During the pandemic, retirees in Queens are keeping busy and staying connected with each other by taking the UFT’s Si Beagle courses remotely on Zoom.

More retirees than ever are looking for support from the UFT Welfare Fund Retiree Social Services Department since the start of the pandemic. Some need practical, concrete assistance with food delivery or referrals for home care, while other who are overwhelmed by the threat of the virus need emotional support as they struggle with anxiety and isolation.

Those of us who worked to end the national nightmare of the last four years often called for a return to some sense of normal. Now we must figure out what that means. First, we need positive action to conquer the pandemic, And second, we need to fix the economy. My inclination is not to return to normalcy or normality but to join in a call for national purpose.

All eyes were on Georgia in early January for the run-off elections that would determine whether the Democrats gained a majority in the U.S. Senate. Volunteers from among the 480 UFT retirees living in Georgia took part in the battle and helped win it.

Retired science teacher Virginia Jackson had been off the job only a month before she was recruited in March 2020 to work in the COVID Test and Trace Corps of New York City.

Social Security and Supplemental Security Income benefits for approximately 70 million Americans will increase 1.3 percent in 2021, the Social Security Administration has announced.