, and the issue is understanding who you can trust as you’re trying to navigate this last stage in your life. Housing equity keeps seniors where they’re comfortable, where it matters to them. They stay near their networks, they can go to their churches, they can continue to live the life that is most important to them.

When you look at the pandemic, even though seniors were aging in place, what was taken away from them was their networks and interactions that they needed to thrive. Housing equity is about more than just the physical place where they’re living. It also has to do with whether they have the support systems and networks around them.

What common misconceptions about aging do you encounter?

People who are older tend to shy away and move away from discussions about age. We tend to other people who are older. I’m 64 years old, and when I think of other people who are my age, we talk about older people as if it doesn’t include us. That ends up isolating us even more.

As the saying goes, if you’ve met one senior, you’ve met one senior. I’m going to be very different than perhaps another 64-year-old, or I may be not as healthy as someone who is 90 years old. We have to get rid of those old notions about what it means to get older in this country. That’s just a number, but there are still things that we can do.

We have contributions that we can make to our society. We have to get rid of this ageist framework that says you need to go sit in a corner somewhere and be quiet, versus how can we still engage our older adult population so that they are contributing to our community and society.

What systematic changes are needed to better support older adults?

As we talk about health equity, we need to make certain that seniors have access to resources. What makes it complicated is when you think about Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. There are so many rules and regulations associated with that, and most of us don’t think about those things until we’re ready to retire.

Then we’re inundated with all these complex rules. It’s gotten even more complicated because there have been changes at the federal level to Social Security, changes to Medicaid and they’re talking about changes to Medicare as well. If you miss a deadline or don’t dot your i or cross your t, you can find yourself in a situation where you don’t have access to those resources.

It’s important that we’re trying to make certain that seniors and their caregivers, those who support them, understand what the environment is for older adults so that we can work collectively to improve health outcomes and life outcomes for older people.

Can you give tips on running the business side of your organization?

From a business standpoint, we don’t tell people what they need to do or what they should do. We try to give them the information so they can make informed decisions about their finances and healthcare. If we do that, hopefully they will make decisions that are best for them, because we don’t know what their entire situation might be.

The problem with aging organizations gets back to ageism. Children are considered an investment. Puppies are cuddly and investments. But when you look at older people and think about how many people are over 65 and turning 65 every single day, it seems like too big of a problem. Older people feel like a cost because we have health issues and fixed incomes.

That’s what makes the business side challenging. We want to reframe Hannan’s work about how we help people live quality lives. If you help people live quality lives, then they’re not going to have to move to a more restrictive, costlier housing situation. They can stay around family and friends, and it’s a better situation for everyone. But how do you quantify that? That’s really tough.

How do events like the 70 Over 70 Awards help reframe the narrative around aging?

We have seven different categories and award 10 people per category. We have arts, entrepreneurship, lifelong learning, unsung hero and others. We wanted to demonstrate that people over 70 are contributing to their community and families in big and small ways. I remember this one guy we awarded who was in his 90s and in a wheelchair.

For 15 years, he had researched a case of a gentleman who had been wrongfully convicted of murder, and he was able to get this guy exonerated. People can look at him and think he’s frail or fragile, but to that guy he helped get exonerated, he was a lifesaver. Another example is my mother. She passed a couple years ago at 95, but when my wife and I first had our first child, she moved here to Michigan so she could help us with childcare.

My children have never known another babysitter or caregiver other than my mother. That was a huge benefit to us because the cost of childcare is expensive. These are contributions that we often overlook.

What’s your vision for Hannan Center and Detroit’s aging population?

If there was one thing that I would want to change, what I would consider my legacy as a success here would be to really begin to change the narrative on how people think about older people. It’s the ageism issue, because to me, that is the heart of all the other issues we’re dealing with.

If we could see the value and contributions, like our Emerge! Art Festival shows that creativity doesn’t have an expiration date. That’s another way for us to begin to affect ageism. We really want to try to change the narrative on aging in Detroit and Michigan, which is why I’m involved with national organizations.

How can people support Hannan Center?

First, they can start with our site, hannan.org. There are many ways to donate. We are looking for people who want to support our adult day program for people with dementia diagnoses. It is the only such program like this in Detroit. We want to expand that program because there’s such a need, not only for people who have dementia but for caregivers as well.

It’s a very difficult time for people trying to balance career and other family members with somebody they’re caring for who has dementia. Come to our Emerge! Art Festival. We’re always looking for people to see the great work that older adult artists have achieved. One reason we focus on art so much is that there’s evidence showing when older adults receive robust arts training, it has wonderful health benefits.

They have fewer doctor visits, fewer medications and connection to others as they’re learning art, so it reduces isolation. AARP did a study that says isolation is as deadly for seniors as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

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