June 2025 Speaker Meeting
We featured three speakers at our June 25, 2025 speaker meeting:
Transformation of Long Term Care - Carrie Leljedel, Vice President of Gray Panthers New York City and Project Manager of the Einstein Option, will describe her work advocating for long-term care systems change. She describes herself as "FCTA Family Caregiver / Turen Advocate, Long-Term Care Reform Leader, and Disability and Ageism Inclusionist."
The pandemic taught me that long-term care in the United States is a broken system. After spending 128 days unable to see my adult son, who lives in an Intermediate Care Facility for adults with complex medical issues and developmental disabilities, I knew I needed to take action.
Carrie is Vice President of Gray Panthers NYC and a vigorous national voice for She created a successful 2024 Get-Out-The-Vote campaign that mobilized long-term care residents across the U.S. and led to federal policy updates protecting voting rights in care facilities. In 2025 she co-hosted a national summit in St. Louis, bringing together policymakers, advocates, and long-term care leaders to build a roadmap for transformative change to the long-term care with the Live Oak Project. She is a active proponent of helping Gray Panthers regain their strength and visibility nationally, by remembering Gray Panther founder Maggie Kuhn and her intergenerational organizing approach.
Rachel Matthews, Director, Home Match Alameda County, a project of Front Porch.
Rachel shared this relatively new home sharing program that is expanding in the East Bay. Home Match supports seniors with spare bedrooms and people in need of safe, low-cost housing to consider their needs and then comfortably meet each other to determine a way to live under the same roof with mutual aid and respect.
- FYI: Gray Panthers founder, Maggie Kuhn, was believed to started Shared Housing between older and younger people. Here's an article about that history.
Pilar Zuniga, Community Engagement Director 
for Berkeley Ecology Center, will share how we can contribute the new Environmental Justice Element of the Berkeley General Plan.
for Berkeley Ecology Center, will share how we can contribute the new Environmental Justice Element of the Berkeley General Plan.
Pilar directs the city's Community Advisory Committee (CAC) for updates to the General Plan Gray Panthers board members Maria Sol and Betsy Morris will be able to take comments to the CAC meeting Thursday.
2:50 PM Other Gray Panther Actions and Updates
- Medicare and Medicaid Budget Actions with CARA and LTSS4All (Long Term Supports and Services Coalition)
- Oakland and Berkeley Town Halls on Measure W budget priorities June 30 and July 1 organized by Niki Fortunato Bas, Alameda County Board of Supervisors. EBGP members are part of proposals two new community- and resident-led designs for supportive transitional and permanent housing communities, in Oakland and in Berkeley.
- Housing and Homelessness Team: Reports on the International Social Housing Festival;
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A UC sociology doctoral student is seeking to interview housed Berkeley residents on their perspectives on homelessness. $30 gift card. See flyer attached to email invitation or Email: Raquel Xitlali Zitani-Rios [email protected]
