For 20 Years, We've Been Standing With Caregivers.
Caregiving is deeply personal. So is our story.
Since 2006, Caregivers Outreach, Inc. has worked to ensure that family caregivers are recognized, informed, connected, and supported throughout their caregiving journey.
What began from one caregiver's experience has grown into an organization serving families, educating communities, developing caregiver programs, and advocating for greater recognition of caregivers across generations.
Our Story
Born From the Caregiving Experience
Caregivers Outreach was founded in 2006 by geriatric nurse practitioner Diane Cooper, whose understanding of caregiving was shaped not only by her professional experience but also by her own family's caregiving journey.
After experiencing firsthand the responsibilities, challenges, and emotional realities that come with caring for loved ones, Diane recognized something that remains at the heart of Caregivers Outreach today: caregivers spend so much time caring for others that their own needs often go unseen.
She envisioned an organization where caregivers would be recognized for their contributions, connected with resources, provided with practical education, and reminded that they did not have to navigate caregiving alone.
Caregivers Outreach began by creating opportunities to educate, support, and recognize family caregivers. Over the years, that work expanded to include caregiver education, resource navigation and referrals, wellness and respite programming, community events, advocacy, professional training, and partnerships with healthcare and community organizations.
Twenty years later, our work continues to be guided by the same fundamental belief:
When caregivers are supported, families and communities are stronger.
Our Mission
Educate. Support. Advocate.
The mission of Caregivers Outreach is to improve the quality of life of family caregivers by providing education, resources, support, advocacy, and meaningful connections to community services.
We work to ensure caregivers have the knowledge and support they need to navigate their responsibilities while promoting greater awareness and recognition of the essential role caregivers play within families and communities.
Who We Serve
Caregiving Touches Every Generation.
Family caregivers come from every background, neighborhood, profession, and stage of life.
They may be spouses caring for one another, adult children supporting aging parents, grandparents raising or caring for grandchildren, parents caring for children with disabilities or complex needs, relatives supporting family members living with chronic illness, or young people helping care for someone they love.
Caregivers Outreach supports caregivers across the lifespan while also working with the professionals, employers, healthcare providers, and community organizations that surround them.
Our goal is simple: help caregivers feel seen, informed, connected, and supported.
How Our Work Has Grown
From Caregiver Recognition to a Continuum of Support
Over the past two decades, Caregivers Outreach has continued to evolve in response to what caregivers and families tell us they need.
Today, our work includes caregiver resource navigation and referrals, education and training, wellness and respite programming, Health & Resource Fairs, family and community programs, professional geriatric case management, corporate and HR caregiver training, caregiver program consulting, community partnerships, advocacy, and caregiver recognition.
Rather than approaching caregiving as a single issue or moment in time, we recognize that caregiving needs change.
Our role is to help families navigate those changes while also strengthening the systems and communities that support them.
Founder & Executive Director
Diane Cooper, RN, M.Ed GNP, AGCM
Vice President
Leslie Gilford
Treasurer
Brenda Wilkerson
Chair of Health & Wellness
Cheya Thousand
Chair of Research
Dr. Nikki Stewart, EdD
Secretary
Jacqueline Cherry
Our Youth Caregiver Story
We Learned That Some Caregivers Were Much Younger Than We Thought.
In 2015, Caregivers Outreach conducted a needs assessment involving 454 middle and high school students in the Bronx. The results revealed that 196 students—43% of those surveyed—were helping care for a sick, disabled, or aging family member.
The findings reinforced an important reality: caregiving does not begin at adulthood.
In response, Caregivers Outreach developed SHARKS (Students Helping and Assisting Relatives with Knowledge and Skills) to provide youth caregivers with education, peer support, resources, leadership opportunities, and meaningful experiences.
As our youth caregiver work grew, so did our understanding of what was needed. Supporting individual young people was important, but lasting change would also require educating schools, healthcare providers, families, professionals, policymakers, and communities.
