Elders Are Not a Burden. They Are Infrastructure. | Nonprofit Quarterly | Civic News. Empowering Nonprofits. Advancing Justice.

Millions of grandparents across the United States serve as primary caregivers for grandchildren, often without sufficient financial or social support. A common narrative frames elders as a growing burden on healthcare, housing, families, and the economy, but this framing reflects how systems are structured rather than who elders are or their long-standing roles. Many policies treat elders primarily as dependents, and housing often isolates instead of connecting people. Systems that prioritize efficiency, cost, and speed overlook relational roles that sustain community life. When elders struggle, it signals structural failure, not an individual aging problem. Grandmothers raising grandchildren with limited resources hold families together, and elders continue to provide guidance, stability, and care even after being written off.

"In my work with elders and families through Grandmothers' Village Project, Inc., I've seen firsthand the power elders carry and the systems of support they create. I've seen grandmothers raising grandchildren with limited resources-holding entire families together without recognition or support. I've seen elders who continue to function independently-offering guidance, stability, and care-long after systems have written them off as dependents. I've seen people who are still carrying, still giving, still holding, even as the structures around them fail to hold and nurture them in return."

Read at Nonprofit Quarterly | Civic News. Empowering Nonprofits. Advancing Justice.