Activism Isn't Just For Kids

As Florida's secretary for aging and adult services in the mid-1990s, Conchy Bretos got a close look at a huge population of seniors who were terribly neglected: the elderly poor living in public housing. "I visited seniors who hadn't been out of bed in days," says Bretos. These people often ended up in nursing homes prematurely because they couldn't afford in-home care. Bretos had a brainstorm: What if she brought assisted-living services to public-housing residents who needed just a little help to remain in their homes?

She did just that. Bretos, now 60, launched MIA Consulting Group in Miami Beach with her own money. Her for-profit company has helped 40 public-housing projects in 12 states bring assisted-living services to their residents. She obtains waivers that allow Medicaid funds to be used to keep people in their homes. Her pièce de résistance is a pending agreement between the U.S. Housing & Urban Development Dept. and the Health & Human Services Dept. to work together to provide these services nationwide. "It is one of the highest achievements of my life," Bretos says. She is far from slowing down. "I hope to do it until the day I die, because I don't see it as work," she says.