Veronica Salmon danced at her 80th birthday party this summer the way she dances at every chance she gets—balanced on one foot, the other leg kicked in the air, daring the floor to keep up. She walked into her day program in Queens expecting an ordinary Friday and found the whole place packed with 25 years of relationships.
"At 80 years old, she will outdance all of us," said Kareen Marcellus Hogan, Senior Program Director of YAI's Queens Region. "She needs nothing, only to be asked to slow down sometimes."
That line says as much about where the intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) field is heading as it does about Salmon. People with (I/DD) are living significantly longer than they used to. According to Syracuse University research published by the Population Reference Bureau, the average age at death for U.S. adults with I/DD rose faster than that of the general population between 2008 and 2017. While a longevity gap still exists, that rapid shift narrowed the divide. For agencies like YAI, that shift means building programs that let people keep thriving well past retirement age, in the same communities where they've spent decades building lives.
At Salmon’s Bayside day program, that realization came out of the pandemic. When day habilitation programs reopened, staff folded everyone back into general programming, and it didn't take long to see the structure didn’t suit a growing part of the population.
“The layout of the rooms just wasn’t working for everyone,” Hogan said. “People were moving quickly and getting up quickly, and they weren’t always as aware of their surroundings. For people who moved more slowly or needed adaptive devices or more assistance, it became clear we needed a different approach.”
To fill the need, Hogan and Bayside Program Supervisor Astagana Erisnor created the Aging Gracefully program in April. Today, 17 participants ranging from their late 50s to mid-80s spend their days at a more relaxed, tailored pace. Activities include chair yoga, arts and crafts, park cookouts, an upcoming pet therapy program and a monthly sports day where no one gets left behind.
"They're living longer, they're happy, they still want to come to program," Hogan said. "We owe it to them to have a place of their own."
Erisnor has been Salmon’s primary staff person for ten years, starting the role when she joined YAI in 2016. The two have stayed together throughout that time, including as Salmon transitioned from five days a week to three as she’s gotten older.
"Continuity helps maintain their mental health," Hogan said. "There's not that ambiguous moment of not knowing who's going to provide my care. It's more home based, and it provides a sense of security."
"It's amazing for Veronica at this age, celebrating 80, when she doesn't even look like she's 80," Erisnor said. "She's very inviting, outgoing, and wants to take part in everything.”
That shows up in how she spends her days. Salmon bakes alongside staff, making cupcakes and her favorite, pineapple upside-down cake, from scratch. She also helps make and sell pizza bagels through Erisnor’s money-skills program, where participants run the cash register and learn budgeting through the sales.
For Salmon, that sense of belonging goes back much further than her relationship with Erisnor.
"My sister found this day hab a long time ago, before she passed away," Salmon said. "If she hadn't, I don't know what I'd do. I wouldn't have anyone to talk to, no friends. She sent me here so I'd be around people, around the staff. And I never want to lose that."
It's a reminder of what these programs protect as people with I/DD live longer: not just physical health, but relationships and purpose.
It's why staff planned Salmon's 80th for weeks with her family care provider, Gerdy Moreau, down to the purple and gold color scheme Salmon had picked months earlier.
During the celebration, Moreau stood to speak, telling the whole room.
"If I offered Veronica to visit heaven or go to program, she would pick this program every time," she told the room. It was a line Hogan said "locked in" the meaning of the entire day.
The morning after her party, Salmon was still telling anyone who'd listen how surprised she was, and how she couldn't believe she'd made it to 80. She quoted a former staff member who once taught her the song "Don't Worry, Be Happy."
That, Salmon said, is exactly how she feels.
"I'm happy. I just want to keep coming here, forever if I can.”