Cynthia Bailey was named Caregiver of the Year at CABS Health Network’s Circle of Care Awards gala on Oct. 14 at Manhattan’s Park Lane Hotel. The honor recognized her role as a primary caregiver for her mother, Barbara Ford Morris, who was diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer in 2022, Caribbean Life reported. Bailey told attendees that her mother survived cancer and now lives with diabetes and other health issues, Caribbean Life reported.
The gala’s focus on caregiving has a substantial local backdrop. A 2021 revised plan from the New York City Department for the Aging estimated that between 900,000 and 1.3 million unpaid caregivers lived in the city. The plan also reported that more than half of the caregiver groups it surveyed provided at least 30 hours of care each week. Those figures come from a city planning document, not a current count of every caregiver.
A separate NYC Aging Service Needs Assessment illustrates how caregiving can overlap with work: 86% of younger caregiver respondents were employed full-time, and close to 55% of caregivers under 60 spent at least 15 hours a week caregiving, according to the agency’s assessment. These respondent figures describe a different group and measure than the citywide estimate; they should not be read as a single trend or as a measure of Bailey’s own caregiving.
Publicly administered home-care services offer another, narrower view of care needs, distinct from the much larger estimate of unpaid caregivers.
A community award alongside personal caregiving
CABS held the gala under the theme “Care at the Center,” according to amNewYork. Caribbean Life reported that it was the organization’s first time staging the event in Manhattan. Bailey spoke about the demands of caring for a parent while respecting her mother’s independence, the outlet reported. The public accounts describe her recognition and remarks, but do not quantify the hours she provides or indicate that she or her mother received services from CABS.
The program also recognized caregivers whose work was tied to longtime client Inez Harvey: Maribel Jones, Mireille Anelson and Anselma Trinidad received awards presented with Harvey’s son, Gary Harvey, and CABS President and CEO Sherly Demosthenes-Atkinson. Bernedette Quick was honored for 28 years of caregiving, amNewYork reported. Caribbean Life reported that New York City Council Member Mercedes Narcisse received the Community Innovator Award, SOMOS Inc. Executive Director Rosa Maria Pelton Alcantara received the Community Leadership & Advocacy Award, and Jobed LaPointe was recognized as Care Community Partner.
Proceeds from the event support CABS programs that include food access, disease prevention and community outreach, according to amNewYork. CABS says its Health Network brand dates to 2020 and grew out of a licensed home-care agency established in 1979 to serve older and disabled Brooklyn residents, the organization’s mission page says. The gala placed Bailey’s family experience in the spotlight while also recognizing caregivers and services in the wider community.
