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Elder Law Prof Blog
Katherine C. Pearson, Editor, and a Member of the Law Professor Blogs Network on LexBlog.com

Grandma is Homeless?

By rmorgan

Remember the holiday song, “over the river and through the woods, to grandmother’s house we go“… Imagine those lyrics when grandmother is homeless.  An article by Rachel Belle published on February 27, 2014 in mynorthwest.com focuses on this issue, referencing a national housing crisis for low-income elders. Homeless Grandma? There’s a National Senior Housing Crisis uses the story of a 75 year old looking for housing to drive home the depth of the issue. The elder isn’t homeless, but is looking for a place that provides her better access to services. She “has contacted dozens of senior living facilities and they all tell her the same thing: we’re full and the waiting list is full, so try again next year… [she] lives in a nice apartment in Sammamish, but the only place she can walk to, with her bad foot and ankles, is the strip mall across the street.” 

One staffer from Seattle’s Aging & Disability Services notes how many elders are being priced out of rental housing in which they have resided for years. The elder in this story has a section 8 voucher but so far has been unsuccessful in securing another place to live, despite even trying to find a place in California. Her goal for a new home: activities, transportation, and of course, a place to call home.  The article is accompanied by an audio version.

Seattle’s Aging & Disability Services conducted a collaborative study among six agencies about the upcoming “need for affordable senior housing.”  The 2009 report, A Quiet Crisis: Age Wave Maxes Out Affordable Housing,  is availabe on the website.  Takeaways from the study include:

  • By 2025, the number of seniors in King County will double, representing 23 percent of King County’s total population. The number of seniors living in poverty will more than double.

  • Currently, the need for affordable housing greatly surpasses the supply. ..

  • The future needs of seniors will differ in some respects from today’s …

  • Working together, local governments, non-profit agencies and housing authorities can lead community-wide efforts to avert the crisis…