By Eleanor Keohane
Founded in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Accessible Acts NYC is a non-profit organization that connects talented high school students to performance opportunities in senior centers around New York City. Providing a number of in-person performance opportunities, Accessible Acts NYC allows students to showcase their musical talents and fulfill meaningful service, but it also gives the elderly residents of the homes a chance to engage with the younger generation.
Stuck in their homes last fall, Olivia Goldfinger and Audrey Feigin felt dearly for the elderly residents of nursing homes who were unable to see their families. Olivia and Audrey were motivated by their own desires to perform for people and the empathy they felt towards them, and they decided to email a few senior centers and ask them if they would be interested in virtual performances. Throughout the winter and spring of last year, Olivia and Audrey hosted numerous Zoom concerts at the New Jewish Home and the Carter Burden Network, and they grew very attached to the residents of these homes. As pandemic restrictions began to ease up, they decided to turn their small shows into a greater organization. Thus, Accessible Acts NYC was born in the summer of 2021.
Since then, Accessible Acts NYC has welcomed numerous performers and they are continuing to add more talented individuals and nursing homes into their network. Their ultimate goal is to have a plethora of performers and homes participating in their organization so they may be able to reach all five boroughs of Manhattan, and potentially take this organization nationwide. Intergenerational connections are a fundamental part of life, and Accessible Acts NYC aims to join both the old and the young through the world’s universal language: music.
Help us make New York City more accessible, one act at a time.
Click Here to view the Accessible Acts NYC website and contact accessibleactsnyc@gmail.com for more information.
