Irene founded LiLY in 2009 after she witnessed the challenges her own aging mother experienced before her mother’s passing at age 97. For Irene’s work in community organizing and service through LiLY, she was recognized as a CNN Hero and won an AARP Inspire Award in 2012. LiLY, with Irene at the helm, has forged an innovative, alternative model of care for an aging population. In Morningside Heights and West Harlem neighborhoods, LiLY has woven neighbors together into a warm community of volunteers elders, and staff.

Irene has a long history of activism. She was involved in the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s and was one of the founding members of the Family Annex Nursery School. Irene was a member of the faculty of John Jay College of Criminal Justice for 27 years. Her legacy will continue to be felt every day in her cherished neighborhood – Morningside Heights, and through the connections formed within the LiLY family.