Learn more from our Press
Release: [January,
2010]
ABOUT THE
C. COLBURN HARDY OLDER ADVOCATE AWARD
The
purpose of the C. Colburn Hardy Older Advocate Award is to
recognize volunteer leadership in programs for older
Americans, with an emphasis on statewide advocacy for older
persons.
The award has been
given annually to a year round Florida resident who has
consistently made significant contributions to policies or
programs and services for older Americans in the State of
Florida. The recipient advocates, in both the private and
public sectors, for services and programs for elders and
demonstrates vision, advocacy, and leadership regarding the
future of services for Florida’s growing elder population.
What is
advocacy and why do we reward such action?
The CCH Older
Advocate Award is about how one person can focus on
important issues and develop coalitions and
public-private partnerships to influence public policy,
either legislative or administrative changes.
It is about
going to Tallahassee and walking the Halls of the
legislature and making sure that your voice, on behalf
of others, is heard. It is about educating the aging
community and one’s elected officials about what is
needed and important at the County and District and
community level. It is about making your views and
voice heard. It is about promoting what is needed to
ensure that Florida’s seasoned citizens are considered
in deliberations just as equally as its youth and
working adults.
Development and
influence of public policy is not only at the State
governmental level, it is also throughout one’s
community where a business executive makes a difference
in the lives of aging Floridians by participating on a
Community Board of Directors, where a local physician
contributes advice to the aging network, where a
hospital executive provides leadership in a
community…it is a person who leads the way in a
community and throughout the State to achieve a new or positive
change that will make a difference in the lives of all
senior Floridians …
That’s what advocacy is!
In June, 1998, friends and family of Coly
Hardy in conjunction with the Florida Foundation on
Active Aging, established a special award in memory of one of
its founding Board members, C. Colburn Hardy of West Palm
Beach.
Coly Hardy was a
former New Jersey State Legislator, community leader and
author of numerous publications. He wrote more than 35
financial books, including co-authoring Social Insecurity: The Crisis in America’s
Social Security System, and How to Plan Now for Your
Own Financial Survival with his daughter Dorcas Hardy,
former U.S. Commissioner of Social Security.
Hardy was also a
long standing member of the Florida Council on Aging, an
active supporter of the Area Agencies on Aging, a member of
the Pepper Commission and the White House Conferences on
Aging, as well as a volunteer legislative lobbyist.
It is in
his honor and the memory of his spirit, service, and
accomplishments that the C. Colburn Hardy Older Advocate
Award was established.
