As the year draws to a close, we remain deeply grateful for the partnerships, both longstanding and new, that make Archstone Foundation’s work possible. We look forward to beginning 2026 by reimagining a better future for all of us as we age. We are also pausing to revisit our most impactful blog posts from 2025. They set the stage for this crucial work by sharing stories that show how we’ve been speaking out, standing up, and taking action alongside our partners and communities.
This year has been challenging for older adults, caregivers, and the people who care for and support them. From immigration actions to the erosion of the social safety net and attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion the obstacles have been profound and unrelenting. Through it all, we remain steadfast in our commitment to improving the lives of California’s older adults.
We began by listening, asking our partners what they were facing and how we could help. And then, together, we acted. As Board Chair Cynthia D. Banks and President & CEO Rigo Saborio outlined in our 2025 Annual Report, we increased our payout, allowed grantees flexibility to spend their grants on general operating expenses, and created a gathering for sharing experiences and solving problems collaboratively.
We also heard that a movement among older adults is needed to advocate for a reimagined future of health, purpose, and well-being. At the heart of this vision is a trust-based, community-driven approach that ensures older adults are not only supported but also placed at the center of our work. We’ll be sharing more soon about a shift in our approach to social change by partnering with community to address the root causes of systematic and structural barriers in order to achieve health equity.
Here we look back at the work we’ve done together, informing our path forward to catalyze change to improve health and social care for older adults.
- President and CEO Rigo Saborio wrote Working With Communities, Not Only for Them as a way to explain why, in addition to bolstering the adaptability of our grantee partners to carry out their missions, we must intensify efforts to act alongside older adults so they can advocate for the care they want.
- In It’s Not Reform — It’s a Betrayal of Older Adults and Caregivers, Rigo declared that “We’ve never seen anything quite like the assault on services and protections for older people, people with disabilities, and their caregivers that occurred this year,” then offered a powerful and persuasive case against the devastating cuts to Medicaid and federal social service programs and their effect on older adults in California.
- Board member Jean Accius and Vice President of Grant Operations and Planning Tanisha Davis teamed up to write As Policy Shifts Threaten Lives, Philanthropy Must Act Fast – and Listen First, explaining how the cuts in federal support for programs benefiting older adults, caregivers, immigrants, and low-income families had prompted the Foundation to listen closely to the communities it serves, align actions with those most directly affected, amplify grassroots voices, and create space for collective problem-solving.
- For Why Building Long-term Resilience is Critical, Director of Finance and Administration Connie Peña, Vice President of Grant Operations and Planning Tanisha Davis, and I collaborated to make the case that philanthropic dollars, by themselves, are not enough to solve the new problems for older people created by federal policy changes and executive orders. Helping Building adaptability into our trust-based approach to grantmaking is also an essential component of any long-term solution.
- More than 1.7 million older adults and people with disabilities rely on Medi-Cal, California’s version of Medicaid. In 60 Years of Medicaid: The Legacy and the Fight Ahead Program Officer Gerson Galdamez explained the Foundation’s work, as part of a statewide advocacy coalition, to minimize this year’s deep federal cuts to the health insurance program.
- Federal raids have left our immigrant communities — especially older adults, caregivers, and essential workers — uncertain and afraid. In I Know What Fear Feels Like: Standing with My Fellow Immigrant Families in California, Rigo shared his experience as an immigrant and reaffirmed the Foundation's commitment to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion.
- Rigo’s Standing Firm in Our Commitment to Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion was an unambiguous declaration that the Foundation remains unequivocally committed to those core values and to ensuring all older adults and caregivers receive the support, resources, and dignity they deserve.
- Program Officer Carly Roman-Woo and Andrea L. Richardson of the Humboldt Senior Resource Center teamed up to explain How One Organization is Flipping the Script on Aging in Rural California, explaining how that organization worked to boost social connection and reduce the isolation that can be an obstacle to both physical and emotional wellbeing, leading to a cascade of physical and mental health challenges.
- In How Two of Our Grantees Are Helping the Most Vulnerable Older Californians, Program Officer Jasmine Lacsamana highlighted the very different ways that two Los Angeles organizations, AC Care Alliance and Via Care Community Health Center, have created person-centered care for communities of older people who have been historically left behind.
- Gerson also shared Forward, Not Back: We Helped Draft 10 Recommendations to Improve Medicare in California, a collaborative effort with PBGH California Quality Collaborative, The SCAN Foundation, West Health, and the California Department of Health Care Services Office of Medicare Innovation and Integration, for a consensus building process to develop recommendations for improving how Medicare works in our state.
- Data — and data dashboards — are critical and merited a series of three posts: Why It’s Important to Track Progress Toward a California for All Ages and Abilities by Ross Lallian of the California Department of Aging, Why West Health Created a National Database on Aging Readiness and Older Adult Health by Amy Herr of West Health, and my Why Measurement Matters: Archstone Foundation’s Perspective.
We are honored to stand alongside you, our trusted partners, in this work. On behalf of the Board and staff, thank you for your continued partnership and unwavering commitment. Together, we look forward to building a future where every older adult has the opportunity to thrive.
