This last week was not one of celebration for me, but of heartbreak.

While others celebrated the Fourth of July with fireworks and family gatherings, I was forced to furlough more than 800 low-income older adults from a program that offers them purpose, community and the ability to survive.

Many of these elders are immigrants — Americans who have spent their lives working, raising families and contributing to our country in every conceivable way. Now, in their later years, they ask for so little: a modest opportunity to stay active, stay connected and make ends meet.

At the heart of this crisis is a senseless delay in the release of federal funding for a vital employment training program. Through the Senior Community Service Employment Program, the National Asian Pacific Center on Aging places low-income older adults into part-time community service roles that provide on the job training.

These roles — whether in........

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