Patricia Ann Rencher

The founding publisher of Urban Aging News, Patricia Ann Rencher has been selected for the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame because she is respected in the profession

and by the aging community she serves. She operates in the best traditions of the ethnic press and hyperlocal community-based journalism. Her impact is well documented, and her service immensely appreciated.

In publishing and operating Urban Aging News, Rencher has committed journalism.

Through this grassroots solutions journalism, she demonstrates vision, courage and leadership, advocating for uplifting options and empowering for positive outcomes. She is a servant leader whose service stories have improved and elevated the lives of older adults in metro Detroit, and their family and professional caregivers.

In 2015, when others would not, Rencher used her resources to establish this quarterly print publication – now with digital access. It concentrates within its covers expert advice on issues including health and estate planning advice; social security, tax, Medicaid and Medicare policy changes; information on classes, trainings and activities for seniors; and profiles of older adults who are thriving as they age. Her journalistic achievement is a vital lifeline of information and inspiration.

In the tradition of the entrepreneurial ethnic press, she exercises integrity in funding this free publication through ad sales to select solutions-focused practitioners, making it an organ for nonprofit, for-profit service providers, as well as for public entities needing to communicate to this demographic. Articles inform about senior-serving classes and activities, housing, caregiving, health services, property tax updates, social isolation, fitness and balance, solo aging and aging in place, driver retirement, managing medical debt, and using health system patient portals.

The publication is augmented by Rencher’s work within the aging community, presenting workshops, as well as the annual Aging Matters Education & Expo.

This made Rencher and UAN a natural fit when the New York & Michigan Solutions Journalism Collaborative of 19 news organizations launched in 2020 and selected caregiving as their focus. NYMI SOJO funded UAN interns, an investment in the future of print journalism.

UAN was awarded Detroit Journalism Engagement Fund grants, from 2021 until 2024, by the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, funding freelance journalists, giving them experience and professional guidance, including several veteran senior reporters, benefitting those older adults as well.

One regular UAN reader wrote applauding Rencher, saying that, as a Medicare recipient, she learned more about Medicare and “medical gaslighting” than she ever knew existed.