Talk of the Town
TALK OF THE TOWN LIVE with Mike and Arthur Aguirre Sat 11am
FURTHER CUTS TO BENEFITS AND OUR SOCIAL SAFETY NET UPCOMING IN 2027
With *Maura Gibney Executive Director of CANHR, and Attorney *Joni Halpern
Maura Gibney, MSW, is Executive Director of California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, a statewide non-profit advocacy organization dedicated to improving the quality and availability of long term care options in California. She leads CANHR’s team of attorneys and advocates in working to address systemic barriers, improving consumer awareness of Medi-Cal and available services, as well as improving long term care options for marginalized communities. She is passionate about improving access to Medi-Cal for older adults and people with disabilities, and with helping people connect to programs that support their ability to remain in the community. Previously Maura worked in social service organizations with individuals diagnosed with developmental disabilities, and families of children with developmental delays. Maura is a graduate from the University of Southern California Master of Social Work program.
Joni Halpern is a Consulting Attorney, Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans, a nonprofit dedicated to full inclusion of refugees, asylees, and other immigrants in the social, civic, and economic life of the larger community. Immigrants come from all kinds of danger and hardship, whether from wars (many of which we engaged in or precipitated), violence among groups within their homeland, famine or other trauma. They often have spent years in refugee camps, living close to the edge of survival.
And when they come here, they work as hard as they can to understand, participate in, and assimilate in this American culture. As they do so, they face many barriers of language, culture, prejudice, economic disadvantage, as well as becoming the easy prey of unscrupulous businesses and individuals. PANA helps address some of these obstacles so people can continue on their journey to a stable, productive life in this country.
Joni has worked there first as a volunteer for many years, now as an attorney working with their staff. Previously, she worked as the founder/director/attorney for the Supportive Parents Information Network, a grassroots organization helping low-income parents and children address the barriers to self-sufficiency. Prior to that she worked as a staff attorney at the ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties and the Legal Aid Society of San Diego.
About CANHR:
Since 1983, California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform (CANHR), a statewide nonprofit 501(c)(3) advocacy organization, has been dedicated to fighting elder abuse and protecting the rights of California’s long-term care consumers. It has been CANHR’s mission to inform and educate legal services providers, advocates and decision-makers about the problems in the long-term care system, to formulate solutions, and to provide consumers with the most up-to-date information available in order to assist them in making informed choices about care.