By Michelle Cottle
There’s no place like home for the holidays, as the old song goes. At this time of year in particular, Americans want to gather in the spaces and places dear to them.
But thanks to a nationwide shortage of housing, more and more people are struggling to find a place to call home — or to stay in the home they have long loved. This problem cuts across demographic lines, but it can be a special challenge for low-income seniors, whose ranks are ballooning as the baby boomer generation grays.
Most housing in the United States wasn’t developed with aging in mind. People don’t usually think about wheelchair ramps, walk-in showers, stair railings or grab bars in a home — until they desperately need them. Only an estimated 10% of the nation’s housing stock is considered senior friendly.
Compounding the challenge, the housing stock is aging and sliding ever further into disrepair. Even minor modifications can be daunting and expensive. Nearly a third of households headed by seniors are cost burdened, meaning more than 30% of their income is eaten up by housing costs. That number is growing fast. So is the number of seniors falling into homelessness — a trend expected to continue for decades.
In my reporting on aging, I have come across several nonprofits focused on keeping seniors in their homes. One effort that stood out was Habitat for Humanity International’s Aging in Place program. It follows a holistic housing-plus model, which means it looks at issues beyond just the physical structure of the home. A health or social services provider assesses individuals’ needs based on their daily routine. A construction specialist determines what home repairs are called for. The organization works to connect the person with community services such as meal delivery and medical care.
Since fiscal year 2019, the program has served more than 31,000 households with a person older than 65. Local Habitat affiliates — there are more than 1,000 across the country — can tailor the program to their communities.
The need can quickly overwhelm the available resources. I’ve spoken repeatedly with leaders from the organization’s Memphis, Tennessee, affiliate, who said that when they started with this kind of work several years ago, they expected the average repair intervention to cost $5,000 to $7,000. (There is no charge to homeowners for the work done.) They soon discovered that the area’s older housing stock often required first tackling basics like leaking roofs and crumbling stairs — they can’t install a safety railing on rotted steps — which pushed the average cost to twice that. Today the average is $18,000. In the past year, the Memphis program completed 253 interventions, only a slice of the more than 1,000 requests it receives annually.
Habitat is always looking for ways to improve outcomes. In 2018 several of its local affiliates established an intervention model developed by researchers at Johns Hopkins University. Considered a success, the program is being expanded to nine other cities. Habitat also provides resources for housing agencies and other groups looking to develop their own aging in place strategies.
Habitat for Humanity International is committed to helping some of America’s most vulnerable seniors remain in their homes and communities. This year, I’m donating to support this work and urge you to as well. Everyone deserves a place to call home. It’s hard to think of a better gift.
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