Urban
Eldercare, LLC
TEAM
The Urban Eldercare® Team has decades of experience supporting families facing aging care decisions. Our clients tell us that we alleviate stress, direct them to the right resources, and help manage care to ensure quality of life for their loved ones. If you are facing decisions, you are not alone. We are kind and compassionate partners who can help you get what you need.
Nancy E. Avitabile, LMSW, CMC — Owner/Care Manager
Nancy is the owner of Urban Eldercare, LLC and a founding partner of Home Care Match, LLC. Nancy is an LMSW, former researcher and Aging Life Care Manager. As a 6-year board member and 2018 President of the Aging Life Care Association™, she has been featured on Thomson Reuters, “The Business of Managing Old Age”, has written for the Aging Life Care Association™ publications, “Inside ALCA” and “The Journal of Aging Life Care” and has been quoted in Consumer Reports, US News and World Reports, caring.com and seniorhomes.com. In 2006 and 2019, she was honored with the Outstanding Chapter Member award for the New York Chapter and in 2014, she became a Fellow of the Leadership Academy. Nancy holds anMSW, a BFA and BA from the University of Connecticut. She has a Post Masters Certificate in Gerontology from the Brookdale Center of Healthy Aging, where she is now an instructor.
(NYS Licensed Social Worker: 058334-1)
Tony Saunders, LMSW — Care Manager
Tony Saunders studied art history at Princeton University, and has been working with older adults since 2005. In 2010, he received a master’s degree in social work from the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College.
Since 2005, he has been involved with the “culture change” movement in elder care, first at The Lenox Hill Neighborhood House adult-day C.A.R.E. program, and later becoming a facilitator and trainer in the TimeSlips storytelling method (as featured on the Today Show). From 2006 to 2008, he was a teaching artist for Elders Share the Arts, facilitating elders throughout the city to tell-and exhibit-their stories through art. He has facilitated support groups at the Alzheimer’s Association, New York City Chapter, and has led numerous workshops on creative aging at senior centers in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Mr. Saunders has been instrumental in developing services and programs for family caregivers at the Visiting Nurse Service of New York. As a “caregiver coach”, he presented a workshop for family caregivers at the Cornell-Weill Medical Center in 2012 and initiated new program content for the VNS-NY Acute Care and Choice programs. He has also trained as a volunteer with Hospice of New York.
Mr. Saunders completed a post-master’s-training in geriatric care management at the Brookdale Center for Healthy Aging and Longevity at Hunter College. He is a member of the National Association of Social Workers and the Aging Life Care Association.
(NYS Licensed Social Worker: 082231-1)
Pamela D. Sidman, LMSW, CCM — Care Manager
Pamela D. Sidman studied social work at Hunter College. She has been working with older adults since 2000. Prior to her social work career, she completed the Cornell Medical School Registered Dietitian Internship Program.
Since 2003, she has worked as a medical social worker and care consultant for long term care programs at the Visiting Nurse Service of New York. She was the first social worker to pilot the care consultant role at VNSNY. As a private geriatric care manager, Ms. Sidman has worked to help families navigate services in various Manhattan and Brooklyn neighborhoods.
(NYS Licensed Social Worker: 050693-1)
Cari Fershing, LCSW — Care Manager
Cari Fershing studied Psychology at Binghamton University, and has been working with older adults for over 25 years.
In 1988, she received a master’s degree in social work from The Wurzweiler School of Social Work at Yeshiva University.
As a clinical geriatric social worker, Cari Fershing has worked at the Jewish Home and Hospital in the Long Term Home Health Care Program.
In 1998, she became the Assistant Director of the well regarded Heights and Hill Community Council in Brooklyn Heights. Prior to joining Urban Eldercare, LLC, Cari worked in senior housing residence, Isabella House, where she was instrumental in creating community amongst a diverse group of older adults. Seeking new challenges in 2017, Cari was accepted to the prestigious Palliative Care Master’s program at the Silberman School of Social Work gaining a certificate in Palliative and End or Life Care. Cari continues as an active member of the Washington Heights and Inwood Council on Aging in her community.
Joyce Gomolin, MS — Care Manager
Joyce Gomolin brings passion and humor to her 5 years of results-oriented experience with the elderly utilizing, advocacy, communication, and interpersonal skills, to provide optimal care. She has been working as a care manager on Long Island.
She studied psychology at NYU and education at Wheelock College and received Certificates in Geriatric Care Management from Brookdale Center on Healthy Aging, Pulse Center for Patient Advocacy and Alzheimer Disease Resource Center. In addition, she holds certification from the National Council of Certified Dementia Practitioners. She has served as a volunteer for the Sid Jacobsen Jewish Community Center in their Adult Day Care Program as well for The Family and Children Services on Long Island as an ombudsman in two Assisted Living Facilities. Joyce is a member of both the Aging Life Care Association and the Senior Umbrella Network of Nassau.
Stacey Wasserman, MD — Care Manager
Stacey Wasserman studied medicine at the St. George’s University School of Medicine and completed a residency in Psychiatry at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. She has been working with older adults since 2016, when she joined Heaven Can Wait, as a Care Manager.
Her expertise is working with people with dementia and other neurological disorders .
Stacey is a member of the Aging Life Care Association and brings knowledge, care and compassion to her work with the aging community.
Heidi Krump, LMSW — Care Manager
Heidi Krump has a bachelor’s degree from Villanova University in Human Services and a master’s degree from Columbia University School of Social Work. At Columbia, she was a John A. Hartford Partnership for Aging Education Fellow—a highly selective fellowship, which prepares graduate students to become leaders in the field of aging.
Ms. Krump has worked as a geriatric social worker in NYC for over ten years. She is a results-oriented, quality-driven care manager with operations and direct practice experience working with older adults within medical and social service organizations. She spent 5 years working at Amsterdam Nursing Home, a skilled nursing facility, with both long-term and sub-acute rehabilitation patients where she specialized in assessment and discharge planning for safe transitions to home. She then worked at Atria West 86—a high end assisted living facility—as a social worker and an administrator. Ms. Krump brings care and a strong understanding of the psychological, social, cultural process of aging and its impact to her clients. Her passion for supporting individuals and their families through the rewards and challenges of aging informs everything that she does.
(NYS Licensed Social Worker: 084437-1)