AARP Hearing Center
Speaking Up for Older Hoosiers
AARP Indiana volunteer Robyn Grant, 69, of Indianapolis, advocates for policy changes to help older adults, such as boosting support for family caregivers.
AARP volunteer Robyn Grant helps run an event focused on internet safety at the Indianapolis Public Library (Glendale Branch) on Thursday, April 30, 2026.
Clayton Hauck
In late March, Robyn Grant was checking her email after lunch when she received an exciting message. U.S. Rep. André Carson (D) had decided to support the Credit for Caring Act in 2026.
Grant, who advocates for federal legislation as an AARP Indiana volunteer, had been communicating with Carson’s staff for weeks, urging the Democrat who represents Indianapolis-area residents to support the bill. The AARP-backed legislation would provide a nationwide tax credit of up to $5,000 for eligible working family caregivers to help offset a portion of out-of-pocket caregiving expenses.
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She quickly reached out to AARP staff. “I was ecstatic, like I couldn’t text fast enough,” says Grant, 69, of Indianapolis. But after doing a little “happy dance,” Grant got back to work requesting meetings with other lawmakers to discuss the caregiving bill.
For Grant, volunteering with AARP allows her to continue a lifelong mission to help people. She dedicated her career to social work and supporting older adults as Indiana’s long-term care ombudsman, advocating on behalf of residents in long-term care facilities. Before retiring in 2022, she served as director of public policy and advocacy for Consumer Voice, a national nonprofit focused on long-term care issues.
“That desire I had ... to want to make a difference — it didn’t stop when I retired,” Grant says.
Instead, she used that desire — and her advocacy skills — to push for legislation in the statehouse before switching to AARP Indiana’s team that works on federal legislation in 2024.
AARP is nonpartisan and doesn’t support political parties or candidates but speaks out in support of legislation to help older Americans, such as protecting Social Security and Medicare.
Sharing From Experience
The timing was perfect for Grant to join federal advocacy efforts because AARP Indiana was in the process of creating a team of volunteers, called the federal advocacy bench, to meet with members of Congress, as well as have conversations remotely when the senators and representatives are in D.C.
Grant “is a rock star on that team,” says Addison Pollock, AARP Indiana’s director of community engagement. Pollock helped establish the team, which now has about 20 volunteers.
Most impressive, Pollock notes, is the initiative that Grant takes, whether it’s writing a letter to lawmakers about her own experience as a caregiver for her father or having one-on-one discussions with congressional staff.
Two years ago, Grant met with a staff member for U.S. Sen. Todd Young (R) and singlehandedly pitched the Credit for Caring Act. It was an undertaking that a team of AARP Indiana staff and volunteers would normally share. She detailed what the bill would do and why it would help Hoosiers. Grant also spoke of her experience helping her father, who lived in a retirement community an hour and a half away. She took him to doctor appointments, paid bills and helped with other tasks.
It is “powerful” for lawmakers to hear directly from their constituents, Pollock says. That meeting paved the way for more meetings with Young and his staff, as AARP has continued urging him to support the caregiving bill.
“Robyn is very, very good at doing the emotional appeals, making people feel the challenge,” says fellow AARP Indiana volunteer Steve Ironmonger, 73, of Indianapolis.
Ironmonger also serves on the federal advocacy team and writes and meets with lawmakers alongside Grant. Hearing Grant describe the strain of caregiving, and the fear of possibly having to quit her job as her dad’s needs grew, made Young open up and share his own caregiving experience, Ironmonger recalls.
Grant’s interests stretch beyond advocacy and caregiving. Every couple of months or so, she staffs an informational table at an AARP Indiana community event. She likes to get the word out about AARP and bust myths, such as that only adults 50 and older can be members.
True to her desire to help as many people as possible, Grant is now preparing to become a presenter to give talks on caregiving, Social Security and fraud prevention.
“It really breaks my heart when I find out that people have suffered or had a bad experience because they didn’t have the information that could have prevented that,” Grant says.
She is hoping that one of her presentation partners will be Gayle Cox, 78, who, coincidentally, was her professor when Grant was working on her master’s degree in social work at Indiana University. The two reconnected after many years through their AARP Indiana volunteer work.
“I was grinning from ear to ear to see [Robyn],” says Cox, who lives in Zionsville, an Indianapolis suburb. She has “that special trait of being empathic.”
More on Volunteering
- Explore AARP Volunteer Opportunities
- Read Stories of AARP Volunteers Making an Impact
- Learn How to Nominate Someone for AARP's Top Volunteer Award
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