That evolution led to the creation of Caregivers Outreach: Youth Empowerment (COYE), our dedicated youth caregiver division.
Today, COYE advances youth caregiver support through direct services, education and professional training, respite and wellness, advocacy, research, community partnerships, and systems change.
Our Approach
Supporting the Caregiver. Strengthening the System.
Caregivers need more than information.
They need communities that understand caregiving, professionals who recognize their role, employers that understand the realities of working caregivers, and systems that make resources easier to navigate.
That is why our work operates on multiple levels.
We support caregivers and families directly through resources, referrals, education, wellness programming, and individualized services.
We bring resources into communities through Health & Resource Fairs, educational programs, family events, and community partnerships.
We strengthen organizations through caregiver training, professional education, consultation, and program development.
And we advance awareness and advocacy so that caregivers of every age are better recognized and supported.
Together, these efforts create stronger families and more caregiver-supportive communities.
Our Impact
Twenty Years of Caregiver Support
For two decades, Caregivers Outreach has worked alongside caregivers, families, professionals, community organizations, healthcare providers, government partners, and supporters to increase access to information, resources, recognition, and meaningful support.
20 Years Supporting caregivers and families
300+ Caregivers Recognized Celebrating the contributions of family caregivers
3 Annual Health & Resource Fairs Bringing resources directly into the community
Youth Caregiver Leadership Expanding recognition and support for young people with caregiving responsibilities
Cross-Sector Partnerships Connecting healthcare, community, education, government, and business around caregiver support
Impact data should be updated annually as Caregivers Outreach expands its programs and evaluation capacity.
Leadership
Led by Experience. Grounded in Community.
Caregivers Outreach is guided by leaders who bring professional expertise, lived caregiving experience, and a shared commitment to strengthening families.
Diane Cooper, GNP
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Diane Cooper is a geriatric nurse practitioner, caregiver advocate, and founder of Caregivers Outreach. Her professional expertise in aging and healthcare, combined with her personal caregiving experiences, inspired the creation of Caregivers Outreach in 2006.
Her vision continues to guide the organization's commitment to ensuring that caregivers are recognized, educated, connected, and supported.
Kristin A. Morris, LMSW
Chief Operating Officer
Kristin Morris is a licensed master social worker and nonprofit and healthcare leader with extensive experience in program development, operations, social services, senior living, professional education, and community engagement.
As Chief Operating Officer, she helps lead organizational strategy, program development, partnerships, community engagement, and the continued expansion of Caregivers Outreach, including the development of its youth caregiver division, COYE.
Our Partners
We Don't Do This Work Alone.
Supporting caregivers requires collaboration.
Caregivers Outreach works alongside healthcare providers, community-based organizations, government agencies, educational institutions, home care organizations, employers,
businesses, foundations, and other partners that share our commitment to caregivers and families.
Together, these partnerships help expand access to resources, bring education into communities, strengthen referral networks, support community programming, and increase awareness of caregiving.
Caregiver Recognition
Celebrating Care Has Always Been Part of Our Story.
Recognition has been central to Caregivers Outreach since its earliest days.
Caregivers frequently perform extraordinary acts of service without expecting recognition. Our Annual Caregiver Recognition Gala creates a space to celebrate their contributions, share caregiver stories, and remind our community of the tremendous value of caregiving.
Over the years, hundreds of caregivers have been recognized for the compassion, resilience, sacrifice, and love they demonstrate every day.
Looking Ahead
The Next Chapter of Caregiver Support
Our first 20 years were about making caregivers visible.
Our next chapter is about making support easier to find and systems easier to navigate.
Caregivers Outreach is continuing to expand its caregiver resource network, community programs, professional services, employer education, geriatric support, youth caregiver initiatives, partnerships, and advocacy.
We envision communities where caregivers are recognized early, know where to turn for help, have access to meaningful resources, and are surrounded by systems that understand and support the caregiving experience.
That is the future we are working to build.
