Gail Gannotta, a Sunrise resident who pioneered the Broward County Aging and Disability Resource Center’s Senior Intervention and Education Program in 1992, has remained its sole staff member and inspiration since then.
She will join nine others will who be inducted into the Dr. Nan S. Hutchison Broward Senior Hall of Fame on May 10.
In addition to her daily job, Gannotta volunteers her time, talent and, most significantly, compassion by obtaining and providing much needed donated medical equipment and other supplies such as hospital beds, wheelchairs, shower seats and adult diapers, among other items to needy seniors and disabled persons.
She responds, on a 24/7 basis, quickly and appropriately to Broward County’s most vulnerable seniors, performing home, homeless and hospital visits, providing food, non-prescriptive supplies and facilitating access to community resources. Gail has served thousands of seniors during her 27 years of service.
On Saturdays and Sundays, you will find Gannotta at a condominium community or a church providing education and information on resources available to them.
She said her main purpose is to support seniors’ efforts to “age in place” with dignity, rather than face premature institutionalization. Her outreach has reduced recidivism into hospitals for many seniors.
Gannotta, 65, was born in Brooklyn. She earned a nursing degree at Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn, and a geriatric care manager education at Barry University in Miami.
“I am an advocate for my 87-year-old mother who I am helping after she recently had a fall and fractured her arm,” she said. “When I was growing up I admired my 91-year-old aunt. She cooked for the family and helped the entire neighborhood during difficult times.”
Gannotta put herself through school, overcame poverty and raised four children. One daughter serves in the United States Coast Guard.
“My proudest accomplishment besides raising my family has been the development of the Senior Intervention Education Program to Prevent Abuse of the Elderly,” Gannotta said. “My biggest disappointment has been experiencing the frail elderly and mentally ill go without basic needs because of lack of funding and long wait lists to get services. I try to give the most invisible, voiceless population some recognition and dignity, to be their advocate.
“I learned to emulate the ability of my director, Edith Lederberg, who recently passed, to be strong, caring, humble and grateful.”
Gannotta, in her limited spare time, works out at a local gym, enjoys walking on the beach, swimming, yoga, meditation and attending music concerts. She devotes time to prayer, likes cooking, reading and spending time with family, friends and pets.
“Each day, my purpose is to educate and empower the needy, the homeless; to help them navigate the system to provide the medical equipment they can’t access,” she said.
The electees will be honored at the 36th annual Dr. Nan S. Hutchison Broward Senior Hall of Fame Breakfast, which will take place during Older Americans Month, at 9 a.m. Friday, May 10 at the Renaissance Hotel in Plantation. Tickets are $50 per person or $500 for a table of 10.
Call Cheryl Morrow at 954-745-9567, ext.10206.